Fits and a new trick

The rest of the week each day has been about the same. While Liam does not seem to be whining as much, he still has hits anxiety fits when he can’t do what he wants, when he wants. Interrupt what he is thinking, and it is rough. Each night he would have at least one or two fits that would last up to a half hour.
One other thing that has come up with Liam this week is thing where he changes in to multiple pairs of pajamas throughout the day. What Liam does is he will go upstairs and change into pajamas and just play in them. He will be in a pair of power ranger pajamas, then an hour later come down stairs in a pair of spider man pajamas. Five minutes later he will then have his clothes back on. His shirt may not be on right, nor his pants, but it doesn’t phase him it’s wrong. Our twin 3 year olds know when something isn’t on right. Thursday after dinner Liam went down to play at our neighbor’s. At some point, he came in the house, changed into his pajamas and went back. Our neighbor called telling us this. She asked him what he was doing and he “having a pajama party”. Cute, but not to play at a neighbor’s house. The next couple days Liam would change into his pajamas, give the twins their pajamas, and tell them they are having a pajama party. Liam would turn the family room light and fan on and dance around the room. He was happy so we would leave him alone. This not only occurred at home, but at school. Liam had a fit Thursday because Jill would not let him take his pajamas to school. She finally decided to let him take them in his backpack. While his class was at work, Liam went to his locker, stripped down to his underwear, and got his pajamas on. His teacher’s had a laugh, hopefully this was a one time thing. We will see how long this lasts, it’s not terrible, but it’s also not something to do all the time.

Saturday was Liam’s last soccer game. He again had to be coerced to continue playing after the first time he played. Liam still was easily distracted by all the noise around him. He still did play, kick the ball, and run around with the other kids. He had one opportunity to score a goal, but missed his chance! Coach Carr saw the opportunity come up for Liam and he did his best to coach him into kicking it. Liam ended up playing the rest of the game without any problems. When the game was over Coach Carr gave all the kids little bobble head soccer player trophies. They were really cute. Liam came running over to where I was coaching Seamus’ game to show me. He was so proud of what he had done. I was actually a bit choked up myself over it. To see him this happy about something he did, was an accomplishment itself. Next spring we will sign Liam up again for soccer. Hopefully we will see some improvement then.

Saturday night after dinner the boys went outside to play for a little bit since it was so nice out. It was nice to finally have a fall night to go out. Liam went over to our neighbor’s for Eli’s birthday party. Seamus and the twins went over too so I followed. Jill was out for the evening, so I was at our neighbor’s for a while. My dad came over to watch some college football. I left the boys at our neighbor’s while I went back with my dad. The boys were to come home at 7pm to get ready for bed. At 6:35 Liam comes running in the house, grabs his pajamas, and tried to run out the door. When I stopped him he said he was going back to Stasko’s for a pajama party. Knowing no one else was there for a pajama party I told him no. He had a complete meltdown. I had to latch the door so he would not go out. Liam would kick the closet door, the door to go out, lay on the floor kicking, and just scream in anger. This went on for about a half hour. Just after 7pm, Seamus and the twins came home. When I let them in I told Liam there was no pajama party since his brothers were home. Just like that, the crying and tantrum stopped. I then told him he had to get ready for bed. Liam quickly got his pajamas on. Incorrectly, but they were on. Liam had one hand through a sleeve and the other not. He even managed to put 2 legs through one leg hole and walk into the family room. I watched and Liam acted like nothing was wrong. Brendan saw him and laughed at his 2 legs in one leg hole. I then helped Liam get his pajamas on right.

Sunday was easily the most beautiful of fall yet. We took the boys all down to the Red Wagon farm to play in the hay maze and go for a hayride. The boys had a great time in the hay maze. They could have stayed in it all day. We went on the hayride and were wondering if it was going to be scary or not. It used to be a couple years ago when we were there last. This time it wasn’t. A bunch of people sat in different places along the trail dressed as scarecrows. They were all friendly scarecrows and would just wave. The boys all thought it was funny and had a great time. Liam saw cotton candy as we were leaving and wanted a bag. We got one to share and Liam wanted it so bad he could not control himself. We had to restrain him from it at times. We got in the van and gave some to his brother’s. Liam was done with his share and we caight him reaching over to get Brendan’s. When told no Liam would get angry and have a small fit. He finally settled down on the way home as the drive made him sleepy. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening Liam was tired from all the playing at the farm. Liam went to sleep by 7:45. Monday is Halloween and will be a lot of fun. The boys are all into it this year, and our neighborhood is a lot of fun. The number of kids that come through is incredible. When we go through the neighborhood it is fun for the adults as well. For us drinkers there are jello shots, shots, test tubes, and a few beers to be had along the way. We will see how Liam does Monday. We anticipate a lot of fun followed by a rough day Tuesday. We shall see!

Less whiny, more active

The past few days Liam has not been as whiny and anxious as he had in previous weeks. It seems like the Prozac has helped, but one thing we have noticed is Liam is more active. He has a lot of energy and likes to engage in large motor play. He will run from room to room and wrestle with his brothers or play his favorite, “Power Rangers”. When it comes time for bed Liam cooperates and goes right to sleep. Liam really enjoys his time in the bath. Water just seems to relax Liam and help him center himself.

Not too much really went on Monday and Tuesday. It was the same routine, school, home, play, dinner, play, and then ready for bed. Wednesday Liam had his class Halloween party. Jill was going to go and spend time with Liam. Jill also wanted to go and observe how a new child in Liam’s class is. This new child has sounded like a handful for Liam’s teachers. Other parents have expressed a lot of dissatisfaction for adding this child to their class. Liam’s class had 7 kids with 3 teachers. The other special class has 4 kids and 2 teachers. A few of the other kids in Liam’s class have more special needs than the other class. Adding one more child to the class, and one with that is clearly requiring a lot more attention from the 3 teachers, is taking away from the others. The parents Jill has talked to believe this child should have been put in the other teacher’s room. Liam has told us some of the things the new child has done during the class, and it sounds disruptive to others. Now, we have compassion and understanding for this other family, but if their child is requiring that more attention, the school administration needs to better manage this situation. If the other teacher is incapable of handling other special needs kids, then they needs to add help or find another teacher. This other teacher has not endeared many. Liam’s teacher is quite often requested.

Jill let Liam go to school on the bus like he normally does. Liam was dressed in his Captain hook outfit and was extremely thrilled she was coming. When Jill arrived the teachers said Liam repeatedly talked about her coming and kept asking if it was time yet. They ended up setting a timer for when Jill would arrive. When she got there he was extremely excited. All the other parents were there with their kids. After all the greetings were done the kids all went for a “parade” in the hall in their costumes. When they got back Halloween snacks were laid out for all the kids to eat. Liam ate his quickly and started telling Jill he was done and ready to go. They still had an hour left. Liam must have repeated he was done and ready to go 10 times Jill said. Jill had noticed the one child in question was quite active and a bit disruptive with his constant physical movements. She could not tell for sure exactly what his problem may have been. After school she talked to a couple other parents. They all seemed to agree the school has handled adding this additional child with his special needs to their class. One parent said she was going to call the school and complain. We’ll see how it goes. Jill is going to go in a couple days and help out just to see what a typical day is like in there now.
Tuesday night Jill attended a fund-raiser for a friend of ours who is dying of cancer. She is only 34 years old. She fought the cancer off once, but it came roaring back. She has undergone 2 bone marrow transplants that have not worked, and several rounds of chemotherapy. She has been in the hospital since the beginning of August. Right now we are hoping for the best. Jill ended up talking with someone else we know who is also a teacher. Jill didn’t realize she was a special ed teacher in Cleveland Public schools. Jill shared with her what Liam has done and is doing. They got on the subject of Liam getting Social Security disability benefits. Jill told her we tried this already and we were turned down because apparently I am rich and Liam is not disabled enough. She insisted the school district has to turn in paperwork to the Social Security Administration and that Liam should easily qualify. She also said she fills out reports for SSA all the time for families to turn in to maintain their benefits, and for those to get them. Jill talked with Liam’s teacher about this and she referred Jill to one of the school administrators. Thursday Jill will call her and talk to her about this. I did some research online about this and based on the reading I did, SS has made it harder for families to get any benefits. One of the things I read that bothered me was that a child who’s behavior can be controlled by medication is not eligible. Anyone can be controlled by drugs. The drugs may help, but they do not replace the fact that an Autistic child has a life long disability. Some may be able to work, many won’t. We came across one site that had recommendations on how to gain benefits. When a child applies and examiner will follow up and evaluate reports from schools and therapists. Basically their recommendation was to not be overly positive in the reports. Brutal honesty about how your child does is what is needed. I understand what they are saying. While Liam has made great strides, I still see where he is at, all the little things he can’t do but should be doing, and I especially keep in mind the kindergarten agenda I saw for Seamus. I honestly do not see Liam being able to accomplish those tasks right now, even though it’s 2 years away. We will see how this goes. We can only keep trying.

A step back?

Friday was an eventful day for Liam. He had his therapeutic horse back riding that for the first time was held outside since it was nice. Jill did not have to walk along with Liam as there were enough aides. Liam’s ride was eventful as they went along a trail in the woods. Along the way they came across several deer along the trail. The horses neighed when they saw the deer and the deer just looked back. They stopped for a moment to look. The deer eventually moved along their way and Liam and Kennedy continued about their way. When Liam got back he was quite excited about what had happened. Liam came home was quite excited about going to the circus, so he took a nap just like he was asked to.

Friday evening when I got home the boys were totally excited and ready to go to the circus. I couldn’t get ready fast enough. We left to give us plenty of time to get in the loge and head down to the circus rings for the shows. The boys got a front row spot as we were one of the first ones at the rings. The circus started with clowns interacting with all the kids doing silly things. Liam, Aidan, Brendan, and Seamus, just loved it. The look on their faces was just priceless. This year Liam was again having the time of his life. As a bunch of clowns were dancing and inviting kids out in the ring, Liam looked to us for permission to go. We of course told him to go. Seamus, Aidan, and Brendan, didn’t want to go. Liam was dancing out in the ring with the many other kids and clowns. He was having a great time. Socially for Liam, it was again one of those moments that brought Jill and I such joy and happiness to see. The environment was loud and just so full of activity that it would lead one to think that Liam would just fall apart. This just adds to the mystery behind autism. While Liam follows so many patterns of autistic children, something like this throws you off. If there is any advice for any other parents I have, it is to know the generalities of autism, but understand that your child is going to be different. Based on so many other parents we know, each of our children have similarities, but also have just as many differences. Knowing how and what effects certain situations have on your child is key to helping them.

Saturday was simply just a lousy day weather wise. It did nothing but rain all day. Liam was supposed to play soccer but it was cancelled just before the game as the rain just got harder. Seamus’ game was played anyway. I was glad to see it played. This teaches the kids to ignore the elements and focus on what they have to do. Coach Grimm and I talked to the kids about what would be vitally important this game, passing. The kids did an awesome job passing and just totally blew the other team away. By the third period the other team had enough and quit. Seamus scored 2 goals and had a great time playing in the mud.

Liam’s day was not very good. He seemed to have repeated fits in the morning and throughout the afternoon. I didn’t really notice any difference with him on the Prozac. Liam may have also just been having a “hangover” from all the fun at the circus. He had not gotten to bed until after1030. We expected a bit of a “hangover” but Liam seemed far worse than his brothers. I took Liam and his brother’s over their cousin Brad’s for his birthday celebration. There Liam had a great time playing with his cousins. When we got home around 10pm Liam went to sleep quickly as he did not have a nap Saturday.

Sunday Liam’s fits continued throughout the morning. It just seemed to go from one thing to another. I got the yard work done and Liam was all set to go to the store with Jill. She was going to he him a new backpack to accommodate all his videos and blankets for school. Jill also had to go and get some groceries for the week. Jill said after he got his backpack he was done. He just wanted to go home. She still had shopping to do. Liam went along, but he was quite anxious to be done while she shopped.

Sunday evening Brenna and Matthew came over to play with our kids. Liam was quite excited at first, but he after playing with them for a short time he came in and sat with me in the family room. Liam seemed to be a bit hyper the rest of the evening. When Brenna and Matthew left Liam took quite a bit of time to settle down. When he did it was quick and fast. He didn’t have a nap and he simply crashed once we sat in the rocking chair together.

This was a busy weekend for Liam. Hopefully that was the reason for his repeated fits. We will see how Monday goes at school. The fits he had just made it seem like we took a step back. We’ll see……

Another good day swimming

Liam had another good day swimming. Today Liam did his normal routines of swimming to start. Miss Karen the worked on his back floating, breast stroke, and diving. When Liam dives it is more of a belly flop. It looks like it has to hurt, but he never complains. Liam worked hard like has lately and he continues to enjoy it. Today Liam was excited about swimming with Addy. He talked about it on the way to his lesson. When Liam’s lesson was over Addy came in her wheel chair and she and Liam just looked at each other very shyly. As Jill and Addy’s mom talked Miss Karen asked Addy if it was still ok for Liam to swim with her. She shyly said no. When Liam was asked he just smiled and said no. Maybe next week!

When I got home from work it was starting to rain. I came in and Liam was at the door putting his shoes on to go outside. I told him it was raining and he could not go out. Liam got very upset and started to have a fit. He was not settling down until Jill told him he could go with her to Wal-Mart for diapers. When she told him that the crying stopped right away. When Jill returned from the store with Liam she said he was very well behaved. That was great to hear. It was getting late and Liam was ready to take a bath and go to sleep.
Friday is going to be a fun evening for the boys. They are all going to the circus tomorrow night and are all very excited. We hope everything goes as well as it did last year!

Progress being made

The past few days Liam has been pretty good. He still has shown the tendency to have small fits, but they have not been as bad as in previous weeks. Liam still is not on his full dosage, and won’t be for a couple weeks. Jill has noticed that after school Liam is much happier and talkative about his day. He has not had any bad fits when they have gotten home.

Wednesday Liam’s teacher called to talk with Jill. She said Liam has been doing very well so far. One thing she has really noticed is that Liam is trying hard to make friends in class. It’s kind of funny as Jill and I have noticed that in Liam as well. It is great to see it is something he has been doing on his own. What we have seen at home is when dinner is over, Liam wants to go out and play with his friends, Ruthie, Kelly, and Shannon. Liam will go play with them wherever they are. On a couple occasions Liam has come over with them and said “Mommy, my friends are here to play”. When he has come home from where he was playing he comes in, takes his shoes off, and tells us about what he did with “his friends”. It is really great to see Liam progressing this way socially. As he gets older we hope he continues to make friends. Liam not having any friends because of his autism is something we worry about. Liam’s teacher did mention she has noticed that when they do their work in class Liam seems to be showing signs of anxiety. She has seen him picking at his gums again and just a very worried look on his face. Liam will also ask for his blanket at times during class. She also noticed that Liam’s backpack is quite full of movies and his blanket and not leaving room for his papers to bring home. Liam’s routine each day is the same before he leaves. He has to get his coat on, check his backpack for his movies, and his blanket. Once all these are in it’s time to go. Jill has tried to get him to leave his movies home or his blanket and he gets very upset. His teacher suggested he get a larger backpack so he can bring his papers home. We will have to look for one as Jill agreed his backpack is quite full.

Each day this week Liam must have asked me and Jill over a hundred times if the circus is tomorrow. I managed to get tickets for the circus from work. We are going to take all 4 boys this year. Luckily we got loge tickets. This at least gives the boys somewhere to move around of course, some good food to eat! Last year we took Liam just to see how he would do. Liam surprised the hell out of us by having the time of his life. Down at the circus ring before the show, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and animals would be out doing performances. Kids got to interact with the clowns. This was a recipe for disaster with Liam. He did so well, The biggest moment came when some clowns started dancing and formed a train of kids around the ring. Liam asked us if he could go. Jill and I were stunned and said, sure. To our amazement Liam was out there with other kids he did not know and was smiling and having a good time. I got quite choked up over it and looked back at Jill and found her crying. This was the first time we ever saw Liam participate in something as social and in an environment of loud music, noise, and clowns. We’ll see how he does this Friday.
Thursday is Liam’s swimming day. He is going to have some time to swim with Addy. Liam is quite excited about it. We’ll see how it all goes Thursday, stay tuned!

Much of the same this weekend

This past Saturday and Sunday were more of the same. Liam has had his typical ups and downs. I didn’t really notice too much of a difference with him on the Prozac. He will had his fits when not everything went his way when he wanted it. The fits didn’t seem as bad as they could have been, but they still occurred.

Saturday morning Liam had his soccer game at 9:30. Before we left he kept telling us he wasn’t going to play, that he was going to play with Seamus. We expected a battle to ensue, but Liam started to cooperate. When we got there he was suddenly into the game. He actually played very well, he was kicking the ball a lot harder. He still is easily distracted by all the noise around him. You can see him looking all around him at the people and sometimes he hears something specific and he tries to see where the sound came from. After one his breaks from the game, Liam would not go back out to play. His mind was set on getting hot cocoa. Seamus had a cup and he let Liam have some. Liam got what he wanted, settled down, then was ready to go back in.

Saturday afternoon Liam took an hour nap after playing with his brothers and Seamus outside for a while. At night his whining seemed to really pick up as he would whine over anything. I think part of it was that he was still tired. He ended up going to bed early. He was asleep just before 8pm.

Sunday Liam seemed to have a better day. He didn’t have any fits, but he still has his moments of anxiety where when he wants something, he wants it then. I was doing yard work when Liam and Seamus came outside. Liam played nicely with Seamus and even went down to Eli’s with him. Not too much else happened the rest of the afternoon. Liam didn’t have a nap all day and he was tired. Around 5:30 Liam sat on my lap and I could see he wanted to sleep. I got him up and kept him going so he would not fall asleep this close to bedtime. Liam was asleep tonight by 7:40. Hopefully his coming week is good for him.

An improving week

I intentionally have not updated this blog just to get an overall impression of how / if the prozac had any effect on Liam. I am glad to say it has. Jill said she notices after Liam comes home from school that he has a much happier demeanor. This had gone on the rest of the day. Liam even seems to be talking more about what he has done at school. When I’ve gotten home from work and am eating dinner, Liam still tells me he wants to go outside. Telling him to wait used to just lead to a fit. Now he has responded still with a little impatience, but not in a whiny manner that could lead to a fit. Outside he has seemed to listen a little better. Liam has even been playing with other kids without his screeching or having a fit. We’ll continue to monitor how he does.

Thursday Liam had his swimming class again. Grandma and Grandpa McIlwee took him again. Liam had another outstanding class. His teacher Miss Karen now had swimming the length of the pool without any floatation devices. He is really doing so well in this class. Miss Karen has continued to work with Liam on the breaststroke. She is seeing progress albeit slowly. Based on his first 9 months of progress, he may be doing a 100 meter medley in another 9 months! Liam has been noticeably more tired after swimming. Thursday night at 6:30 Liam wanted to take a bath and go to bed. I tried to talk him into staying outside a little longer, but he was done. We went in and got ready or bed. By 7:30 Liam was sound asleep.
Friday was a rather quiet day at home. Not much went on and Liam again was much happier throughout the day. In the evening me I let the boys out on their own to play while I cleaned up the kitchen. They played outside with kids in the neighborhood in the sand where our pool was. I could see them playing and they were all quiet and having fun. Liam was back and forth playing with Kelly. After they ran around a couple hours Liam was first to say he was ready for bed. We ended up all coming and getting in bed by 7:30. The only one who took a nap was Aidan, and even he was quickly asleep.

Saturday is Liam’s soccer game. We’ll see how he does. When I asked him about his game he said he was going to stay with me at Seamus’ game. We’re hoping this doesn’t mean he thinks he is playing on Seamus’ team tomorrow. We’ll see what Liam has in store for us tomorrow.

So far so good?

The past couple days after school Jill has noticed a difference in Liam since he has started taking prozac. She said he has not been anywhere near as whiny, no screeching, and what tantrums he has had have been very short and very few. Jill is not sure if it is coincidental or not, but she has said there is an improvement. It’s only been a couple days, so we still are taking a wait and see approach. We have both noticed Liam seems to be much happier when he is playing. So we’ll see how things progress.

Monday night Liam and Seamus had soccer practice. Jill did not bring the twins to the practice since it was so muddy and wet still. When Seamus’ practice started, Liam’s was at the same time. Liam would not go to his practice. Coach Carr was there and tried coercing Liam to practice. Liam just wanted to stay with me. I started Seamus’ team’s practice and hoped Liam would change his mind and go to his. Nope. Liam wanted to practice with Seamus. I decided to let him practice with the team. Liam did very well, in fact, he did excellent. He listened and did what he was told to do. Comparing him to a few of the other 5-6 year olds on the field you would never know Liam was autistic. A couple of the boys and one of the girls had an attention span that was non-existent. Trying to coach them was next to impossible. Liam really did a nice job.

Tuesday when I got home from work and was eating dinner, Liam was done already. He was all set to go out and was asking me to come out. I had to keep telling him after I finished dinner. The one thing I noticed is he did not have a tantrum, whine, or screech. He would just keep asking me to hurry up or say let’s go. It was a relief not having to listen to the whining and screaming. Liam decided while we were cleaning the dishes up that he was going to play in the driveway. We decided to let him go. Sure enough, Liam was in the driveway for about 5 minutes when we noticed he was gone. Here he went down to our neighbor’s house. He went in and made himself right at home. I saw where his bike was and Jill went to get him. Liam just went down there to play. It just shows that he still can not control himself and stay in the yard. Luckily we have such good neighbors that understand Liam. When it came time for baths and bed, Liam was ready. He was sound asleep before 8pm.

We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. The prozac seems to be making a difference. It is still a little hard to accept giving that to him. With his current medications, I just can’t wait until we come to a point where we can stop giving it to him.

Start of a new adventure

This Friday was a rather quiet day. Liam was not too bad for Jill during the day. She took Liam to his therapeutic horse back riding where he again had a great time. This time he rode his first horse Opie again. Jill said another little boy started horse back riding. Jill said one more person there made it a little more hectic and busier than the previous weeks. Liam did very well on the horse again. The only problem Liam was having was with his helmet. They were inside since it was raining, so it gets a bit warm in the arena. The helmet was making Liam sweat and also make his head itch. He kept playing with it as he rode. Jill had to do he best to keep him focused. Liam overall had a good day horse back riding.

When I got home from work, Jill had to go do some catering work that night. It was a boys night with dad. The weather was rainy, cold, and dreary as can be. We couldn’t go out, so as I was cleaning up after making dinner, I tried to think of what to do. I watched as all the boys were playing together very nicely, and quite rambunctiously! Since they were having fun I decided to get in the action and play with them. We had a lot of fun playing around. Before we knew it, it was time for bath’s and off to bed. The boys all went without a problem. Saturday was going to be a busy day.

Saturday morning it was still raining, cold, and just blah! Seamus and Liam’s soccer games were still on despite the weather Seamus’ game was an hour before Liam’s and since it was raining, I took Seamus up first. Jill would bring Liam up and take Seamus home. When Seamus and I left Liam got terribly upset and quite a large fit. The whole time during Seamus’ game it just rained and was windy and cold. No other games were being played. My cell phone went off and Jill said Liam’s game cancelled. Good thing, because it was miserable out and 4 year old kids didn’t need to be in the weather. When we got home Liam didn’t look too good. Jill said Liam threw another fit when she told him his game was cancelled. After 2 big fits that morning, Jill decided to get Liam’s prescription for prozac filled. We had a Halloween party and our nephew Jack’s first birthday to go to. We weren’t sure how Liam would do after such a busy day. We gave him the prozac before we left for the Halloween party.

The Halloween party was another great time, except for the weather. It continued to rain and be cold the whole time. The weather put a damper on things, but the party was still a blast. There were so many people and kids there even with the bad weather. Liam and his brothers were having a great time. They all got to go on pony rides and eat all kinds of good food, and of course, candy. Just was we were getting ready to leave Liam started telling me he wanted to go home. We weren’t sure if all the people, noise, and activity were getting to much for him, or if he was just tired. On the way home he didn’t fall asleep, he just looked very tired and talked about how much fun he had. We rushed home, changed everyone, and rushed over to Jill’s brother’s house for Jack’s first birthday.

We got to Jack’s party and sadly ended up missing most of it. Liam got hungry and was eating everything in sight! In this environment Liam seemed much more at ease even being as tired as he was. It was quieter, it was family, and the overall pace was much slower. I think part of Liam wanting to leave the Halloween party was the atmosphere. It really is no surprise that a busy atmosphere can be too much for him. We’ll see if the prozac helps alleviate that anxiety.

Sunday there wasn’t much to do. The weather again was a little rainy, but it was still cold and dreary. I gave the boys breakfast and Liam his risperdal and prozac. I failed to read the dosage schedule and ended up giving Liam 3ml instead of 1. The prozac has a strong minty flavor and Liam was not very fond of it. We are supposed to slowly introduce the medicine into his body, so we were waiting to see what was in store for the day. Liam seemed to be a bit more active, bordering hyper. I also noticed while he was playing with his brothers that he was not whining or screeching like had normally done. The boys ran all over the house and played actively. They all were getting along quite well. I got Liam to sit with me and he started to relax and finally fell asleep. He was asleep for about an hour and a half when he woke up didn’t make it to the bathroom in time. He ended up messing himself. Jill had got home just after I cleaned him up. He still seemed very sleepy. While walking around still sleepy, Liam wet himself. Jill and I were hoping that this is not a side effect of the prozac. Liam ended up doing ok with the bathroom the rest of the evening. Overall we did see a bit of a difference with Liam. We’ll see how he does at school Monday. Jill is going to write Liam’s teacher a note informing her of the change to his medication. This way she knows and will be able to see if there are any noticeable changes. So, here we start another new chapter with Liam and his medication. We really hope to have Liam off medication someday. It is really one of the hardest things we do. The warning label that came with the prozac also give you an uneasy feeling. The label warns of suicidal tendencies in teens and youths. If there is any good thing here, it is that at age 4 Liam has no idea what suicide is. Either way, it is a scary thing to read and think about in regards to your child. The journey with Autism goes on….

Neurologist appointment day

Today Liam had quite a busy day. He got home from school, had lunch, and then had to head off to swimming at Lifeworks. After that, he had his appointment with the neurologist.

His swimming class today was another excellent one. Jill said Liam had swam across the width of the pool on his own several times. She said this by far the best she has ever seen him swim. When his class was over Miss Karen asked him to stick around for a little bit. She wanted Liam to ask Addy (a girl with cerebral palsy) if he could swim with her next week. Miss Karen told Liam to ask Addy. Jill said it very cute how Liam so shyly and softly asked Addy if he could swim with her next week. Addy in turn shyly kept looking at the water and softly said yes. Jill said it was so sweet to see. Miss Karen wants to use Liam an inspiration for Addy. She apparently is not responding too well to her lessons. She thinks Liam will have a positive effect to show her what she can do. We think this is a great reflection on the progress Liam has made swimming. Way to go Liam!

Once his swimming was done Jill had to take Liam to see his neurologist. Jill explained everything that has been going on with Liam. She believes the fits and tantrums we have been seeing are a result of more anxiety. She believes part of the problem is that Liam becomes so anxious, that he loses control and ends up having more of an anxiety attack. The neurologist also said that another problem is Liam’s inability to communicate with words how he feels. This is something Jill and I have thought as well. When he has had his fits and meltdowns, we have tried to ask him how he feels, to try using words. When he can’t any words out, we will try and describe for him what he may be feeling. Sometimes we get an answer, sometimes we don’t. The risperdal he is on is supposed to help his anxiety as well, but it does not seem to be working as well as it should. She has decided to prescribe a very small dose of prozac in the morning with his risperdal. She believes this will help alleviate some the anxiety he feels. When Jill told me he would be taking prozac, it was another one of those things you hear that makes you stop for a minute. Prozac has one of those stigma’s attached to it. We both feel anxiety ourselves about giving this to Liam. It is really very hard to keep shoving drugs in Liam. Each time we try something new I know I get very apprehensive about it. I do it with the hope that it will help Liam relax, learn to communicate better, and improve his ability to learn. We’ll see how he responds with his new medication.

When Liam came home he looked exhausted. He came in, showed me a movie mommy bought him, and just sat down on my lap. If I had held too long he would have easily fell asleep. He started to watch his movie and then went outside to play. As expected her went to play with Kelly. We saw him down there playing and it looked like he was doing well and having a great time. Just after 7pm he came home and told me he was ready for his bath. No surprise there. He took his bath and sat with me in the rocking chair. He seemed to take a little longer to settle down, but once he did he was out.

Anxiety showing at school

Today when Jill picked Liam up at school she got to talk with his teacher. She told Jill she noticed quite a bit of anxiety in Liam at the beginning of class. She tried to talk to him to see if he could tell her, and he couldn’t. His teacher noticed that after they had snack he seemed to relax a little and partake in class. Jill and his teacher couldn’t pinpoint any reason for his anxiety. They will continue to see how he does Thursday and next week.
This afternoon when I got home from work Liam was in good spirits, but seemed quite hyper. When Liam was done with dinner he was running all over the house with his shirt off. His brother Brendan helped him along as they were playing together.

Grandma McIlwee came over to watch the boys as Jill and I went to a meeting for the Autism Society of Cleveland. I met with the president and vice president of the organization last week to offer my services and help to make this organization a valuable resource for the Greater Cleveland area. Jill is a tremendous asset with all the knowledge she has gained working with Liam. Most of the information at the meeting was information she knew already. A mother behind her came to the meeting as her son had just been diagnosed with borderline autism. She was there to gain knowledge and learn what she has to do. Jill was kind enough to share with her some tips, as well as other parents from the group. When the meeting was done and we talked with other parents it is clear that this organization can and needs to be a valuable resource for the Cleveland area. In the coming months I will be working with the president and vice president to help reach those goals. Jill and I both feel very positive about this organization. The amount of knowledge to be learned out there is astronomical. Jill and I look forward to the future with this organization.

Fits n tantrums

Monday Liam seemed to have a pretty good day at school. When he came he seemed to be in good spirits and wasn’t too bad during the afternoon. When I got home Liam was already for soccer practice. We had a couple hours before we had to leave. We had dinner and right after Liam ate he was ready for soccer. He kept telling me he was ready to go while I was eating. When he was told to wait he kept having little fits. He would whine, cry, and scream, that he wanted to go. He would then play for a short time, then start again about soccer. We finally let Liam go outside with Seamus. That helped settle him down.

When we left for soccer we knew it would be an interesting practice as Coach Carr would not be there. I could not stick around to help with Liam as the team I help coach had practice at the same time. I kept looking over at Liam’s practice and saw him participating. It looked like he was doing well on his own. About halfway through the practice I see Liam running over to Seamus’ practice. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was done. He wanted to stay with me. Clearly Liam did stick around at his practice because Coach Carr was not there. Coach Carr who is also a friend, knows how to handle Liam. Liam really likes him and listens to him very well. Expecting what I did from Liam I let him stick around with me at Seamus’ practice. He ended up actually partaking in a couple of drills with Seamus’ team. Liam was pretty tired after school and soccer practice. He went to sleep quite easily Monday night.

Tuesday was a different story. From the time Liam got home from school he was quite difficult with just about anything he did. To make matters worse for Jill, Aidan never made it to school. He got sick in Grandpa McCourt’s car. When he got home he threw up a couple more times and was running a fever. Jill had no one to stay home with Aidan while she went and picked up Liam and Seamus from school. Jill got Liam in the van right on schedule and noticed Seamus was nowhere to be found. Liam’s teacher went in to ask Seamus’ teacher where he was and she said on the bus going home. That was when they realized the mistake. They radioed the bus and it brought Seamus back to school. While she was waiting for Seamus, Aidan threw up in the van. Jill ended up getting home and had to clean that mess up. The whole time she was doing this Liam was screeching at his brothers for any reason. Liam never ended up taking a nap all afternoon.

When I got home we ate dinner and Liam right away started with the fit about having to wait for us to go outside. We ended up letting him out just to keep the peace. He ended up going to our neighbors house, and Kelly’s of course, but she was not home. He came back home and a couple other neighbor’s kids came over played in our yard. Liam was having a lot of fun as the boys were rough housing. Liam loves large motor activity. Liam wanted to play baseball with me. I tossed him the ball, he would swing, miss, and scream. This repeated itself over and over while we did this. Jill had to run to the store to get Aidan some medicine for his fever. Shortly after she left Seamus and his friend Eli went to another friend’s house. Suddenly Liam started to want to go see Seamus. When told no he would scream and cry. He would then want mommy in the same breath. Liam ended up having a fit that lasted for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. When Seamus came home Liam settled down enough to talk him into taking a bath. I let him bathe alone so he could mellow out. Liam asked to bathe with the lights off, so I said sure to make him happy. When he came out of the bath he was ok until he came downstairs and saw a Disney commercial that he thought said a Raven Halloween episode was on at his bedtime. When I informed him he had to go to bed at that time, he had a meltdown. He ended up laying the family room floor kicking and screaming. When I tried to pick him up he started to slap and kick me. I held him so he could not do either. We got upstairs and sat in the rocking chair. He continued to scream and cry as I held him. Within about 20 minutes Liam was asleep. I’m sure part of his problem was no nap, but the way he was tonight is also another typical day every now and then. Each day is certainly a new adventure!

Now swimming, more of the same

Jill took Liam swimming Thursday and remembered when she got there that Liam did not have his lesson that day. Miss Karen was out for the day. Jill anticipated Liam would not understand get very upset because he could not swim. Jill just told Liam Miss Karen was sick and wasn’t there. Liam easily understood that and was ok with it. When I got home from work Liam must have told me Miss Karen was sick 20 times. It was nice to see he that he handled it as well as he did. Normally when Liam’s routine gets disrupted he can get very upset, and that can lead to a complete meltdown.

Friday Liam had his typical day at home with his brothers. He would have his repeated fits throughout the day. Liam did not have a nap all day and he really wanted to go with Seamus, Grandpa McCourt, and I to the Olmsted Falls vs. Avon Lake football game. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to take him. This game was going to be jam packed. He ended up going and overall I would say he did great. With 4 minutes left in the first quarter Liam started with “I wanna go home” and “I wanna see mommy”. I just kept telling him how much more time was left. I also told him to look for his teacher who was no doubt at the game. I would even talk to him about what was going on out on the football field. We made about 4 trips to the concession stand and one to the restroom. I was especially proud of Liam as we just sat down and they ate a hot dog and drank some pop, he had to go potty. It was the middle of half time and off we went. We got to the restroom and there was a long line. I kept coaching Liam to hold it and keep being a big boy. After being in line for about 15 minutes Liam made it. Whew! Overall I thought Liam did great. Comparing him to a couple other kids that were 6 & 7 around us, and how they behaved with their fathers, Liam was better than they were. When we got home Liam got ready for bed and was asleep quite quickly.

Saturday Liam and Seamus had their soccer game. Seamus was first and as usual he had another great game with 4 goals. His team actually started to pass the ball like his coach and I have been stressing with them.

Liam’s game was right after Seamus’ game. Liam had another pretty good game. He was not difficult to get out on the field at all. When he was out there he was running right along with the other kids. When the ball would get in front of him he would kick it like he should. You can still see his foot being limp when it makes contact with the ball, but it has gotten better. Liam still is distracted on the field by all the noise from people cheering. Liam seems to hear something specific and he will start looking around the sidelines for where it came from. When a child gets hurt Liam shows a sincere concern and will continue to look at the child on the sideline. This distracts him as well when he is playing. I don’t know what to do about it. I’m inclined to just let it go given that this is first season and it is all so new. The best part of the game was when Liam was standing right in front of the goal. The ball rolled right in front of him and he just kicked it right in! His first goal. Liam was quite excited as he held his hands up and Coach Carr slapped him five. When he came off the field he so proud to tell us about it.

Saturday night Jill had to work so it was just dad and the boys all night. It was a beautiful evening and pretty quiet in the neighborhood. We ended up going down to our friends / neighbor’s house after dinner. The kids played on the trampoline and in the yard while Sean and I played a few games of cornhole. When it started getting dark the kids wanted a fire so Sean lit one for them. They had a good time at the fire. They even got to enjoy some roasted marshmallows. At 8pm we all went in the house to watch the Notre Dame vs. Purdue game. The whole time we were there, Liam was very well behaved, mainly because he knew everyone and it was quite active. We went home right before half time. Liam and his brothers were exhausted so I skipped the bath and put them to bed.

Sunday I was home with the boys most of the day as Jill went shopping. Liam had his usual fits when things didn’t go his way. I organized the cart a tv they use is on for him today. I took all his videos and put them in there for him to swap out as he needs. Liam was quite excited to have this done.

When Jill got home I went to cut the grass and Liam wanted to come outside. He was told no and a fit ensued. He was screaming, crying, and banging on the screen door when I went out. He ended up settling down in a few minutes. I noticed that when I went by dining room window and he was there to greet me. When I finished the lawn he came outside to play. The rest of the evening he was actually pretty good. He and bunch of the boys played football and were tackling each other. Nice large motor activity is right up his alley. That activity coupled with no nap during the day had him in bed by 8pm. He needs the sleep as another week of school is waiting.