Wednesday was his last full day, and Michael and I got a truly rare treat: an uninterrupted night of sleep. Both Gabriel and Benjamin slept peacefully through the night. The clonidine (the blood pressure medication Gabriel is on to aid in his sleeplessness) has improved the nighttime situation, to where we only generally wake up on good nights around three or four times. He still screams loudly when he wakes up, running the length of the house, waking everyone along the way. Ben probably doesn't even know that we are supposed to sleep uninterrupted until morning.
Anyways, Thursday was a half day--Gabe got home a little after noon, when the rest of us were sitting down to eat lunch. That afternoon was...a challenge. The change in routine or stress or just overall having a rough day caused Gabriel's behavior to deteriorate.
He cackled and laughed and fought me throughout the two hour nap; after nap time was over, he screamed and banged his head against the wall for nearly three-quarters of an hour. During outside play, he engaged in inappropriate behaviors such as eating mud and rocks and chalk and dirt, taking off his clothes, and drinking from the dogs water bowl (when a water bottle was made available to him). When frustrated inside, he would retaliate by pinching or scratching his baby brother, or pulling my or Emerald's hair. Though snack foods were provided he refused to eat, even when you could hear his stomach cramp and growl in hunger. He could settle to nothing, and nothing made him happy.
Predictably, that night was...significantly worse. A half-starved, thirsty, miserable little boy refused to be comforted. It was with great exhaustion that Michael and I embarked on Friday, the last half day Gabriel would have before the end of the school year.
Friday went significantly more smoothly, with the first half of the day dedicated to catching up on housework after the extended illness of one Benjafriend. The bus brought Gaby home a little after noon again, and he settles into eating on the lunch I prepared him more docilely than the previous day.
Glo and Pawpaw came and picked Emerald up after lunch, meaning that I had just the boys for the afternoon. As soon as the door closed behind them, both Gabriel and Benjamin were fast asleep for nap, a welcome turn of events. We all ended up getting a good little bit of sleep there.
Rhonda called me after nap and invited the boys and me over to go swimming in their new swimming pool before Michael got off of work. Maybe it was the weariness from the night before or maybe it was the change of scenery, but Gabe had a much better afternoon. We swam in the chilly water and then watched "The Princess and the Frog" and had a snack. Ben just liked crawling around on the floor and Ken and Rhonda and I talked about books.
Friday night was an improvement on Thursday, which is not saying a great deal, but it is still enough of a struggle that I am going to talk to the doctor about it at our appointment in June.
Today, I got Gabriel's end-of-the-year school report. It is similar to a report card, except that instead of assigning grades for subjects, it describes progress along his path to achieving his IEP (individualized education plan). Here are highlights from it:
*We are trying to get Gabriel involved in playing with a toy or even to pick up a toy in our room. He is not interested in playing with any toys at this time. He would prefer to still walk around the room and pull things off the board or cabinet and walk away.
*We continue to use hand-over-hand support to share, take turns, and follow directions in all activities in the classroom.
*Gabriel is following a routine in the morning and signing in with some visual clues. He is needing physically support with all other routines throughout the day.
*Gabriel is continuing to go on a diaper-changing schedule at this time, because there is no indication from him that he is needing a change or that he is uncomfortable when wet or dirty.
*Gabriel is more willing to go up to the sink now that we have changed to a toddler toothpaste. He still only wants to have the toothbrush in his mouth for less than 5 seconds, but we are very happy that he is not upset to go to the sink and start the routine.
*We are using adaptive scissors with Gab with an adult giving hand-over-hand support. He is continuing to look at the activity at hand.
*Gabriel is not able to trace various shapes, but he is showing more interest in markers/crayons. He will scribble in the morning for signing in and he enjoys sitting at the center time to scribble on a marker board.
*Gabriel continues to do well with a variety of textures that we provide in the classroom. Mouthing various objects continues to be a work in progress. He enjoys eating crayons and glue sticks so those are very closely monitored.
*The independent activities that we have set with Gab to do is primarily getting him to calm down from running in the classroom and letting him scribble. He is not interacting in matching activities or academic activities without hand-over-hand support.
*Hand-over-hand support is continued to achieve matching the colors listed.
*Gabriel is not able to verbalize numbers at this time. We will count with him and give him the words that are needed and we also give him hand-over-hand support to touch various manipulatives.
*Continuing to use hand-over-hand support is needed to match various shapes.
*In circle activities, Gabriel will stay in his spot with an adult sitting right next to him. When the adult moves for a moment, Gabriel will get up. When in circle though, he has been watching the teacher more and doing the movements to a couple parts of songs. At the table, a therapy belt is used to help him stay seated in the chair and he requires hand-over-hand to complete activities. He will do scribbling with crayons independently.
*Gabriel will sign more when food is involved. He will also grab our hands to get us to see something that he wants occasionally. He also will inappropriately communicate his needs by screaming, pulling hair, and throwing objects.
Some exciting news there--they are seeing improvement, and he is adapting. The apprehensive side of me wants to ask how his progress compares with other children, if he is a problem or a disruptive influence in the classroom. I want to know if they like him even though he pulls their hair or refuses to acknowledge his classmates. The defiant voice in me wants to argue that we are lucky, as there are a lot of things that little Gaby doesn't have to deal with or go through that so many of his friends will. As he grows older, however, the errant behavior is becoming more and more definable by his lack of developmental progress. I can't help but be a little discouraged, and I have to repeat to myself again and again--judge Gaby by Gaby, because he is nobody else.
To end on a high note: in a highly playful mood, Gabriel called out "mama!" and hid under his blanket. It has been about a year since the last time he called me by name, and it was wonderful to hear. We played back and forth for a while, him calling to me and hiding and me "looking" for him and tickling him. Those little "normal" moments, times when I really feel we are bonding and he is engaged with me...those just make my whole month.
--Andie
No comments:
Post a Comment