Days Twenty Two, Twenty Three and Twenty Four - CHANGES

Changes, Changes, it seems there are always changes. Monday was our last day with our beloved SLP who has been with us from the beginning of this whole adventure. She has been amazing, thoughtful, innovative and a great collaborator with all of my observations and wacky ideas - some of which have paid off :0). But like so many others, financial changes on the pond will not allow for continued private services. So we said goodbye, promised to keep in touch and hope that we will be back someday.

After our speech appointment, we read a few books, played some music - Frog has discovered Diva's toy guitar and I'm starting to think he should have a real one - and did some Floortime. After that, Frog played outside while I worked on financial plans and got ready for our trip to Seattle to see Frog's neurologist.

Tuesday we left the house bright and early and made it to the appointment just a few minutes late. Frog was really cooperative and the Doctor did some observing and listened to my observations about what had changed and what had stayed the same over the last six months. He suggested a trial of Vyvanse for Frog. Frog's Dad and I have gone back and forth on the issue, sometimes we feel he's too young and we aren't ready to go there yet, other days we wonder what if this was the piece that was missing? Frog has never really had trouble engaging and he is showing day by day that he really does not have a cognitive impairment - but he has NO attention span, little impulse control, and a very skittish tendency when others direct their attention or intentions towards him. I trust this doctor. We've decided to go ahead with a 30 day trial, just to see. This could make for a very interesting month.

We also work with a psychologist at the clinic. She asked us if we would help her with her thesis project and she needed some video of Frog and I interacting. So our "school" day was 20 minutes in front of a video camera in the clinic playroom. Despite the unusual surroundings, or maybe because of them, Frog did remarkably well following through on directions although I did have to do a lot of redirecting to keep him on task.

When we finished up with the doctors appointment, we took advantage of being in the city and had a family day at the Zoo. Due to busy schedules, there was no one to pick Diva up after school and keep her until we got home, so I pulled her and she came with us. Frog did a great job of attending and staying with us at the Zoo. Dad or I always had a hand on him, but he moved right along with us, only stopping or sitting down to rock a few times. We spent over one and a half hours wandering through the park.

We saw lots of big bushy gray squirrels while we ate lunch. Frog shared his cheese and crackers with them by dropping them off the end of the table.



Some of our fall stories talk about squirrels fattening up for the long winter months. I was glad we got to see it in action. I asked Frog about the squirrels today and he remembers them.

Frog checked out most of the plants at the zoo, and sampled a couple when I wasn't quick enough to get them first. He survived! He also showed some genuine interest in many of the animals.







Frog got very excited about the gorillas. He was doing a lot of low vocalizations while he watched them. When he saw the baby riding on its mother's back he let out a holler. Gorillas don't like loud noises. We gave Frog one warning. When he yelled again (agitating the docent as well as the gorillas) we told he we had to move on because he was too loud. I'm hoping this resulted in some incidental learning, but Frog has a hard time controlling the loud outbursts when he is excited.













We had to wait for the ferry on the way home, making it a very long day. Frog got a little fussy towards the end, but held up remarkably well. He was so tired when we got home. He found a blanket and curled up on a footstool near the couch where Diva was watching TV. He usually won't watch TV or stay in the living room with another person, but he was quiet, calm and content. I sat down near him and stroked his head, moving his hair back from his face. Usually this would be his cue to get up and leave. But he stayed and asked me to do it again and again.

Today, however, was another story. He did not want to cooperate. He only wanted to go outside. We weren't able to get our prescription filled - they had to order the meds. - so it will be Friday before we can try them. I dressed Frog 4 times in 30 minutes as he kept stripping off his clothing. I told him we were going to school to meet with the therapists (OT/SLP - amazing, amazing team, by the way!!!) but he just kept taking me to the backdoor. I finally got him to the car and we made it to school right on time. He did great in this initial session with his new SLP and the OT and OTA he has worked with in the past. I think this is going to be a winning combination. He started getting upset when it was time to go.

When we got home, we had lunch and he got his outside time as promised. He came in muddy and in need of clean pants. We decided to clean him up in the tub and read our books. When I finished the stories, he said he wanted to play by himself. I went back and forth between cleaning up downstairs and checking on him in the bathtub upstairs. He was being so good. He was turning the water on and off, just getting a little bit at a time. I complemented him on his control and conservation. I went downstairs to fill out one form our psychologist needed for her project. It must have taken longer than I thought. When I went back upstairs, the humidity hit me at the landing. Frog was not in the tub, Frog was at the vanity. Both basins were filled and overflowing with steamy hot water. The carpet and floor were soaked with a layer of water floating on top. The water was dripping down through the floor and into the furnace room and lower bathroom. School came to a halt. Frog was sent to his room, dried, dressed and left. I spent the afternoon cleaning up, best I could, and waiting on the professionals to finish the job. They got here around 5pm, removed the remaining water and left us with heavy duty fans and dehumidifiers. We shall see if further repair is needed in the morning.