March 20th, 2009 · ramblings
Maybe I should have titled this “stubborn, part 4,586″ but I haven’t kept tract how many times Ryan’s obstinateness has frustrated me to no end. I tend to try to block those instances out so I don’t dwell on them and go insane.
Anyway, the boys got new shoes yesterday. Years ago when they go new shoes, they would not wear them right away. They would sit for a few days or weeks until the boys were ready to put them on. OK, no big deal. Recently, the boys will wear their new shoes right away. Well, Andy won’t wear new sandals until school is out, he prefers his sneakers. But his feet must have really grown because he chose his new sandals today. With socks.
And this made Ryan upset. But he couldn’t express himself so it took some moping and pouting and guesswork until I figured it out. Ryan wanted to wear his new shoes today but didn’t want Andy to wear his. Well, Andy wants to wear his new shoes, they feel better. Ryan actually said he would stay home, something he never does.
I gave Ryan some choices: 1) wear his new shoes and stop moping; 2) wear Andy’s old sneakers; 3) wear his old shoes until next week. He wore his old sandals even though they are too small and cracking.
Stubborn.
Tags:
March 14th, 2009 · ramblings
When the boys were little, they loved watching Thomas and Friends and Theodore Tugboat videos. When they started school, they stopped watching TV. They would rather play on their computers.
A couple of years ago, they discovered YouTube. Now they are back to watching their favorite videos, over and over again.
Yesterday, the boys got their hair cut. The typical routine is haircuts, bookstore then dinner. On the way to the bookstore, Andy was talking about his video camera. During the past 2 haircuts/bookstore/dinner routines, I have let him take his video camera in the store. But both times he has set it down and forgot where he put it. It’s not a fancy video camera but still over $100 to replace and I am not going to replace it! So I told Andy that he cannot bring it in the store. He got angry and threw his hat into the empty seat next to him. We talked about someone else who got angry, Hank, and said “It’s not fair!” Andy could relate his own frustration to Hank’s and then talked it out and felt better.
Of course, he talked it out and over again for the rest of the evening.
Tags: autism·behavior·habits·upset·videos
I asked Ryan, “Will you to the bathroom for me?”
His response was a serious look of confusion. If he could have raised one eyebrow, I’m sure he would have.
………………………………
I asked Ryan, “Will you do the laundry for me?
He ran away and brought another full basket of dirty laundry for me to wash.
Tags:
Ryan was looking in the pantry this morning. I asked him what he was looking for and he said that he couldn’t find any chips. He stopped eating chips months ago and I stopped buying them since I am trying to cut out the junk. I asked him if he wanted me to buy some and he said yes and that he wanted the wavy chips that we used to buy.
This evening, Ryan asked if we got the chips but we were busy and didn’t go out. I asked if he wanted to go now and he said yes because it was still light out. I asked if he wanted to go to the new CVS around the corner, and did he want to walk. Yes! He has never walked to the store that he can remember. He was too young to recall that we used to live much closer to the shops but now we have 2 miles or more to get anywhere. That is until they opened the new CVS in January.
Ryan and I started walking. He was so excited and keyed up. Such a new adventure. It’s a good 15 minutes walk to the store. We were rewarded with Buy 1 Get 1 Free! We got 2 bags of wavy chips and headed home.
Ryan didn’t want to eat any chicken but did eat one piece. At least chips are a good source of iron.
Tags: autism·cvs·snack foods·walk·wavy potato chips
February 22nd, 2009 · ramblings
It’s not fun when kids get sick. When kids with autism get sick, well, it’s even less fun. They let the snot run down their faces or better yet, wipe in anything that is close like furniture, wall, the dog or you. When they are stuffed up and can’t breathe, they will either gasp for breath or snort until they are clear. They cough and sneeze over everything. Constant reminders to cover their mouths and noses cede only minimal results.
You could try some cold medicine but chances are they won’t take it. Even worse if you try to force the issue and they get so upset that they vomit. You could try to slip into their drink. But they would probably taste it and refuse to drink anything again. Yes, they are that stubborn.
Vomitting brings up even more frustrations. Kids don’t know how to express themselves well. Kids with autism just puke where ever and whenever they need to. Most of us know to puke in the toilet. Unfortunately, kids with autism have issues with the toilet. They are late to potty train. Trying to make them to stick their face into a place where they defecate just does not make sense to them. Try a large bowl, a bucket or even a towel. Plan on washing lots of laundry.
Remember when you were sick and were fed toast or chicken soup? They don’t eat those things on a regular day, no way will they even get close to them while they are sick. The same with drinks. You grew up sipping flat coke or ginger ale. Kids with autism have their preferred drink(s) and will not alter. Milk is not a good thing to drink when one has gastroenteritis, but dehydration is worse. The other child walks around with his juice but won’t drink. He wants it refilled as the ice melts. Perhaps the sound of the ice tapping the plastic is soothing to him?
Lord help you if they get sick enough to need to visit the doctor. They don’t like the doctor in a regular visit, why would they like the doctor when they are sick? And if they do require antibiotics, expect lots of struggles taking the meds. The syringe type dispenser can be helpful.
In other words, we just went through 2 weeks of the plague in our house. The boys are fine now and are finally eating and drinking as they regularly do.
Tags: autism·behavior·gastroenteritis·illness·rotavirus
