Janna
New Member
Yes, I know, I have taken a very long absence. I kinda missed everyone so I thought I'd pop in to say hello and spread some good cheer 
I tried to edit my signature, but the site won't allow me to do that. Not sure what the deal is. I was only at 122 characters and it still wouldn't take. Dunno?
I've been reading some of the posts. It seems like so many, like us, are continuing on a daily struggle, but others are doing great, which is wonderful! It's so nice to see everyone.
I've been blessed to be in touch with some of the members off this site, which has been wonderful. I think I needed some "away from all the people" time to kinda reflect, observe, and take care of the boys on my own. I've missed the supports of online friends, but we have had some great strides here.
I've done a heck of alot of studying on childhood disorders and such over the last year or so. I probably know much more than I should, as many of you LOL, but, hey, we learn what we can for our children, right? I've really been intrigued by the contradictions of doctors and diagnosis that we have suffered. It's been a very, very interesting ride. It's amazing to me how one, little doctor can tell you your child has one thing and we can actually see it, to find out later that it may not be what that one doctor said it is. I've been through that. Those of you that know me, remember me coming here telling you Dylan was Bipolar, me really thinking he was manic, putting him on all those medications, to find out later, he really wasn't. It's such a confusion to deal with these children, isn't it?
Anyway ~ it's nice to see everyone.
Things here have been a roller coaster ride, just as is the case with any family that has a challenging child (or 2 or 3, haha!). But, I think I want to come and say, things can get better. Things do get easier. Children change.
Brandon is doing awesome! After a very rocky return home from foster care at the beginning of '08, he got caught with theft. Worked at the local Wal Mart, was stealing cash out of the drawer, busted. A week later, got caught stealing, again, from Sears. He was put on probation, sent to an Residential Treatment Facility (RTF), and somehow, the light bulb finally went off. It took a very, very long time for him. He was forced into therapy sessions that made him realize the effects of his actions. What he does, and how that hurts other people. He has, oddly enough to me (and at times, I'm not sure I believe it) become very family oriented. Helping with the boys, helping around the house, becoming more and more interested in his future. He just got back his SAT scores, which were wonderful, and passed his ASVAB testing (military). He is considering the Army full time, or National Guard part time with college (Sports Medicine). There is a certain level of uncertainty from lack of trust on my behalf, but I feel with time, that will be regained. I think he likes his freedom, LOL, and he is done with the stupid B.S. One can only hope.
Dylan. Wow. I gotta tell you, remember the days? LOLOL! I mean, this kid has put us through mental illness he$$ over here. He did his Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) stay, which, was truly a joke. They were a glorified babysitter. I never could understand how a kid could go to an Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) and be there for a long period of time (he was in 8 months) and get no benefit, until I sent my own. You have staff, living in a house, with a child. The staff are babies. Most of these kids were in college, working at $10 an hour with a house load of kids that were raging, freaking out, harming themselves, with no clue what's going on. Then you have the therapist! Ahhhh, the wonderful therapist! SHE is the one that reports to the psychiatrist. That would be the psychiatrist that spends, what, 10 minutes with your kid once a month? Yeah, him! Ahh, anyway - water under the bridge, but what a waste. Anyway, they threw him back into Emotional Support at the beginning of this year. An E.S. class with one teacher and 14 kids. I'm still shaking my head on that one. E.S. rooms should have no more than about 8. I wouldn't even be comfy with 8. It's too many kids. You have 14 kids off task, out of control, or just unable to handle the stimulation - with 1 teacher and 1 aide, it's too much. But, alas, against my better judgement, I signed the IEP. I figured, heck, we'll give it a shot. Didn't last 2 weeks. Dylan threw a major rage in the room. Got him hospitalized. BOY, did I learn ALOT about these 7 day inpatient hospitalizations. Hey, I thought they were worth something, but...well, didn't do a darn thing for us. Within 12 hours they threw him on a bunch of drugs (Depakote, Seroquel, yadda yadda) and sent him home. That didn't work. The medications have never really worked for Dylan. Or, they work for a while, then they poop out. In hindsight, I wish I never would have gone that route, but when your kid is 4 years old and slamming his head through a plate glass window you think, "hey, this kid needs something", right? He's still on medications - he's on a good dose of Seroquel (50 mg. AM, 175 mg. PM) and FINALLY, the chill pill I've been asking about for the past, ohhh, 8 years? (Buspar). It's a good mix, but over time, I'm looking to get him off the A.P. We've been working hard on anger management, dealing with frustration, recognizing anger, etc. It's funny, because I don't know how many doctors told me those were HIS signs of "depression". And all that hyperactivity that were his signs of "mania". I mean, wow, his eyes were bulging out of his head, he was being so inappropriate, laughing at the dumbest stuff, just acting like he was crazed! Yeah, he coulda been manic. 10 years from now he might be manic. LOL! Who knows? So, a year later since I've been here (geez, has it been that long?), Dylan is diagnosis'ed with Aspergers. We are in process of having severe Autism testing done on him, over lengthy periods of time, by a team of people where they only deal with kids with Autism and developmental disabilities. His developmental delays would lean toward a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified diagnosis, but the brainwork (i.e. thought process, obsessive thoughts, etc) are very Aspie. He's very much stuck in the middle of both, not quite sure what his exact diagnosis will be when he walks out, but I don't much care. He's Autistic. And, treating him as such has helped us make good strides with him. I think, too, as he gets older, things get better. The rages have subsided. Tantrums are pretty much gone. He gets frustrated and angry, but is learning new coping skills to deal with that. He's maturing, somewhat, at the speed he can mature. He's 12, but I think he's more like 7 maturity wise. Better than the 3 year old I've been dealing with. That was the pits!
Jared, of course, is wonderful. Not much to say about him LOL! Advanced cello, baseball player, regular school. Regular kid. Wow, after all that with Dylan I feel like I'm giving Jared the short end of the stick LOL!
So, that's all the excitement from our little corner of the universe. I'm planning on reading up some more and checking in with all of you guys, too! I'm sorry I haven't been around for support. I've just been consumed. I'm fighting with the School District at the moment. Considering a Due Process hearing. It's funny how ignorant some of these S.D.'s can be, isn't it? When I took Dylan's psychiatrist evaluation to them with a "Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified" diagnosis as the primary, the Supervisor of Special Education said to me (and my MH/MR caseworker, who was in SHOCK), "that doesn't mean he's Autistic or that he is entitled to Autism services". Bahahahaha! I think my Advocate is making her change her tune
Have a good day everyone!
~Janna
I tried to edit my signature, but the site won't allow me to do that. Not sure what the deal is. I was only at 122 characters and it still wouldn't take. Dunno?I've been reading some of the posts. It seems like so many, like us, are continuing on a daily struggle, but others are doing great, which is wonderful! It's so nice to see everyone.
I've been blessed to be in touch with some of the members off this site, which has been wonderful. I think I needed some "away from all the people" time to kinda reflect, observe, and take care of the boys on my own. I've missed the supports of online friends, but we have had some great strides here.
I've done a heck of alot of studying on childhood disorders and such over the last year or so. I probably know much more than I should, as many of you LOL, but, hey, we learn what we can for our children, right? I've really been intrigued by the contradictions of doctors and diagnosis that we have suffered. It's been a very, very interesting ride. It's amazing to me how one, little doctor can tell you your child has one thing and we can actually see it, to find out later that it may not be what that one doctor said it is. I've been through that. Those of you that know me, remember me coming here telling you Dylan was Bipolar, me really thinking he was manic, putting him on all those medications, to find out later, he really wasn't. It's such a confusion to deal with these children, isn't it?
Anyway ~ it's nice to see everyone.
Things here have been a roller coaster ride, just as is the case with any family that has a challenging child (or 2 or 3, haha!). But, I think I want to come and say, things can get better. Things do get easier. Children change.
Brandon is doing awesome! After a very rocky return home from foster care at the beginning of '08, he got caught with theft. Worked at the local Wal Mart, was stealing cash out of the drawer, busted. A week later, got caught stealing, again, from Sears. He was put on probation, sent to an Residential Treatment Facility (RTF), and somehow, the light bulb finally went off. It took a very, very long time for him. He was forced into therapy sessions that made him realize the effects of his actions. What he does, and how that hurts other people. He has, oddly enough to me (and at times, I'm not sure I believe it) become very family oriented. Helping with the boys, helping around the house, becoming more and more interested in his future. He just got back his SAT scores, which were wonderful, and passed his ASVAB testing (military). He is considering the Army full time, or National Guard part time with college (Sports Medicine). There is a certain level of uncertainty from lack of trust on my behalf, but I feel with time, that will be regained. I think he likes his freedom, LOL, and he is done with the stupid B.S. One can only hope.
Dylan. Wow. I gotta tell you, remember the days? LOLOL! I mean, this kid has put us through mental illness he$$ over here. He did his Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) stay, which, was truly a joke. They were a glorified babysitter. I never could understand how a kid could go to an Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) and be there for a long period of time (he was in 8 months) and get no benefit, until I sent my own. You have staff, living in a house, with a child. The staff are babies. Most of these kids were in college, working at $10 an hour with a house load of kids that were raging, freaking out, harming themselves, with no clue what's going on. Then you have the therapist! Ahhhh, the wonderful therapist! SHE is the one that reports to the psychiatrist. That would be the psychiatrist that spends, what, 10 minutes with your kid once a month? Yeah, him! Ahh, anyway - water under the bridge, but what a waste. Anyway, they threw him back into Emotional Support at the beginning of this year. An E.S. class with one teacher and 14 kids. I'm still shaking my head on that one. E.S. rooms should have no more than about 8. I wouldn't even be comfy with 8. It's too many kids. You have 14 kids off task, out of control, or just unable to handle the stimulation - with 1 teacher and 1 aide, it's too much. But, alas, against my better judgement, I signed the IEP. I figured, heck, we'll give it a shot. Didn't last 2 weeks. Dylan threw a major rage in the room. Got him hospitalized. BOY, did I learn ALOT about these 7 day inpatient hospitalizations. Hey, I thought they were worth something, but...well, didn't do a darn thing for us. Within 12 hours they threw him on a bunch of drugs (Depakote, Seroquel, yadda yadda) and sent him home. That didn't work. The medications have never really worked for Dylan. Or, they work for a while, then they poop out. In hindsight, I wish I never would have gone that route, but when your kid is 4 years old and slamming his head through a plate glass window you think, "hey, this kid needs something", right? He's still on medications - he's on a good dose of Seroquel (50 mg. AM, 175 mg. PM) and FINALLY, the chill pill I've been asking about for the past, ohhh, 8 years? (Buspar). It's a good mix, but over time, I'm looking to get him off the A.P. We've been working hard on anger management, dealing with frustration, recognizing anger, etc. It's funny, because I don't know how many doctors told me those were HIS signs of "depression". And all that hyperactivity that were his signs of "mania". I mean, wow, his eyes were bulging out of his head, he was being so inappropriate, laughing at the dumbest stuff, just acting like he was crazed! Yeah, he coulda been manic. 10 years from now he might be manic. LOL! Who knows? So, a year later since I've been here (geez, has it been that long?), Dylan is diagnosis'ed with Aspergers. We are in process of having severe Autism testing done on him, over lengthy periods of time, by a team of people where they only deal with kids with Autism and developmental disabilities. His developmental delays would lean toward a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified diagnosis, but the brainwork (i.e. thought process, obsessive thoughts, etc) are very Aspie. He's very much stuck in the middle of both, not quite sure what his exact diagnosis will be when he walks out, but I don't much care. He's Autistic. And, treating him as such has helped us make good strides with him. I think, too, as he gets older, things get better. The rages have subsided. Tantrums are pretty much gone. He gets frustrated and angry, but is learning new coping skills to deal with that. He's maturing, somewhat, at the speed he can mature. He's 12, but I think he's more like 7 maturity wise. Better than the 3 year old I've been dealing with. That was the pits!
Jared, of course, is wonderful. Not much to say about him LOL! Advanced cello, baseball player, regular school. Regular kid. Wow, after all that with Dylan I feel like I'm giving Jared the short end of the stick LOL!
So, that's all the excitement from our little corner of the universe. I'm planning on reading up some more and checking in with all of you guys, too! I'm sorry I haven't been around for support. I've just been consumed. I'm fighting with the School District at the moment. Considering a Due Process hearing. It's funny how ignorant some of these S.D.'s can be, isn't it? When I took Dylan's psychiatrist evaluation to them with a "Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified" diagnosis as the primary, the Supervisor of Special Education said to me (and my MH/MR caseworker, who was in SHOCK), "that doesn't mean he's Autistic or that he is entitled to Autism services". Bahahahaha! I think my Advocate is making her change her tune
Have a good day everyone!
~Janna
It's wonderful to see you, have thought about you from time to time and wondered how you were doing.
