One Of Those Afternoons

Bunny

Active Member
Difficult Child came home from school today and he was on a tear!! Manic is the only word I would use to describe him.

I think a lot was going on in his brain. He knew he had an appointment with the therapist, and he has not been there since before Christmas because of scheduling issues and snow storms, so I'm sure that was ramping him up. We decreased his dose of risperdal recently, and he told the therapist that he feels like he's struggling to keep it together, and while he has been able to hold it together, he feels like the energy it takes to do that is draining him (the fact that he was able to actually articulate that is HUGE for him, so he gets a gold starts for that, and I don't give out gold stars easily). A call to the doctor is now first on my list of things to do tomorrow morning. They did scheduling for next school year and apparently his guidance counselor is on maternity leave, so the guidance counselor he met with is a sub. Then he was told that in order to drop his foreign language next year he needs a letter signed by a parent, which he didn't expect to hear, so I think that threw him a little bit. Even though we had talked about him dropping Italian, and dad and I had told him that that was okay with us, the fact the he had to ask me to put it in writing seemed to make him uncomfortable.

There is this take out place by the therapist's office, and for the last few visits we came to an agreement: cooperate with the therapist and he could buy himself food from the take out place. He did really well with the therapist, so he got to buy himself food (the only way to Difficult Child's heart is definitely through his stomach!! Bribing him with food almost always works), and he came home and is much calmer than was before we left. He ate his food, did the dishes, and is upstairs in his room and he's quiet.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Bunny, your son sounds just like mine! When he was in school, especially, things that just "popped up" really threw him off (he's gotten a little better with some maturity). His guidance counselor and his case manager both knew this and his IEP reflected things like "changing his schedule, changing his seating", etc. I was always notified prior to any major changes and/or he went to see his case manager or guidance counselor and they shared the news prior to any changes so he would have an "adjust" time. It was important, as he got older, that he was able to advocate for himself.

To some it looked like disrespect or stubbornness, but to those "in the know" it was the rigid thinking that often accompanies our kid's list of issues.

Working with the therapist was very helpful to my son and talk therapy was never something he fought against. He had the same therapist from preschool to 10th grade (at which time we began to see a male at his request).

Hey, if a bribe works, I say use it!!!
 

Bunny

Active Member
The fact that his huidance counselor just left for maternity leave last week did not help him at all, but when we talked about the meeting to pick his classes for next year he seemed okay. The idea that he actually had to ask me to put in writing that it was okay that he drop Italian was was seemed to send him a little over the edge, but I just told him that we had talked about it already and we had agreed that he could drop it. I wrote the latter last night and made sure he knew I put it by his books so he could drop it off at the guidance office today.

Now that the stress of yesterday is over I'm hoping for a better afternoon. I'm taking the kids bowling. Easy Child has a bowling lesson this afternoon because he can't make on on Saturday, and Difficult Child was told that he could come and get some practice in, and this usually makes for a better afternoon for him. Keep your fingers crossed! I'm off the call the doctor about moving him back up on the risperdal.
 

Confused

Well-Known Member
I hope your day goes better today as well Bunny! I also try to bribe my kids esp when their being difficult. Maybe he will have some fun while Easy Child is practicing and tire out.
 
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