Tuesday, January 18, 2011
My son's story
My son is the light of my life. Looking into his eyes I see the world, I see everything good that God has created. He is smart and curious; always trying to figure out how the world works. He is energetic to say the least. Every time I look at him my heart melts. When he was born, he has some trouble eating. He would drink the bottle and then we would sit him up to burp him and he would projectile vomit the entire bottle. A reason was never figured out as to why he did this. The problem didn't stop until he was two and a half and then he seemed to outgrow the issue (thank goodness!). At five years old, he has never slept through the night. He has night terrors-screaming, kicking, punching and wanting to be held all at the same time. When he wakes up, he never remembers them happening. He seems to think he slept all night. He doesn't like people to touch him and he doesn't like a lot of noise. When we go to parties or grocery shopping, he gets upset easily because he is overwhelmed by his surroundings. He NEVER stops moving. Anything that can be climbed is climbed, and things one would never think about climbing are tackled with ease. I can't take my eyes off him for a second. He is very physical; He loves to skate board and ride his bike, always trying to learn new tricks. A day inside consits of jumping from the couch to the trampoline over and over. He gets upset very easily. Just asking him to put his shirt on can cause a battle. When he gets mad, he hits his own face, screams, stamps his feet or bangs his head on the wall. It's hard for him to play with other children because he is so impulsive. He can't control himself if he gets angry and will often push, hit or bite other children. Transitions are very hard for him. He needs to know in advance everything that is happening. He will ask me over thirty times a day "What time is it?". That is his way of knowing when he will need to move on to another activity. He also had a decreased sense of touch. Once he put his hand on the iron burning his entire palm and didn't even cry. He crashes into walls and pushes his body into things so that he can feel the input. When he was two his doctor referred him to an occupational therapist to start therapy with the diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder, also knows as Sensory Integration Disorder. The definition of this disorder is: "A neurological disorder characterized by disruption in the processing and organization of sensory information by the central nervous system, characterized by impaired sensitivity to sensory input, motor control problems, unusually high or low activity levels, and emotional instability." Basically, the world around him is very overwhelming. All his senses are on high alert. His shirt feels like a rough, rug against his body, people seem to always be yelling, all lights are blinding, all the colors are very bright. Its hard for him to focus his attention because everything seems so important. He is trying to complete a task, but his clothes are bothering him, the bird outside is loud, the room is hot and his muscles are twitching. In therapy, he is learning how to desensitise his body. He plays on balls, swings on swings and jumps in a ball pit. He listens to loud music while trying to play a board game. All these things help his body feel right with the world. At 18 months, he started daycare while I was in nursing school. Everyday was a battle for him. He would run around the table while it was snack or art time. He never wanted the teachers to touch him. One day he was crying and a teacher picked him up, and he became upset and head butted her giving her a bloody nose. This daycare was not set up for children with this disorder. It was very noisy, had bright lights and little outdoor time. Now, he goes to preschool at a private school that works to fit his needs. He goes only 2 hours a day so he doesn't get overwhelmed. The school has a great set up for him. He is outside 75% of the day no matter what the weather. He is able to climb, jump and explore to get the energy out of his body. Even with this set up, he is experiencing problems with his peers. He comes home crying saying he has no friends and no body will talk to him. He says the kids laugh at him and make fun of him. When talking to the teachers, they say he is the class clown and always making jokes. But, he cries and becomes angry when the kids laugh at the jokes. He was potty trained at night and because of the stress at school, he began wetting his pants. I took him to his pediatrician and he recommended he see and pediatric developmental specialist. I called to setup an appt. for him and was told it would be a 7 month wait! However, we got lucky that there was a cancellation and we were seen within a month. He was recently seen at the beginning of January. The specialist diagnosed him with severe ADHD. According to her it is "to the extent that is effects every aspect of his life." I was surprised by the diagnosis because I always thought ADHD was a learning disablitly and only affected schooling. After researching it, I found that it is a much bigger problem then that. The doctor felt strongly that my son could not control himself and is extremely unsafe. I had told her a story of this summer when he climbed onto a bridge and was right on the ledge, this was the scariest moment of my life! This doctor recommended starting him on Ritalin to control his impulses. She stated that she doesn't ususally start this medication until age 7, but feels very strongly that he will get hurt because of his saftey issues if he doesn't start the meds. So this is where we are now. In the processing of deciding what do with all this information. Do we start meds? Do we try alternative therapies? What will this mean for his future? I love my son more than the world and the heavans and the stars. I will do anything so that he will succeed in life and be happy. I will fight for him to get everything he needs. And I will never, ever give up on him. This is just the beginning of my son's story. One day, he will use this energy to change the world.
