Hanging Out with Friends

Here's a couple of pics of Griffin hanging out with his friend and neighbor Isiah who is showing him how to bat and catch the ball...how to play baseball basically without running the bases. He was so patient with him.

Here is a picture of Griffin flying his kite for the first time on Thursday when we went to his school. It was fun until it got caught up in a tree.

H*E*L*P!!!!

Griffin had a HELLacious meltdown last night and I didn't handle things very well because I slipped and had a cigarette. Yes I had one! It was only one and I was so stressed because his meltdown was horrid he was screaming and crying and no matter what I did I couldn't get him to stop and it was making me crazy! For those of you who don't know, I quit smoking about 8 months ago after smoking for about 25 years so it's a big deal that I slipped and had a cigarette. Griffin was upset because when we were sitting at the computer together and something popped up for an Adobe update so since we use Adobe I clicked on it not knowing what was about to ensue. So we sit there as it is downloading and I click on it again as it asks for permission again and if I agree to the rights and responsibilities so as I am clicking on that Griffin gets upset all of a sudden and burst out in tears to not download anything to the computer. By now it is too late because it is already downloading and I can't stop it and I explain that to him, that there was no way that I could have undone what I have done and that computers need things downloaded to them sometimes because it helps them to work better. But that did not help him at all.

I just didn't know what to do in this situation to help him because the download was already going on and by this time it had already disappeared from the computer completely so I go to the computer to show him that it is gone but it didn't help at all! He is screaming at the top of his lungs and crying and I am helpless. I use what his teacher tells him that if he has a meltdown that I am going to have a meltdown and that didn't help he didn't care by then. I tried giving him lots of hugs but to no avail he wouldn't have it. So if someone has the answer I would love to know what you would have done to make things better because I just don't know.

The meltdown ended eventually, I just waited it out and let him have his space and he calmed down on his own, sometimes that is what I have to do. We did some sensory stuff like rolling him out like a pancake with a big ball he really likes that and big hugs and snuggling. So the ending was good!

I am now taking Doxepin for sleep and it is working better than any of the others have YEAH!!!!! I slept so well last night and zonked out right after Griffin did as I never take my medicine while he is awake. I like this medicine because it works with my natural rhythm of sleep because it causes me to sleep when I am closest to being tired (as I don't generally get tired due to being more manic most the time than depressed) not just when I take the medicine and it doesn't make me sleep too hard so that I am able to sleep lightly enough to wake up if I need to for Griffin. I have the greatest doctor in the world and I am so grateful that he is so tuned in to what I need. My insomnia is really a major obstacle in my life and interferes with any kind of "normal" functioning so it is nice to be able to sleep every night and to wake in the morning feeling refreshed!

Just a Quick Note

I have a million other things that I need to be doing so I don't have much time to write but I did want to write a little bit for now and catch up later hopefully because I have school. The latest is that Griffin hasn't been back to gymnastics because he hurt his knee at school last week but the doctor said that it was just bruised and okay. I had the IEP (Individual Education Program) and it went well even though I didn't have an advocate there because she couldn't make it. I asked lots of questions and made sure to schedule an observation of Griffin in the classroom. I truly feel that his teachers this year have his best interest at heart and it has shown in Griffin's performance and interest in school. He is concerned about getting his homework completed and looks forward to getting on the bus in the morning and speaks nicely about his teachers when asked. So I don't think that they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes in the IEP and were very sincere. One of his teachers commented that she has really seen Griffin's personality this year and how she loved it because last year was so bad for him and it was because his teacher was miserably horrid! There were several things that I learned about Griffin that I didn't know but I can't write about it right now as Griffin just informed me that he is sleepy so I have to go. Oh and I am now taking Chloral Hydrate for sleep which if a regular person took, one without severe insomnia, well it's what they used to refer to when they said that they slipped someone a mickey.

I love him so much and today was a good day as a mom, not every day is though, not every day I am proud of myself. But today was one of those bonding days where we took time together and talked and walked Abby and he wasn't on the computer all the time or watching TV because I restricted it and it was so worthwhile. That is definitely going to be the norm around here from now on and it's back to bed at 8:00 - 8:30 so we can talk and read so that we can have that quality time together like we need. I asked him if he liked many hugs or few hugs and he said few so I won't be giving him too many. He has been having stomach problems so I got him some ginger capsules per Dr. D's request and they seem to help and Griffin told me that he didn't tell Mrs. White, his teacher, that his stomach hurt today at lunch. I think that I am going to take the Prevacid capsules that Dr. P prescribed to the school nurse just for lunchtime so that he won't have a tummy ache during school because they won't give out herbs.


I am up all night literally because the prescription of Lunesta that the doctor gave me yesterday didn't work so I haven't been able to sleep all night and it is now 3:00 a.m. and I need to get Griffin up at 6:00.

Gymnastics

Griffin had his first lesson at gymnastics yesterday and it went so well! His instructor/coach, Miss Vicky, was simply awesome! She gave Griffin all the necessary attention to give him the help that he needed in order for him to enjoy himself thoroughly and to participate in all the different areas. They worked out on the floor doing tumbling, the balance beam, the bars, the spring board, and the trampoline. Griffin was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and laughing throughout and needless-to-say mommy was thrilled. Griffin was a great listener paying attention to all of Miss Vicky's instruction and following the other kids. I decided when I signed him up that he would do best in a class that was younger than him and it ended up working out beautifully. The rest of the class was girls about 5-6 years old who didn't seem to mind that Griffin was older and the only boy, they were just interested in doing gymnastics.

Griffin tried gymnastics when he was about 5-6 years old but he was all over the place and it didn't work out so I am super thrilled that it is working out this time, it is a great outlet for him and good exercise in commitment and the discipline of following instruction in an activity.

Griffin has been in and out of meltdown mode since he got home from school so I am going to have to finish up and publish this post as is, otherwise heaven knows when I will get around to finishing it up. I haven't been very consistent lately as far as finding the time to write in the blog.

Sometimes the Autism Disappears: watch video

I made a video of Griffin playing and interacting with his neighbor Sharon, you can't even tell that he has autism in this video. Please take a moment and watch it.

This is a great post about getting a break from autism: http://trydefyinggravity.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/take-it-easy/ as I am sure that we all can relate to needing to have just one day to get away from it all.

Griffin's EEG

Griffin had his EEG last week (Friday) and it went fairly well he sat still for the better part of 6 hours watching only one DVD and as seen here playing on the cell phone on the Internet most the time. Beth Ann was the technician and she was a doll who made things so much easier for both of us. She had brought snacks and games for Griffin and she had the best personality ever! Griffin only got upset once about halfway through and made all the electrodes come off and Beth Ann had to put all them back on all over again which was a pain in the butt because Griffin said that it hurt when she had to scrub his skin to clean off the past with a Q-tip. We got out of there after 7 hours and had to go straight to speech where his therapist said that he was especially calm that day more so than usual. I guess that not having to hold it all together for school all day helped him to not be so stressed out afterwards like he usually is for speech.

I haven't been reading the blogs that I usually follow (and I apologize because I miss reading about my friends) because I just get so distracted and don't seem to have enough time in the day. I just started Strattera for my ADHD and I sure hope that it helps because I have a hell of a time getting organized and getting things done because I can't seem to finish anything. I start several tasks and go back and forth but completing them is so difficult. Maybe it is hard to imagine if you don't have it but believe me, it is a struggle! Just sitting still long enough to compose a post is a task in and of itself. I do well cleaning because I get to move around constantly even though I get distracted when I move into another room to drop something off and proceed to start something else and end up not getting back to the original task until much later. I better finish up this post before I get up to get something to drink otherwise I will forget it and it will end up being another week before I get back to it.