Getting others on board with diagnoses, medication or therapies

As a parent of kids with special educational needs the world can sometimes seem a lonely place.  We rely on those close to us.  The friends I often make are parents who also have additional needs kids.  This makes sense really as I have most things in common with them.  We have a little community.  

But sometimes the extended family, teachers or friends can have misconceptions about certain diagnoses, medications or therapies.   This can make decisions about how to help kids even harder. 

Thinking about melatonin?

Sleep has been fairly absent in our past.  Our beautiful kids have a variety of challenges and autism and ADHD are among them.  This has resulted in poor sleep for most of the family for most of the time.  A few years ago, David started on melatonin.  It was not an easy decision to make or an easy prescription to get and in the end didn't work for us.  But if you are thinking about helping you or someone you love get to sleep so they can wake up to a good morning, here's some information on it for you.

When medication costs

No one wants to have to medicate their child. No one wants to medicate their child if they could do something else.  And certainly no one wants to use medication on their child that doesn't work well especially if it's because it's cheap.

My son is losing weight so he can concentrate at school

I've haven't grown upwards in years - outwards yes, upwards no.  And thats normal. Most girls stop growing taller at 16 and boys at about 18.  21 seems to be the general cut off for height.  So, it makes perfect sense for my eight year old to be slowly getting taller.  The problem is he is also getting lighter.

The difficulties of sleeping alone

When my partner is out or away I'm not very good at going to bed. The children tend to go to bed a bit later.  I have a bizarre dinner like cereal, or baked beans with cheese on them - if I haven't already eaten with the kids at their meal time. I watch movies - more than one.  And I got to bed very late... when I'm tired so when I get into bed I fall straight asleep.

Favourite Friday: The joy of his acceptance

You never know what's going to bring that massive grin to your face.  You know the one I mean, the one you can't stop even when you try, where you think if you don't stop your cheeks might squash your eyes closed.   The best one's are those that catch you unawares.  That's exactly what happened to me this morning.

Like most families that have autism in them, the morning routine is fairly fixed.  The routine gives the kids the stability they need to start the day and helps us get out of the house.  Today though there was a slight adjustment to the routine.  It was the first day that Anthony would be taking his ADHD meds. 

The slippery slope of medicating my kids

My boys are not in any physical pain. They are not bleeding, their organs aren't failing, they have no broken bones. They very rarely get colds or flu. But this afternoon, I'm visiting another medical professional seeking more drugs for one of my sons.