Catch up blog...

Here I am again trying to play catch up on Greyson's blog thanks to my slackness. Things have been going pretty good. For one he recently was promoted to red stripe belt in his karate class. He takes Shorinji Kempo Karate form MATI on Beatties Ford Rd. in Huntersville and has been doing Karate for almost 2 years now. That is the last belt step before black belt. Now he waits 6 months and is a red stripe belt while he prepares for his black belt test. We are so very proud of him.
In other areas of life he has been having a little more frustration which at times can escalate if we are not careful. If his frustration gets to be at a very high level he has started to scream,hit and/or kick. But only when it has reached "def con 5". Isn't that the term? Anyway, we are working on this and making sure he knows that is not acceptable. Most times that is easier said than done. Greyson has been doing pretty well at school and OT. He has enjoyed some play dates with his pal Zoe. She amazes me because she is like the girl version of him. So....they really have a blast together. She came over Friday after school and played. They had a great time. I've been trying a little harder to get him outside since the weather has been cooperating more. Spring is here so hopefully I can get him out and about. It's hard because he prefers the comfort of his home, the TV and video games. We want him to get out and play more so we force the issue when we can. Some days I am just lazy I'll be the first to admit it and I allow him to stay inside while I paint or just relax myself. I do need to do better this summer making sure he gets out though. Overall he is doing pretty well. He still continues to keep things to himself when things bother or upset him making it hard to figure out sometimes what is going on. He will get quiet or stop talking because he is really upset and then we are left to guessing what the problem is. His teachers struggle as well I am sure. Especially when the least little thing can rock his world. To us it may seem trivial, to him it is the end of the world. He spent the large part of a day once mouthing everything he wanted to say to me but not making a sound which makes it nearly impossible to communicate with him a that moment. I spend most of the time when that happens going, "what honey? I can't understand. You need to talk so I can understand you." I get some of it so I guess its enough for him not to care. He usually snaps out of it at some point if he can't get his point across effectively enough. Today we hope to go to the park in Concord to enjoy his friends birthday party. We'll see how it goes. Sometimes it's too much for him, other days he handles things fine. Depending on how many people are there and what is going on. We shall see. For now we will watch some movies and snuggle up on the sofa. Happy Sunday everyone.

Double Ear Infection Week

Greyson started his week pretty good this week. He has had moments lately where he get very agitated if he is really overly tired or frustrated or anxious about something. So...the past few weeks have actually been pretty uneventful...at least until his ears started REALLY hurting. You see he had complained casually that they were hurting but it didn't seem to be a big deal. I thought it may just be allergies and pressure from his stuffed up head. Anyway...on Wednesday his teacher called me right after I left school and said he had an ear ache. I hurried back to find him almost crazy. He ran toward me and was frantic. I got him and took him home and quickly got him laying down with the heating pad, gave him some meds and called the doctor. He was having a huge melt down...hitting at me and kicking when it hurt the worst. When he does this we constantly have to tell him it is not ok to hit or kick but when he is over the top with anxiety I am not sure it makes much difference. It's sad to see but it is also frustrating for us. The last thing we want is him hurting someone else or himself when he is like this. At times he does hit himself. I hate watching it happen and not be able to get through to him. I did feel better after reading an article in the New York Times. A mother of a boy with Aspergers wrote in in response to another article and explained what her life was like. the melt downs, how her son hits them, bites them, has tantrums in stores while others stare. It was a that point that I knew we were lucky. Yes we deal with those issues...but on a much smaller scale from what I could tell. You see, once again it is apparent why they call it a spectrum. Your child can fall anywhere on it when diagnosed but regardless of where they fall, it is stressful and frustrating for all those involved. It made me better realize what I have known all along. It could be better, but it also could be much worse. Either way it is what it is and it's our normal. After going to the doctor she confirmed he had a bad ear infection and gave antibiotics. Greyson has had a history of sensory issues especially with taste buds and meds. I have tried every trick in the book to give him things...and he is always keen to my tricks. Sometimes he pukes, sometimes he spits it out, sometimes I slip it by, but usually we end up battling it out to get meds on board. This visit I begged for pills for him. i was determined if I could get him to swallow the pills it would save us from here on out. Well guess what? After crying and panicking for a while thinking he was going to choke to death...(literally), he did it! We practiced on tic tacs first...and then headed for the "real deal". There was some bribing involved...so sue me. I held his hands, looked him in the eye and said firmly, "You can do this!" He took a deep breath, cried some more and then he was ready...he did it! He did it again! Yay for Greyson and his triumph over the meds!!!!! Next week he has another big milestone for him. He tests for his red stripe belt. This is his last colored belt before he tests for a black belt in Shorinji Kempo Karate. wow! He has come sooooo far with that. We hope we can help him get all the way to black belt. I know he can do it and we are very proud of what he has accomplished. Despite the moments of anxiety, frustration and stress there are giant periods of success, love and fun. Hooray for being different. Our family certainly is just that.