Posted Monday, February 4, 2008 - 21:41 by Anonymous
I called the neurologist last Monday and upon hearing that Thomas is waking up earlier than ever, she decided to increase the Clonidine to two pills at night. Now, he can barely get through his shower with his eyes open. We’re giving it to him a little later than 7 p.m. so that he doesn’t fall asleep too early. This medication seems to work quickly but not long-term. I have heard that there is an extended-release Clonidine and I think I’ll have to call the doctor to ask her about it.
Last Friday I had a conference with Thomas’ teacher. It’s lucky that I came early because the principal cancelled conferences due to the big snowstorm we had here beginning Friday afternoon. We had a great little talk about Thomas, who is doing so many new and interesting things. He can trace his name all by himself! He actually draws the letters – I saw a sample and she took pictures of him doing it! I was very excited to hear that. They have all the kids do it at the beginning of school every day, so I suppose that eventually they’ll just remove the letters that they trace and have the kids write their names.
Also, and this is very cute, there’s a little girl in Thomas’ class who has a crush on him! He has a little girlfriend! She started right after winter break, so she is new to the class just like Thomas was in November. The first day back from break, the kids were doing the “Freeze Dance” and Thomas asked this little girl if she wanted to dance with him – just like a couple of teenagers, but without the angst and fear of rejection. Now she hangs around with Thomas and follows him around during the school day. The teacher felt that Thomas actively seeking social interaction is a huge step in the right direction and so do we.
One thing that we both agreed Thomas needs help with is that he’s a close-talker (remember Judge Reinhold on “Seinfeld?”). He doesn’t acknowledge or understand other people’s need for personal space. He gets about four inches away from someone’s nose and asks questions or starts talking. I’ve been trying to model for him the appropriate distance there should be between two faces when a conversation is taking place. As is typical, he doesn’t understand social nuances. We continue to be grateful that he notices others and talks to them. In the meantime, he’s our little close-talker.
We talked a little bit about next year’s placement for kindergarten. Thomas’ teacher thinks that at this point, Thomas would be best-suited to spending part of the day in a MLP (that’s multiple learning placement) class and part of the day in a typical kindergarten class. Apparently, there are around thirty children in a regular class and the teacher feels that lots of kids would over-stimulate Thomas and he’d have a hard time with it. The MLP class is much smaller but very similar to the kindergarten class in terms of what they learn. There’s also the possibility of Thomas having an aide with him in the regular class. Those are our options at this point, but we’re very excited at the idea of Thomas being able to spend part of his day in a regular class with typically developing kids.
I’ve started taking Thomas with me when Hayley has dance class on Tuesday nights. He’s been asking to come with me for a while now. I explained that all we do is sit in a room and wait for Hayley to be done, but he was eager. Luckily, there’s another little girl in there to play with and last week there was a six year-old boy he played with. This boy was a little confused by Thomas’ lack of respect for the personal space, but he was actually very nice to Thomas and played with him during the entire hour. Unfortunately, the Leapster that Thomas got for his birthday already crapped out, and that thing kept him quiet and entertained for quite a while. I think we’ll have to get him another one and tether it to his wrist so that he can’t drop it anywhere…like the toilet.
We’re having our car fixed so my mom was gracious enough to lend us hers while we wait for the necessary repairs to be completed. Thomas has been very interested in the fact that Grandma’s car is sitting in the driveway, but luckily he’s not as crazy about the Camry as he is about Grandpa’s Highlander. My dad specifically lent us the sedan knowing that Thomas is completely and utterly obsessed with my Grandpa’s car. I explained that the Suburban was going to the “car doctor” to hopefully be fixed. I told them that if the “mechanic” (vocabulary!) couldn’t fix the car, we’d have to get a different one. Thomas was all for that idea. He doesn’t really understand about commerce and the exchange of money for good and services, though. Typical for his age group, but we’re still trying. Luckily, we can get the family truckster repaired. I told Thomas that the mechanic can give our car the right medicine and we’ll get it back tomorrow. He said, “Wait, wait, wait. You mean our truck is coming back? What about a new one?” I explained that we don’t have to get a new car after all and isn’t that great? He was crestfallen, apparently really hoping to get rid of that old jalopy leaking oil in the driveway. It’s so offensive to him.
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I called the neurologist last Monday and upon hearing that Thomas is waking up earlier than ever, she decided to increase the Clonidine to two pills at night. Now, he can barely get through his shower with his eyes open. We’re giving it to him a little later than 7 p.m. so that he doesn’t fall asleep too early. This medication seems to work quickly but not long-term. I have heard that there is an extended-release Clonidine and I think I’ll have to call the doctor to ask her about it.
Last Friday I had a conference with Thomas’ teacher. It’s lucky that I came early because the principal cancelled conferences due to the big snowstorm we had here beginning Friday afternoon. We had a great little talk about Thomas, who is doing so many new and interesting things. He can trace his name all by himself! He actually draws the letters – I saw a sample and she took pictures of him doing it! I was very excited to hear that. They have all the kids do it at the beginning of school every day, so I suppose that eventually they’ll just remove the letters that they trace and have the kids write their names.
Also, and this is very cute, there’s a little girl in Thomas’ class who has a crush on him! He has a little girlfriend! She started right after winter break, so she is new to the class just like Thomas was in November. The first day back from break, the kids were doing the “Freeze Dance” and Thomas asked this little girl if she wanted to dance with him – just like a couple of teenagers, but without the angst and fear of rejection. Now she hangs around with Thomas and follows him around during the school day. The teacher felt that Thomas actively seeking social interaction is a huge step in the right direction and so do we.
One thing that we both agreed Thomas needs help with is that he’s a close-talker (remember Judge Reinhold on “Seinfeld?”). He doesn’t acknowledge or understand other people’s need for personal space. He gets about four inches away from someone’s nose and asks questions or starts talking. I’ve been trying to model for him the appropriate distance there should be between two faces when a conversation is taking place. As is typical, he doesn’t understand social nuances. We continue to be grateful that he notices others and talks to them. In the meantime, he’s our little close-talker.
We talked a little bit about next year’s placement for kindergarten. Thomas’ teacher thinks that at this point, Thomas would be best-suited to spending part of the day in a MLP (that’s multiple learning placement) class and part of the day in a typical kindergarten class. Apparently, there are around thirty children in a regular class and the teacher feels that lots of kids would over-stimulate Thomas and he’d have a hard time with it. The MLP class is much smaller but very similar to the kindergarten class in terms of what they learn. There’s also the possibility of Thomas having an aide with him in the regular class. Those are our options at this point, but we’re very excited at the idea of Thomas being able to spend part of his day in a regular class with typically developing kids.
I’ve started taking Thomas with me when Hayley has dance class on Tuesday nights. He’s been asking to come with me for a while now. I explained that all we do is sit in a room and wait for Hayley to be done, but he was eager. Luckily, there’s another little girl in there to play with and last week there was a six year-old boy he played with. This boy was a little confused by Thomas’ lack of respect for the personal space, but he was actually very nice to Thomas and played with him during the entire hour. Unfortunately, the Leapster that Thomas got for his birthday already crapped out, and that thing kept him quiet and entertained for quite a while. I think we’ll have to get him another one and tether it to his wrist so that he can’t drop it anywhere…like the toilet.
We’re having our car fixed so my mom was gracious enough to lend us hers while we wait for the necessary repairs to be completed. Thomas has been very interested in the fact that Grandma’s car is sitting in the driveway, but luckily he’s not as crazy about the Camry as he is about Grandpa’s Highlander. My dad specifically lent us the sedan knowing that Thomas is completely and utterly obsessed with my Grandpa’s car. I explained that the Suburban was going to the “car doctor” to hopefully be fixed. I told them that if the “mechanic” (vocabulary!) couldn’t fix the car, we’d have to get a different one. Thomas was all for that idea. He doesn’t really understand about commerce and the exchange of money for good and services, though. Typical for his age group, but we’re still trying. Luckily, we can get the family truckster repaired. I told Thomas that the mechanic can give our car the right medicine and we’ll get it back tomorrow. He said, “Wait, wait, wait. You mean our truck is coming back? What about a new one?” I explained that we don’t have to get a new car after all and isn’t that great? He was crestfallen, apparently really hoping to get rid of that old jalopy leaking oil in the driveway. It’s so offensive to him.