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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 13:46:48 GMT
Our YDS Autistic and has a severe social phobia. Because of this we had decided to have him in an online cyber school instead of a traditional public school. He is going into third grade this year and overall has been doing well in school. However is schedule last year was just stinking crazy with his online classes, therapies and the classes that I am responsible for teaching him. School hasn't even started yet for him this year and I'm already overwhelmed with it all. His school day is about 5 hours long and he has live online classes 2-3 times a day depending on the days Monday-Thursday. Intermixed with that he has 3 days of speech therapy, 2 days of occupational therapy, social skills therapy, reading skills classes 2x a week and math skills also 2x a week. While he doesn't have live classes on Fridays he has 2 therapy sessions and that is the day I try to fill in with all of the classes I'm responsible for, so art, music and his 2nd class of the week for history and science. Last year on Tuesdays and Thursdays he didn't even get a lunch break because of all his online classes and this year is shaping up almost the same way. He starts out the school year strong, but by December he's burnt out already and the rest of the year it's a fight to get him to do anything without a complete meltdown. I know all these therapies are good for him, but at what point do we get to yell "uncle" when it gets to be too much? How much pressure can we put on an autistic 8 year old?
To top it all off I just lost the kids I babysit for so there goes the little income I was making to help make ends meet for my family. I have RA and the meds I'm taking make me completely sick for 2 days after taking them. I am sleep deprived and just about on the verge of a mental breakdown...or so I feel. On top of it all I have the house to keep up after. I'm never alone, never have 5 minutes to myself and I'm just totally overwhelmed.
Both of my boys do online charter schools and I absolutely love having the home with me...I was the crazy mom at the bus stop crying the first day of school because I didn't want ODS to go...LOL. He is 13 and mostly independent with school and I just have to check to make sure he is actually doing the work he says he is doing.
Thank you for staying with me this long. I know nothing will change, there is nothing I can do to make life easier, but sometimes just venting it all out helps a bit!!
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freebird
Drama Llama
'cause I'm free as a bird now
Posts: 6,927
Jun 25, 2014 20:06:48 GMT
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Post by freebird on Aug 30, 2017 14:01:26 GMT
I'm sorry you're having a rough go of it. *hugs*
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Post by malibou on Aug 30, 2017 14:18:43 GMT
I'm sorry things are rough right now. He really does have quite the busy schedule, so I can imagine how overwhelmed you feel with other things on top of that.
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lesley
Drama Llama
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Posts: 7,181
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
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Jul 6, 2014 21:50:44 GMT
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Post by lesley on Aug 30, 2017 14:20:22 GMT
I'm sorry you're struggling so much. Your days sound overwhelming. Would it be possible to reduce the number of sessions of any of your son's therapies? You need a little breathing space, and if your son is struggling to manage everything, he's not going to be getting the best out of his treatments. Can you change your RA meds at all? I've had RA for nearly twenty years, and have tried various different meds. I used to get weekly methotrexate injections, and the day of the injection was useless for anything else. I now take oral methotrexate and etanercept injections and together they have helped me reclaim my life.
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Post by redshoes on Aug 30, 2017 14:41:39 GMT
Is there another school option that would have a better schedule? I agree with another poster, decreasing the number of therapy sessions may be necessary while school is in session. You can only spread yourself so thin and if you're already on the verge of breakdown before school starts, it likely won't get any better anytime soon.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 14:52:01 GMT
I'm sorry you're struggling so much. Your days sound overwhelming. Would it be possible to reduce the number of sessions of any of your son's therapies? You need a little breathing space, and if your son is struggling to manage everything, he's not going to be getting the best out of his treatments. Can you change your RA meds at all? I've had RA for nearly twenty years, and have tried various different meds. I used to get weekly methotrexate injections, and the day of the injection was useless for anything else. I now take oral methotrexate and etanercept injections and together they have helped me reclaim my life. I'm going to have to talk to his special ed teacher about decreasing things. We had to last year with some of his classes, it was just too much. I literally broke down on them last year when they were on me about not filling out his daily work sheets in a timely fashion. I was also babysitting two children in addition to it all. His first 2 years of school were just normal school classes and speech therapy once a week...no biggie. Then he was fully reevaluated because they realized it had not been done properly when we first had him tested when he was 3. After that things blew up. He can't read at a kindergarten level yet so language arts classes have not been easy. He is fine in math and science and hates social studies for some reason. Part of our issues is his speech therapist is changing this year and he's totally panicked about that. He's had the same one since kindergarten. His teacher seems very accommodating to his needs as is his special ed teacher. We will have to start the school year and see how it goes. I have an appointment with my rheumatologist in October, that was the earliest they could get me in. I've only been on the oral methotrexate since end of may, beginning of June. I haven't seen any improvements either, but it's early in the treatment process, so I may not see much improvement yet I suppose. I'm in the midst of a flare up right now. All joints are swollen and really stiff and sore and I could sleep constantly, but not sleeping at the same time. I think I'm just over tired right now and over thinking it all. Thank you all for your kind words, I vent to DH but he just doesn't fully understand what our day consists of since he is at work and just doesn't see it.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 14:57:02 GMT
Is there another school option that would have a better schedule? I agree with another poster, decreasing the number of therapy sessions may be necessary while school is in session. You can only spread yourself so thin and if you're already on the verge of breakdown before school starts, it likely won't get any better anytime soon. The only other option that would be better would be traditional public school and I just don't see that working for him. He gets extremely agitated when he is out of the house for any length of time and I mean like 1/2 and hour to an hour. He starts breaking out in hives and literally scratching himself until he bleeds. Some things get better as he gets older, but his social phobia has only gotten worse unfortunately.
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 30, 2017 15:04:32 GMT
I am sorry. I can send you a {{{HUG}}}.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 30, 2017 15:13:58 GMT
I'm sorry to say this, but you may need to reduce his schooling. I found the intervention therapy that DS received to be crucial to his success. But he only has mild Asperger's.
I'd put the priority on his therapy. And therapy and school can be mixed. Speech therapy can be talking about history or current events, social skills can be talking about what he has read... It doesn't need to be the entire session, but even 5 min will reinforce what you are doing at home. If he doesn't learn everything a third grader does now, it's ok. He can pick it up again later if his therapies slow down.
Reading can be audio books and then reading with him. Our library has tons of books on tape. Old fashioned, but you can start and stop them at the same place and your son will enjoy them. There is a connection between reading the same book and then listening to it repeatedly. Kids often make the connection to how words are sounded out.
Do you qualify for respite care? It sounds like you could use it. Even going to Walmart at 10 pm and alone helps. I remember those years-never a break and just constant schedule juggling. It wears on a person. Heck, if your DH finds it all so easy, let him take the kids one night a week. Either he will understand or find an easier way to do things. But it will give you the night off.
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Post by delilahtwo on Aug 30, 2017 15:46:09 GMT
I don't have RA and am completely healthy and I couldn't handle what you are doing. My hat's off to you!
Your son has to have a lunch break. It sounds like his schedule is so full that he's doing more than if he were in public school. Something has to give. Stress can worsen RA as well so there's that. Look at doing less. I would agree with less school but also look at his therapies and see what you can give up. Back off to half if possible, you will feel better and so will he.
Take 2 evenings a week for yourself. From 7pm to 10pm it's just you, your husband has the kids, has to get them to bed etc. Go for walks. Go to yoga. Go sit in the library or a bookstore or coffee shop and read. Go for a massage. Get out of the house so you are away from the stress, you husband can manage.
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River
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,515
Location: Alabama
Jun 26, 2014 15:26:04 GMT
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Post by River on Aug 30, 2017 15:50:29 GMT
I don't have any advice, but couldn't read and not post. You are in my thoughts and prayers! Many, many hugs!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Aug 30, 2017 15:58:42 GMT
Thank you all for your kind words, I vent to DH but he just doesn't fully understand what our day consists of since he is at work and just doesn't see it. I would find out if your DH can take a day off-- not to help you out, necessarily, but to observe what your daily schedule IS actually like?? If he sees early on that it's overwhelming you-- then add to that the complication of your RA symptoms-- so much the better. But if he doesn't *get it* because he's not there, then show him what it's like!
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Post by stormycat on Aug 30, 2017 16:06:44 GMT
I understand about the crazy schedules. My son will be in 6th grade this year at a cyber school, my therapy schedule is crazy with my baby. I can't imagine how you do everything. But thats just it, you can't do everything, something is going to give. Your mental or physical health and his as well.
I would talk to the school about dropping classes that hey may not necessarily need such as Art, Ed Tech, Music, and then concentrate on the core stuff. Also can you do block scheduling? Where Monday you do all of your math for the week, Tuesday Science, etc. Our Special Ed Dept recommends that for students.
I think you are doing a great thing, hang in there.
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JustTricia
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Jul 2, 2014 17:12:39 GMT
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Post by JustTricia on Aug 30, 2017 16:14:24 GMT
Do you *have* to do the schooling during certain hours? You said Friday you try to fill in art, music, history, and science. Can you spread out something into an evening or on the weekends? I understand trying to fit everything into a "school day", but if it would help, could you do an hour or whatever of music on Saturday and an hour of art on Sunday, just to get a little break? Or maybe a science lesson on a Wednesday evening instead? Of course, that only works if you can spread things out.
Also, can you combine things at all? Could you build a volcano out of papier-mâché and have the time count for science AND art? Watch an opera to count for history AND music? Could music be broken up into separate smaller sessions so the drives in the car to and from therapy or something could be used for music?
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Post by Really Red on Aug 30, 2017 16:21:40 GMT
Oh honey - I feel your pain.
I have a few suggestions that worked for my LD child. Not autistic, but expectations are just unreasonable sometimes.
I assume you have a big calendar. Use it. It's not only helpful to you, it's helpful to your son. Whether he reads or not, Sunday evenings, put pictures of every activity he does on the calendar. It prepares both of you. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful this is. No surprises for either of you, except, you are prepared for a surprise, just in case.
Then break up his day. Find one of the chores that you can do in the evening. Ask his dad to do it for him. Find one you can do in the car on the way to therapy. That was HUGE for us. Instead of sitting at a desk, my son was in the car and had no options but to be attentive. We got the most work done that way. We moved nearly all his homework to oral work and that helped us a lot. Your son needs to move, like all little boys. Make sure he does. Now you're down to a little less wok and a little more free time. Go out and play Frisbee with him. Or create a grid with questions in them and throw balls to the questions (grid can be A B C - and you have ABC questions). You're playing games, you're relaxing and moving while learning.
I can't emphasize enough to break things down. Everything together is too much for you - imagine how that must be for him.
You can do it!!!! You've got his best interests in mind. It will be good!!
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Deleted
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May 19, 2024 17:34:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 16:25:52 GMT
I would look at other online schools. And I would really go through the paperwork to see what the school district guidelines are to homeschooling are. At one point PT in our district was considered gym class.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 16:45:47 GMT
Is he considered homeschooled this way, or still public school but done at home? He is considered public school. All of his therapies are contracted through them, I'm not sure how that would work completely homeschooling him. Do you qualify for respite care? It sounds like you could use it. Even going to Walmart at 10 pm and alone helps. I remember those years-never a break and just constant schedule juggling. It wears on a person. Heck, if your DH finds it all so easy, let him take the kids one night a week. Either he will understand or find an easier way to do things. But it will give you the night off. He does not qualify for respite care as of right now unfortunately I would find out if your DH can take a day off-- not to help you out, necessarily, but to observe what your daily schedule IS actually like?? If he sees early on that it's overwhelming you-- then add to that the complication of your RA symptoms-- so much the better. But if he doesn't *get it* because he's not there, then show him what it's like! He did that last year when I would have doctors appointments and such and I also had 2 extra little ones running around the house. He helps a lot when he gets home, but it's just hard during the day, there isn't much that he can do when he is at work. He always tells me to get ODS to help, which sounds good in theory, but then he is being pulled away from school and I can't do that to him either. I understand about the crazy schedules. My son will be in 6th grade this year at a cyber school, my therapy schedule is crazy with my baby. I can't imagine how you do everything. But thats just it, you can't do everything, something is going to give. Your mental or physical health and his as well. I would talk to the school about dropping classes that hey may not necessarily need such as Art, Ed Tech, Music, and then concentrate on the core stuff. Also can you do block scheduling? Where Monday you do all of your math for the week, Tuesday Science, etc. Our Special Ed Dept recommends that for students. I think you are doing a great thing, hang in there. Our oldests school does the block scheduling and it's so nice. He just focuses on one class a day, but his school is for middle and high school only. YDS does not offer that. He does language arts and math live classes Monday-Thursday and has live for history on Monday and Science for Tuesday. I was a bit upset because I was told last year we wouldn't need to do live classes for those 2 and it could be done completely a-synchronously. I was holding on to that hope because I could easily cut his history and science time in half by doing it on my own without all the jibber jabber from 20 plus 3rd graders who are excited to learn and interject all their questions and theories and what not..LOL. Do you *have* to do the schooling during certain hours? You said Friday you try to fill in art, music, history, and science. Can you spread out something into an evening or on the weekends? I understand trying to fit everything into a "school day", but if it would help, could you do an hour or whatever of music on Saturday and an hour of art on Sunday, just to get a little break? Or maybe a science lesson on a Wednesday evening instead? Of course, that only works if you can spread things out. Also, can you combine things at all? Could you build a volcano out of papier-mâché and have the time count for science AND art? Watch an opera to count for history AND music? Could music be broken up into separate smaller sessions so the drives in the car to and from therapy or something could be used for music? His live classes are mandatory for the school so he has to attend unless something comes up like he's ill or has a doctor appointment or the teacher approves him not to attend, which may happen for history if I can't change his speech therapy schedule. I can combine some stuff and things like going to a museum on the weekend can be both art and history or whatever. But those lives classes just can't be changed. I manually put in his hours in a day, his OT, speech and other skills sessions go toward his daily hours. Thankfully he will not be assigned homework at all, all his homework will be completed in class with his teachers as per his IEP....so that is good news. I try to keep things short and sweet on Fridays to give him a break. All his therapies have to be done during normal school hours and because they are contracted they can make up their own hours and days that they work..which is cool for them, not so cool for me when they all decide Friday is a good day to take off and that is the best day for me to schedule them. Last year there were days he didn't even have time to get a lunch and was munching away during speech therapy or another class. I felt bad, but his attitude is definitely diet driven. He needs to have a decent amount of protein during the day. If he skips a meal he starts melting down more often. Even though he is Autistic we can keep his meltdowns pretty much non existent with the correct diet.
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Post by sawwhet on Aug 30, 2017 16:46:29 GMT
I live the same life except for the homeschooling. Although Autism is a secondary diagnosis. It's absolutely exhausting and my son rarely sleeps so I'm up all night, every night. I actually got up this morning and fell sideways into my dresser because I'm that tired.
Is your son medicated for his anxiety? Maybe with medication, he could go back to school and give yourself a bit of a break. He may also be able to do therapy in school.
Be sure to give yourself a break. Find an hour or two each week to do something for yourself and recharge. It's absolutely necessary and don't let anyone tell you otherwise or try to guilt you out of that time.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 16:51:20 GMT
Oh honey - I feel your pain. I have a few suggestions that worked for my LD child. Not autistic, but expectations are just unreasonable sometimes. I assume you have a big calendar. Use it. It's not only helpful to you, it's helpful to your son. Whether he reads or not, Sunday evenings, put pictures of every activity he does on the calendar. It prepares both of you. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful this is. No surprises for either of you, except, you are prepared for a surprise, just in case. Then break up his day. Find one of the chores that you can do in the evening. Ask his dad to do it for him. Find one you can do in the car on the way to therapy. That was HUGE for us. Instead of sitting at a desk, my son was in the car and had no options but to be attentive. We got the most work done that way. We moved nearly all his homework to oral work and that helped us a lot. Your son needs to move, like all little boys. Make sure he does. Now you're down to a little less wok and a little more free time. Go out and play Frisbee with him. Or create a grid with questions in them and throw balls to the questions (grid can be A B C - and you have ABC questions). You're playing games, you're relaxing and moving while learning. I can't emphasize enough to break things down. Everything together is too much for you - imagine how that must be for him. You can do it!!!! You've got his best interests in mind. It will be good!! He is definitely schedule driven and we rely on that heavily. I tell him the night before, right before bedtime what his schedule for the next day looks like. He also likes to know times...For instance if has a 10 minute break after one class before another begins I tell him as the first class is starting and then we set a time. We are blessed that all his therapies are done at home either via virtual or in person. That is my saving grace because we are a one car family and I could not imagine trying to get him to and from therapies in the midst of all of this! My husband is very good at helping when he gets home. The only chore YDS has right now is cleaning up after himself and feeding the cats. So not too much there..he would vapor lock if he had too many chores on his plate...LOL.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Aug 30, 2017 16:53:11 GMT
I guess I meant that at least your DH would see what you go through on a daily basis, would be sympathetic, and you guys could hopefully figure out together how to give you some relief from some of it. He helps do the cooking, some of the cleaning, something like that. It really sounds like you need help with all of this, or some way to take some of these responsibilities off of you.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 16:53:42 GMT
I would look at other online schools. And I would really go through the paperwork to see what the school district guidelines are to homeschooling are. At one point PT in our district was considered gym class. They all pretty much work the same way. Going out to play is considered gym class as long as their active...but they do have to learn about healthy lifestyles and such and I just kind of throw that in our every day life when meal planning and such. Art can be drawing a picture but there are certain lessons they want complete. I don't focus too much on those, but I still do them with him somewhat so he is not completely lost if he ever goes to a traditional public school.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 16:56:26 GMT
I live the same life except for the homeschooling. Although Autism is a secondary diagnosis. It's absolutely exhausting and my son rarely sleeps so I'm up all night, every night. I actually got up this morning and fell sideways into my dresser because I'm that tired. Is your son medicated for his anxiety? Maybe with medication, he could go back to school and give yourself a bit of a break. He may also be able to do therapy in school. Be sure to give yourself a break. Find an hour or two each week to do something for yourself and recharge. It's absolutely necessary and don't let anyone tell you otherwise or try to guilt you out of that time. Colin rarely sleeps at night, thankfully he can pretty much just lay in bed and watch tv or videos on tablet. But then he turns around and wants to sleep all day...and I mean literally all day. We have tried giving him benadryl at night to help him fall asleep, but then he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. He is not medicated right now, but that may have to change. The scratching himself until he is bleeding is new and started this summer. The hives aren't new but the scratching is.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 17:00:31 GMT
I guess I meant that at least your DH would see what you go through on a daily basis, would be sympathetic, and you guys could hopefully figure out together how to give you some relief from some of it. He helps do the cooking, some of the cleaning, something like that. It really sounds like you need help with all of this, or some way to take some of these responsibilities off of you. He doesn't care if the house is clean when he gets home, he is great in that way. He tries to help, but if I let him make dinner we would be eating hot dogs or pancakes every night...LOL. He will say he will clean the kitchen and when I go out he will have all the dishes in the dishwasher, which is fantastic, but he "soaks" all pans whether they need it or not and never wipes down the counters. So I end up washing the pans the next morning. But he tries, I can't take that from him...he's just "him". I do a lot of crock pot meals and things that don't take a lot of prep to make. Once he's home and takes over I'm so exhausted, usually from stress and from pain. I think this year will be easier on me physically with our a toddler and a preschooler running around, but now I'm stressed about finances...LOL. Always something.
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Post by sawwhet on Aug 30, 2017 17:03:15 GMT
I live the same life except for the homeschooling. Although Autism is a secondary diagnosis. It's absolutely exhausting and my son rarely sleeps so I'm up all night, every night. I actually got up this morning and fell sideways into my dresser because I'm that tired. Is your son medicated for his anxiety? Maybe with medication, he could go back to school and give yourself a bit of a break. He may also be able to do therapy in school. Be sure to give yourself a break. Find an hour or two each week to do something for yourself and recharge. It's absolutely necessary and don't let anyone tell you otherwise or try to guilt you out of that time. Colin rarely sleeps at night, thankfully he can pretty much just lay in bed and watch tv or videos on tablet. But then he turns around and wants to sleep all day...and I mean literally all day. We have tried giving him benadryl at night to help him fall asleep, but then he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. He is not medicated right now, but that may have to change. The scratching himself until he is bleeding is new and started this summer. The hives aren't new but the scratching is. My son was scratching himself until he bled, biting himself until he bruised, pulling his hair out. He's now medicated and those problems have gone away. There's always something going on though. For a while, he was exposing himself on the school bus! oy.
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Post by refugeepea on Aug 30, 2017 17:11:05 GMT
I have an 8 year old who is severely Autistic and a teen who is high functioning. I understand what you are going through. I dread summer and weekends. I was able to get help through emergency services this summer with respite because of back surgery, but that is gone and we don't qualify either.
Right now there's an issue with therapy they had in June that I thought was covered and we may need to pay it all, which we can't afford. I urgently need a job but they have in home therapy for 5 hours after school. It's hard finding one from 8:30-2:30 or 1:30 ot 2:00 depending on the day.
I'm amazed you are able to get those services through your school. That would never happen in my district. My son is non verbal and self harming. I know what you mean about therapy. At what point is it enough? Is this as good as it gets with them? Is it pointless to continue when progress in some areas are extremely slow or non existent?
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 17:12:58 GMT
So, yes, if he has an IEP and is receiving services like therapy because of it, he can often still receive those and be completely homeschooled rather than the way they are having you do it now. I know many people in different areas that do this, of course your area could always be different. If you could, I bet you could free up some time that way. At the very least, those live classes could be more flexible as far as timing. Most places do not have you logging in hours, but are instead based more on showing general overall proof of instruction of some sort, and some proof of progress. Which could just be a collection of some worksheets or reports or quizzes. There are some internet based curricula and obviously many that are book based as well. Obviously, this might not be right for your particular case, but might be worth looking into. I will definitely look into it. I just don't want to lose services that he needs, he NEEDS speech, at 8 years old it's still very hard to understand him and honestly it seems like he is getting worse even with therapy.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 17:16:57 GMT
Colin rarely sleeps at night, thankfully he can pretty much just lay in bed and watch tv or videos on tablet. But then he turns around and wants to sleep all day...and I mean literally all day. We have tried giving him benadryl at night to help him fall asleep, but then he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. He is not medicated right now, but that may have to change. The scratching himself until he is bleeding is new and started this summer. The hives aren't new but the scratching is. My son was scratching himself until he bled, biting himself until he bruised, pulling his hair out. He's now medicated and those problems have gone away. There's always something going on though. For a while, he was exposing himself on the school bus! oy. He totally doesn't do it to hurt himself, when he gets nervous he starts itching all over and complaining that he's so itchy, so itchy and then just starts focusing on the back of his neck, where hives generally pop up first and just keeps scratching. I try to keep his nails short, but you know, he hates anything that has to do with grooming period. Showers are a fight, hair cuts are a fight, nail clipping, tooth brushing..you get the pictures.
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Post by refugeepea on Aug 30, 2017 17:17:39 GMT
My son was scratching himself until he bled, biting himself until he bruised, pulling his hair out. He's now medicated and those problems have gone away. There's always something going on though. For a while, he was exposing himself on the school bus! oy. My son is not toilet trained and has decided to start stripping at home. I now stay in his room or he sleeps in the family room. I warned his teacher. So far so good the first 3 days of school. Overalls backwards no longer works, now I'm going to buy onesie pajamas and put them on him backwards and use a safety pin. It probably won't last long.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 17:23:26 GMT
I have an 8 year old who is severely Autistic and a teen who is high functioning. I understand what you are going through. I dread summer and weekends. I was able to get help through emergency services this summer with respite because of back surgery, but that is gone and we don't qualify either. Right now there's an issue with therapy they had in June that I thought was covered and we may need to pay it all, which we can't afford. I urgently need a job but they have in home therapy for 5 hours after school. It's hard finding one from 8:30-2:30 or 1:30 ot 2:00 depending on the day. I'm amazed you are able to get those services through your school. That would never happen in my district. My son is non verbal and self harming. I know what you mean about therapy. At what point is it enough? Is this as good as it get with them? Is it pointless to continue when progress in some areas are extremely slow or non existent? He is considered high functioning in the fact that he is verbal and mainstreamed in school. However with his social phobia and learning disabilities he is labeled as mid range on the spectrum. He actually thrived this summer, he loved sleeping in, watching his youtube videos, going to the pool and not a whole lot of "real" schedule. But when he has a ton happening, he thrives on the scheduling aspect of it, he doesn't realize it, but he does..LOL. I need to get a job too and I would love to work out of the house, but we are a one car family and with the boys doing the cyber school it's just not possible. Yes, our school districts are great here with therapies. The county I live in is one of the best in the state for that, thankfully. Financially I'm just not sure what we are going to do, I've been babysitting for the past 10 years from home, this is my first time without kids. Healthy wise, schedule wise and stress wise, we need the break...but we still have put food on the table. This parenting thing is not easy!
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Aug 30, 2017 17:24:53 GMT
My son was scratching himself until he bled, biting himself until he bruised, pulling his hair out. He's now medicated and those problems have gone away. There's always something going on though. For a while, he was exposing himself on the school bus! oy. My son is not toilet trained and has decided to start stripping at home. I now stay in his room or he sleeps in the family room. I warned his teacher. So far so good the first 3 days of school. Overalls backwards no longer works, now I'm going to buy onesie pajamas and put them on him backwards and use a safety pin. It probably won't last long. My son is not 100% potty trained either. He goes pee on the potty just fine, but not poop at ALL. I can't imagine that would go over well in public school. Thank goodness he hates to be naked and doesn't strip off his clothes, I'm sure how well I would deal with that! I hope the jammies work for him.
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