Untitled

I could not think of an appropriate title for this post.  Our situation is turning into exactly what I feared for such a long time.  Sam's behaviors are increasingly dangerous and he has stalled/regressed in pretty much all skills.  In this past week alone Sam

• Smashed a carton of milk on the floor
•  Stayed up most of tuesday night, ended the all nighter by smashing glass all over the dining room resulting my going to work with my hands bandaged up,
• clawed my face up when he was frustrated going to bed wednesday night leaving me with three nice scabs for work the next day
• smacked me in the head a few times before bed pretty much every night
• dropped a water pitcher on the floor then kicked me in the face as I tried to mop up the water before it spread everywhere
• kicked my husband and me numerous times for fun and in anger
• soaked the carpets in water he steals from the faucets and throws on the floors
• covered the floors in food he takes, throws on the floors and them jumps on
• threw a knife at my foot - luckily it hit me at an angle and I was wearing heavy socks
• hit me with shoes, toys, cups, books, and pretty much anything else he has been able to get his hands on - he aims for my head and my feet
• risked setting the kitchen on fire by throwing things at the stove when I was cooking
• jumped so much he shook tiles off the bathroom wall

My mother came to visit yesterday and she was very upset at the situtation.  She said she feels we need to look into possible residential placement for him because it is becoming difficult to keep the girls safe.  It is something we have had in the back of our minds for a while now.  We are still hoping we can find a magical behaviorist or a beneficial medication that will allow Sam to stay with us ( I am not to hopeful on the behaviorist front since we have worked with some GREAT ones who haven't been able to help with this at all).  We are not giving up yet but we are getting close. 

If anyone out there has had success working with a nonverbal, hyperactive, severely behavioral child, please offer up your suggestions!

The one thing all three kids can happily do together.  It scares the you-know-what out of me, but they love it.

Sensory Smart Superstar

This is my most recent post on my other blog www.sanitystitches.blogspot.com .  Since it relates to special needs I decided to re-post over here:

Sewing for Sam is something I have agonized over in previous posts. First of all, sewing for boys can be more difficult, at least when you are just starting out. You can't just whip up a simple skirt for your guy to try out your machine (well, of course you CAN, and I certainly wouldn't judge - but Sam isn't interested). In addition, Sam is PROFOUNDLY autistic. He is essentially non-verbal, he has major behavior issues, he has severe cognitive impairment (my youngest sailed past him cognitively at about 15 months), and he has sensory issues. The cognitive and sensory issues limit our clothing options.

I really haven't made him anything he will wear until now (I explained the pj fiasco in a previous post). So when I saw that the 3rd week on Project Run and Play requires making an outfit for a boy, I considered skipping this one. But then I decided to think hard about what might work and gave it a go. I am very pleased with the results!!!

For the pants, I started with the Oliver and S Bedtime Story pajama pants. The fabric is a dark olive fine-wale cord. Sam can only wear elastic waist pants because he cannot do buttons, zippers or drawstrings. I trimmed about 1/2 inch off the top of the pants and then I made the attached waistband wider (I used 2 inch elastic). I made the waistband out of a lighter olive green quilting cotton which was leftover from the Party Dress Remix I made in week one. I added a row of stitches around the top of the elastic to prevent the elastic shifting. I left off the leg bindings in that pattern and just made sure the pants were long enough to hem properly. I added a cargo pocket on one leg just for the look of it. Sam doesn't use pockets.


Sam doesn't like stiff collars and he isn't wild about shirts made with woven fabric so for the top I stared with the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern (designed for stretchy fabric). I sized up so it would be loose enough to wear over a tee or undershirt and I used a shirt he already has to adjust the sleeve length. I used a light to mid weight fleece. I wanted to add something interesting to the front. Sam doesn't have any hobbies for me to pull and image from. His only "activity" is throwing things around the house and jumping up and down and that doesn't really lend itself to a clothing theme! I decided a simple shape like a star would be a nice touch. I printed out a star from Microsoft Word and cut out it out of navy blue fabric - the same as what I was using for the cuffs and the neck. I sewed the star onto the front piece before assembling the shirt. I made a mock turtle neck for warmth (a full turtleneck would drive him nuts).

The big test was when Sam had to put everything on. He can't tolerate being measured so I was using his other clothes to figure out measurements. My big fears were that he would reject the outfit for some reason or the fit would be off. But. . . .SUCCESS

Then I had to get him to take pictures. I bribed him with candy (by the way, in the world of Autism, it isn't candy, it is a "reinforcer". That makes it better, right?) I was able to get a few shots but most were like the one above - hand flapping, jumping up and down, and generally being spastic.

Poking at the window:

I got him to show the waistband:

Then I called it quits and let him run off.

Illness

Sam was hit hard about a week and a half ago with a nasty bug.  I got it too but he was knocked out worse than I was.  He had fevers for about 10 days and he was sleeping 20+ hours a day.  It started on a Saturday and it appeared to be a 24 hr bug because SUnday he was fine.  Monday he went to school and I got a phone call saying he had dozed off, they were having trouble waking him and he seemed to be having seizure -like activity when they tried.  The nurse said he didn't appear to lose oxygen and she wasn't overly concerned.  Then she called back and said it happened again and she would need me to pick him up because she didn't want to put him on the bus.  For the next week he spiked fevers and slept.  While I certainly don't want Sam to be uncomfortable, I have to admit that his being ill had some advantages.  It allowed me to cuddle him and be with him without anything being thrown for a few days. 

Sam is back to normal today and as soon as we got home he started throwing things everywhere.  sigh.  We follow up with the neurologist tomorrow.