Thursday & Friday, bad days for Jim
Thursday and Friday turned out to be a couple of bad days for myself. I came down with the flu or something. Whatever it was, it kicked my butt. Jill had to pick me up at work and take me home. I spent Thursday and Friday in bed, hot one minute, freezing the next, and chills to the point I was shaking convulsively. It's Saturday and I'm pretty much recovered, still not 100%, but good enough.
A quick summary for Liam on these 2 days is pretty much the same as earlier this week. Behavior at times bordered out of control and quite impulsive.
Thursday is Liams day at Lifeworks for a program called Adaptive Aquatics. This is a swim program designed for children with special needs. This program has been great for Liam so far. He truly looks forward to going to it and the therapy has helped him greatly with muscle toning. Jill's father normally takes Liam as a favor to us each week. Jill has gone a couple times to see it. Jill and her dad say Karen is the kind of person you see doing her job, and you know that is what she was meant to do. Liam enjoys it every time he goes. The Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability is paying for this class right now, but at some point (not exactly sure) this will run out and we would have to pay for it. Once the county's money runs out, this will cost us around $120/month. The melatonin worked fine Thursday with some help from the swimming!
Friday Liam's behavior was much the same, still impulsive. Jill's dad came over with grand daughters Bridget and Katie. He picked up Seamus and Liam and took them to Fairview Hospital where he volunteers. They were going to meet Slider, the Indians mascot and Len Barker. Mind you, the 4 little ones have no idea who Len Barker is, but who cares, they got to meet Slider. Liam has always had terrible fear of puppet type characters and luckily his apprehensions quickly went away when Jill's dad took him up to Slider. Jill's dad said Liam was very well behaved given the number of people around. Normally in a social setting with a lot of people it can quite over bearing for Liam. He would often say "done" "go home" or "blankie". This is normal behavior for autistic children in environments like this. To them this is a sensory overload and for others it could have far worse consequences on. Knowing how your child will react in situations is key to helping them, and even yourselves as parents.
Now Friday night, Jill took Liam down 2 doors to pickup Seamus. I was putting Aidan and Brendan to bed when I heard the door open. I came down and saw Liam. I figured Jill was right behind. Liam just had slippers on and said he was going to get mommy and ran back towards our neighbor's. Jill called 5 minutes later looking for Liam. I told her where I thought he went, so the search was on. As it turned out, he was on our neighbor's playground. The weather within the 1.5 hours they were gone had gone from 66 degrees, to windy and 49 degrees. Liam was playing on the playground with no coat and only slippers on and could hardly notice the cold. Autistic children can either be over sensitive in their senses, or under sensitive. The over sensitive children we have seen seem to have far greater troubles adjusting and handling normal routines. Liam's under sensitivity has both good and bad to it. When it came time for bed, the melatonin worked again. I'd have to say by now that the 2 days last week were just a couple bumps in the road.
A quick summary for Liam on these 2 days is pretty much the same as earlier this week. Behavior at times bordered out of control and quite impulsive.
Thursday is Liams day at Lifeworks for a program called Adaptive Aquatics. This is a swim program designed for children with special needs. This program has been great for Liam so far. He truly looks forward to going to it and the therapy has helped him greatly with muscle toning. Jill's father normally takes Liam as a favor to us each week. Jill has gone a couple times to see it. Jill and her dad say Karen is the kind of person you see doing her job, and you know that is what she was meant to do. Liam enjoys it every time he goes. The Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability is paying for this class right now, but at some point (not exactly sure) this will run out and we would have to pay for it. Once the county's money runs out, this will cost us around $120/month. The melatonin worked fine Thursday with some help from the swimming!
Friday Liam's behavior was much the same, still impulsive. Jill's dad came over with grand daughters Bridget and Katie. He picked up Seamus and Liam and took them to Fairview Hospital where he volunteers. They were going to meet Slider, the Indians mascot and Len Barker. Mind you, the 4 little ones have no idea who Len Barker is, but who cares, they got to meet Slider. Liam has always had terrible fear of puppet type characters and luckily his apprehensions quickly went away when Jill's dad took him up to Slider. Jill's dad said Liam was very well behaved given the number of people around. Normally in a social setting with a lot of people it can quite over bearing for Liam. He would often say "done" "go home" or "blankie". This is normal behavior for autistic children in environments like this. To them this is a sensory overload and for others it could have far worse consequences on. Knowing how your child will react in situations is key to helping them, and even yourselves as parents.
Now Friday night, Jill took Liam down 2 doors to pickup Seamus. I was putting Aidan and Brendan to bed when I heard the door open. I came down and saw Liam. I figured Jill was right behind. Liam just had slippers on and said he was going to get mommy and ran back towards our neighbor's. Jill called 5 minutes later looking for Liam. I told her where I thought he went, so the search was on. As it turned out, he was on our neighbor's playground. The weather within the 1.5 hours they were gone had gone from 66 degrees, to windy and 49 degrees. Liam was playing on the playground with no coat and only slippers on and could hardly notice the cold. Autistic children can either be over sensitive in their senses, or under sensitive. The over sensitive children we have seen seem to have far greater troubles adjusting and handling normal routines. Liam's under sensitivity has both good and bad to it. When it came time for bed, the melatonin worked again. I'd have to say by now that the 2 days last week were just a couple bumps in the road.
posted by Jim McIlwee at
8:43 PM
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