We did the lab work the Saturday before last, and won't be able to find out til today what the results are, or whether or not the doctor will still want to switch Jack from Intuniv to Strattera. I'm still nervous about changing meds, because of the side effects mostly, but he's been on this Intuniv for so long that I'd like to see what our options are. (I haven't heard much about kids being on Intuniv for such an extended period of time). As well, we're really anxious to wean Jack off of the Abilify. I spent quite a while looking up how to wean him off of it and it sounds like a total nightmare. I knew it wouldn't be easy because this is an anti-psychotic medication we're dealing with, but I didn't know that it can take a really long time to wean off even the smallest dose, because it has a half-life. Jack has been stuck on 2mg for no real reason other than the regular doctor didn't want to mess with it, and we were on the fence about its effectiveness. I have a note here somewhere on my desk about how long I would need to drop him down, but it requires cutting his pills up into smaller and smaller pieces, or having the doctor prescribe the liquid form so I can do it that way. What a nightmare! :( Our next appointment is on the 17th, so we'll see what she says about it then.
The kids were due back to school from Winter break yesterday. Only problem is that we got about 4 inches of snow yesterday, starting super early in the morning. The road to get to Jack's school is scary on a day like that, to say the least. Two-lane road for about half the trip, and if one slid off the road on either side, you'd be in a ditch. Neither me nor my husband wanted to chance taking him.. or then having to drive out in the snow again later in the day to pick him up. We opted to keep him home. My husband took Savannah, because her school is basically right around the corner. As it turns out, Jack didn't get a very good night's sleep, so he slept for a couple of hours yesterday. Though I suspect some of that could have been out of sheer boredom.
I wrote an absence note for Jack, and told him exactly where I was going to put it in his binder, so that he could give it to his teacher. Of course he was curious to see it, and of course he didn't agree with my "excuse" for his absence. I let them know that he'd had a rough night and wasn't feeling well. *Expecting a person with Autism to go along with you in something like this is like expecting a mouse to ignore cheese. Apparently it's not possible. My saying he "wasn't feeling well" meant in his mind that I was saying he was sick, which (as he pointed out) was not true. So... yeah. Sometimes kids are perfectly fine with lying. Other times, not so much. (I didn't try to get him to believe the lie, or to lie for me, but I did try to emphasize that he felt better after napping, so really what I said was still true).
I'm trying a little experiment.. not sure how it will go, or if I can keep it up with the kids, but I set up a jar with each of the kids' names on them for a little positive reinforcement. Basically, if each of them is caught going the extra mile for someone else, or doing something very nice for the other, they write it down on a slip of paper and put it in the person's jar. So they can do this for each other, and of course mom and dad pitch in. (I have to make a jar for me and their dad, just to see if/what they appreciate). We'll look through them each week. I'm hoping they get something out of feeling appreciated for what they're doing. I may provide a reward (as yet to be determined), based on the kind of things they do, and how often they're being recognized. I don't know how it will work out, but I really want them to feel good about themselves, and to appreciate each other.
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