So much has happened that I really don't even know where to start. I'm learning that advocacy is a full time job. I'm constantly fielding emails and phone calls, questioning policies, asking questions, and making visits. Sometimes I am handling big issues and sometimes I am handling little ones. Let me tell you....the little ones can be just as annoying as the big. Sometimes I just shake my head. Here are a few of the things we have dealt with in the last couple of weeks:
- Oksana has been moved to a new teacher and we really like her. She enjoys going to school again and is toileting more consistently during school. I'll share more about why we made that change another time. It wasn't pretty.
- I learned that they were having men bathe Oksana. After questioning that policy it has been changed.
- Oksana went so far downhill that I called the psychiatrist convinced that she was catatonic. She basically got to the point that she would lay on the floor and not move for a very long time. She wasn't speaking, wasn't eating, was constantly slumped over, etc. It was bad. After some bloodwork we learned that her depakote levels are high and she shows sign of a chronic infection. They suspect she may have had mono which would explain things. They tested her for it and we will have results next week.
- While we were concerned about catatonia we also made the decision to do some extensive genetic testing. She will go to the genetics clinic at children's hospital in December. Every one is convinced that with her level of complexity there has to be more going on than we can see. We also discussed possible further neruological testing.
- A few weeks before Halloween we went out and got Oksana a costume. It was an angel costume. We went to see her last week and I was so excited to hear about Halloween. I found out that they lost the dress and made her a pirate. It's not a huge deal but I paid money for that, I picked it out because I thought it would make her feel special, and how on earth do you lose a big gold glittery dress?!
-We had another big meeting about Oksana with the team who has been helping us since this summer. We talked about all of the pros and cons of where we are right now. It was decided that they will extend Oksana's stay another 3 months. After that I have no idea what will happen.
- We are planning another meeting next week with the residential center and the school to address some concerns (like the fact that we suspect they are feeding her) and make sure we are all on the same page again.
And that's really just the tip of the iceberg. The good news is that physically she is doing better. They suspect that if it was mono that she had, she is getting over it because she is perking up again. We do have a good team of people willing to help us so that is the first step. Unfortunately communication stinks there but I hope that we can work through that. I'll try to get some pictures when we see her on Friday.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
God is funny like that
Earlier this year I told someone in our women's ministry that I would be willing to share some of our story during a bible study. God used that in a big way and it was a huge blessing. It was very healing for me. When I get to share my story it gives purpose to my suffering. Some relate even if they aren't living the exact same situation and they see that someone understands. Some can't relate but maybe they better understand the suffering of someone else in their life.
After that was over we went through some very hard times with Oksana and so there was no time to focus on anything but surviving. Now that she has been out of our home for a couple of months and we have had time to regroup, God has decided it's time for me to get working again.
A month or so ago I was given the opportunity to give some input into a written piece about parenting children with mental illness. http://themighty.com/2015/10/a-parents-guide-to-mental-illness-in-the-family/http://themighty.com/2015/10/a-parents-guide-to-mental-illness-in-the-family/
From that I was asked to write a piece on my own and I recently wrote this: http://themighty.com/2015/11/5-ways-having-a-child-with-mental-illness-has-changed-me-for-the-better/
I was also asked to write something for Lutheran Children and Family Services and NAMI but I haven't done that yet.
Then came the speaking.
First NAMI called and asked if we would come speak to a politician that they were meeting with and share our story.
Next, I was approached about being the speaker at the Christmas Gala event that the women's ministry of our church has every year. I agreed to it but I still have no idea why they chose me. Apparently God has something for me to say so I've been writing and asking Him to make it clear to me.
Then the Department of Mental Health approached me and asked if Larry and I would come speak at their big regional staff meeting about a parent's perspective on mental illness and our struggles in the system. Ummmm.....yes.
Finally, Lutheran Children and Family Services contacted me and asked me to come to their staff meeting to talk to them about our story and then do a Q&A with their staff.
On the more relaxed and fun side of it all I got to do a presentation on Down Syndrome to Anya's class and was asked to come next week and do the same thing in another class that has a boy with Down Syndrome.
I have no idea what God is up to but he gave me this for a reason so I'm just going to follow along and see what happens.
I promise I will do an Oksana update soon.
After that was over we went through some very hard times with Oksana and so there was no time to focus on anything but surviving. Now that she has been out of our home for a couple of months and we have had time to regroup, God has decided it's time for me to get working again.
A month or so ago I was given the opportunity to give some input into a written piece about parenting children with mental illness. http://themighty.com/2015/10/a-parents-guide-to-mental-illness-in-the-family/http://themighty.com/2015/10/a-parents-guide-to-mental-illness-in-the-family/
From that I was asked to write a piece on my own and I recently wrote this: http://themighty.com/2015/11/5-ways-having-a-child-with-mental-illness-has-changed-me-for-the-better/
I was also asked to write something for Lutheran Children and Family Services and NAMI but I haven't done that yet.
Then came the speaking.
First NAMI called and asked if we would come speak to a politician that they were meeting with and share our story.
Next, I was approached about being the speaker at the Christmas Gala event that the women's ministry of our church has every year. I agreed to it but I still have no idea why they chose me. Apparently God has something for me to say so I've been writing and asking Him to make it clear to me.
Then the Department of Mental Health approached me and asked if Larry and I would come speak at their big regional staff meeting about a parent's perspective on mental illness and our struggles in the system. Ummmm.....yes.
Finally, Lutheran Children and Family Services contacted me and asked me to come to their staff meeting to talk to them about our story and then do a Q&A with their staff.
On the more relaxed and fun side of it all I got to do a presentation on Down Syndrome to Anya's class and was asked to come next week and do the same thing in another class that has a boy with Down Syndrome.
I have no idea what God is up to but he gave me this for a reason so I'm just going to follow along and see what happens.
I promise I will do an Oksana update soon.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Cheerleader
This post is mostly for Sharon! Sharon met Anya in Bulgaria when she was visiting her daughter so she likes it when I keep her updated on Anya's insanity ;).
This time last year we singed Anya up for cheerleading. It only lasted a few months and was just something for fun. It ended back in March and she has talked about it pretty much weekly ever since! I was just getting ready to sign her up again when I learned about a special needs cheer squad. They run year round and cheer at competitions all over the city. It was a pretty penny, but I thought we would at least give it a try. Oh my.....she absolutely loves it! This is definitely her "thing"! Her coach is a former Mizzou cheerleader and is now and OT. It's an awesome team! Here are some pictures:
This time last year we singed Anya up for cheerleading. It only lasted a few months and was just something for fun. It ended back in March and she has talked about it pretty much weekly ever since! I was just getting ready to sign her up again when I learned about a special needs cheer squad. They run year round and cheer at competitions all over the city. It was a pretty penny, but I thought we would at least give it a try. Oh my.....she absolutely loves it! This is definitely her "thing"! Her coach is a former Mizzou cheerleader and is now and OT. It's an awesome team! Here are some pictures:
 |
| She was terrified of stunts when she started, but now she loves it! She still doesn't want to stay up there long though! |
 |
| I adore this picture. |
 |
| The jacket and the bow the size of her head! |
 |
| Stunts! |
 |
| The team and their buddies! |
 |
| Her first competition. The special needs teams don't get judged, but at this one she got a participation medal! |
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Very quick update and I will explain more later
I'm going to share a few basic things we are dealing with right now more as a reminder to myself so that I can come back later and expand on them.
I mentioned in my last blog that the woman who was our main contact at the residential center was suddenly no longer working there. We were just getting to know the woman who took her place and I just found out today that she quit. UGH!
On Wednesday our Crider and Regional center caseworkers had a meeting with the supervisors at the residential center to get some things clarified and express concern about the lack of communication and lack of consistency in care. The supervisors were awesome. They stepped right up and created a fantastic action plan. If they really follow through I think we are on a good track to be making progress.
In that meeting we learned that someone (I don't feel comfortable saying who yet because this is public but I will as soon as it is resolved) who is involved in Oksana's care did some things that could be considered abuse. I will explain more about what she did as well later. After discussing it with Crider and Regional it was decided that we would contact her supervisor and give her a chance to deal appropriately with it or we would hotline her. I talked to the supervisor tonight and she was extremely concerned and is already moving up the chain of command to deal with this. This person will not be part of Oksana's team anymore soon and if I get my way she will be fired because I don't believe she should be doing this job.
This is my reminder to myself to tell you more about Anya's behaviors and what we are learning. She is doing awesome but we have learned some triggers that haven't been a problem in the past. I'm sure they are appearing now because of all of the stress with Oksana and then her sudden disappearance. It's nothing we can't deal with, just a bummer that we even have to.
Evan got braces today! He's feeling the pain but overall said that they whole experience hasn't been as bad as he thought it would be. Today Evan was also diagnosed with anxiety. I will share more about that soon too.
Clayton has been a part of the technical theater team, building sets, etc and this weekend is the big show. I can't wait to see it. It is the ballet Giselle. He recently expressed interest in getting involved in musical theater. I'm shocked. Absolutely shocked. I'm also thrilled that he is stepping out of his box and whether he enjoys it or not I think it will be an awesome experience.
Sorry for all of the vague descriptions but it is late and I have to get up early! I'll be back soon!
I mentioned in my last blog that the woman who was our main contact at the residential center was suddenly no longer working there. We were just getting to know the woman who took her place and I just found out today that she quit. UGH!
On Wednesday our Crider and Regional center caseworkers had a meeting with the supervisors at the residential center to get some things clarified and express concern about the lack of communication and lack of consistency in care. The supervisors were awesome. They stepped right up and created a fantastic action plan. If they really follow through I think we are on a good track to be making progress.
In that meeting we learned that someone (I don't feel comfortable saying who yet because this is public but I will as soon as it is resolved) who is involved in Oksana's care did some things that could be considered abuse. I will explain more about what she did as well later. After discussing it with Crider and Regional it was decided that we would contact her supervisor and give her a chance to deal appropriately with it or we would hotline her. I talked to the supervisor tonight and she was extremely concerned and is already moving up the chain of command to deal with this. This person will not be part of Oksana's team anymore soon and if I get my way she will be fired because I don't believe she should be doing this job.
This is my reminder to myself to tell you more about Anya's behaviors and what we are learning. She is doing awesome but we have learned some triggers that haven't been a problem in the past. I'm sure they are appearing now because of all of the stress with Oksana and then her sudden disappearance. It's nothing we can't deal with, just a bummer that we even have to.
Evan got braces today! He's feeling the pain but overall said that they whole experience hasn't been as bad as he thought it would be. Today Evan was also diagnosed with anxiety. I will share more about that soon too.
Clayton has been a part of the technical theater team, building sets, etc and this weekend is the big show. I can't wait to see it. It is the ballet Giselle. He recently expressed interest in getting involved in musical theater. I'm shocked. Absolutely shocked. I'm also thrilled that he is stepping out of his box and whether he enjoys it or not I think it will be an awesome experience.
Sorry for all of the vague descriptions but it is late and I have to get up early! I'll be back soon!
Monday, October 12, 2015
So this is what "normal" feels a bit like
I have to say....I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed and really got to focus on my kids, myself, and my husband. Let me tell you a bit of what has been going on here.
Shortly after Oksana left and I started to turn my focus back to my other kids I noticed a couple of things about Evan. First is that the more independent he gets the more we are seeing that all of the things about Evan that we thought were "carelessness", "rushing", "ditzy", "forgetful", are actually far more than that. The older and more independent he gets the more we see some things about Evan impacting his life. We recently went to a psychologist and it is looking likely that Evan will be diagnosed with ADD (which is now called the inattentive type of ADHD). The other thing I focused on was finally getting him to an orthodontist. His teeth aren't bad overall but he has one tooth that can not come down into place because it is hitting the tooth next to it. Guess who is getting braces in about 10 days? In other news he is very active at the barn. They have started an equestrian team for jr high and high school and he will have an opportunity to letter in the sport! He is going to be competing twice this month and has been volunteering his time working at the barn on Saturdays to learn more and earn free riding time. I spend a lot of time back and forth between home and the barn!
Clayton has been taking a technical theater class and right now they are working hard on an amazing set for Giselle, a ballet the school is doing in 2 weeks. I'm not a big ballet person but since Clayton is part of the crew and 3 of the kids that are in his high school class are in it I am going to go. I'm actually pretty excited about it if for no other reason than to see these kids do what they love! I'll post pictures of the set as soon as I can. He has also been working 2 days a week as a janitor at our church. He seems to like it overall, and it is teaching him a lot of great skills. Now if only I could get him to drive. He has his license, has no desire to drive, and acts tortured when I make him.
Anya, Anya, Anya....always an adventure with this kid. She is continuing to make great progress with her behavior therapist. I am thrilled. She went to orientation for the pageant last week and made quite an impression on everyone! At one point she was trying to steal the microphone from the lady presenting so she could sing. I don't think we will have a problem getting her on stage. We might, however, have a problem getting her off! Last week she joined a special needs cheer squad. Let me tell you....this girl is in heaven! She absolutely loves cheering! For once I get to just be the mom. She has an awesome one on one helping her! This squad goes year round and does local competitions. Wait until you see the uniform. Oh my, she is going to look precious! Yesterday they started working on stunts. At first she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it but little by little she got higher and higher. Now she calls it flying and wants to be up all the time!
Friday was supposed to be our first family therapy session with Oksana. Her main therapist is Jennifer and she was our contact person for everything, and the main contact for Crider and Regional Center. She was also our main contact when Oksana was there earlier in the year. She knows our family well so when we found out that Crider required family therapy she immediately said she wanted to be our therapist. We set up a time that we could be sure she would be there. On Monday she sent me a text and verified the time for Friday. On Friday I sent her a text asking where she wanted us to meet her and got no response. So I called and got no answer. We went ahead to the main desk and told them we were there for family therapy with Jennifer. They told us to have a seat and we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally someone came in and asked us to join them in a meeting room. When we all got in there she said "There is no good way to tell you this. Jennifer is no longer with us." I was SHOCKED....like jaw on the floor shocked. I still don't know what happened. Long story short we met the woman replacing her, ended up just having a visit with Oksana, and rescheduled family therapy for the next week.
We had a rather good visit with Oksana. We laughed and talked had a nice time. If you aren't my facebook friend, you have to hear this story. She was telling me that Betch, one of her hallucinations, talks about one of the girls that is in residential with her. I asked what Betch says. She told me that Betch doesn't understand why she calls the staff "Betches" and "Holes". Now Oksana does not understand cuss words so this is what she thinks the girl is calling the staff but you can put two and two together and figure out what she is really calling them! So I tried to play it off as no big deal and told her that was pretty silly to which she replied "The staff sure doesn't think so!!" I died laughing! These are some of the benefits of that intellectual disability!
Larry and I are getting ready for a weekend away together in a couple of weeks! I.CAN'T.WAIT! We are going to go to a Weekend to Remember marriage conference. These are the conferences that FamilyLife does and that is the ministry we worked for in Little Rock. We are so excited to get to see some old friends from the ministry and spend a weekend focusing on each other. It will be awesome :).
In other news we have a new family member! Our nephew, Zaine, was born earlier this week. He is so cute! I love having another boy in the family. My in laws have 7 grandchildren now and our 2 boys were the only boys for a long time. Here are some pictures from the first time we met him.
I think that updates you for now. I'll be back soon to share more!
Shortly after Oksana left and I started to turn my focus back to my other kids I noticed a couple of things about Evan. First is that the more independent he gets the more we are seeing that all of the things about Evan that we thought were "carelessness", "rushing", "ditzy", "forgetful", are actually far more than that. The older and more independent he gets the more we see some things about Evan impacting his life. We recently went to a psychologist and it is looking likely that Evan will be diagnosed with ADD (which is now called the inattentive type of ADHD). The other thing I focused on was finally getting him to an orthodontist. His teeth aren't bad overall but he has one tooth that can not come down into place because it is hitting the tooth next to it. Guess who is getting braces in about 10 days? In other news he is very active at the barn. They have started an equestrian team for jr high and high school and he will have an opportunity to letter in the sport! He is going to be competing twice this month and has been volunteering his time working at the barn on Saturdays to learn more and earn free riding time. I spend a lot of time back and forth between home and the barn!
Clayton has been taking a technical theater class and right now they are working hard on an amazing set for Giselle, a ballet the school is doing in 2 weeks. I'm not a big ballet person but since Clayton is part of the crew and 3 of the kids that are in his high school class are in it I am going to go. I'm actually pretty excited about it if for no other reason than to see these kids do what they love! I'll post pictures of the set as soon as I can. He has also been working 2 days a week as a janitor at our church. He seems to like it overall, and it is teaching him a lot of great skills. Now if only I could get him to drive. He has his license, has no desire to drive, and acts tortured when I make him.
Anya, Anya, Anya....always an adventure with this kid. She is continuing to make great progress with her behavior therapist. I am thrilled. She went to orientation for the pageant last week and made quite an impression on everyone! At one point she was trying to steal the microphone from the lady presenting so she could sing. I don't think we will have a problem getting her on stage. We might, however, have a problem getting her off! Last week she joined a special needs cheer squad. Let me tell you....this girl is in heaven! She absolutely loves cheering! For once I get to just be the mom. She has an awesome one on one helping her! This squad goes year round and does local competitions. Wait until you see the uniform. Oh my, she is going to look precious! Yesterday they started working on stunts. At first she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it but little by little she got higher and higher. Now she calls it flying and wants to be up all the time!
Friday was supposed to be our first family therapy session with Oksana. Her main therapist is Jennifer and she was our contact person for everything, and the main contact for Crider and Regional Center. She was also our main contact when Oksana was there earlier in the year. She knows our family well so when we found out that Crider required family therapy she immediately said she wanted to be our therapist. We set up a time that we could be sure she would be there. On Monday she sent me a text and verified the time for Friday. On Friday I sent her a text asking where she wanted us to meet her and got no response. So I called and got no answer. We went ahead to the main desk and told them we were there for family therapy with Jennifer. They told us to have a seat and we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally someone came in and asked us to join them in a meeting room. When we all got in there she said "There is no good way to tell you this. Jennifer is no longer with us." I was SHOCKED....like jaw on the floor shocked. I still don't know what happened. Long story short we met the woman replacing her, ended up just having a visit with Oksana, and rescheduled family therapy for the next week.
We had a rather good visit with Oksana. We laughed and talked had a nice time. If you aren't my facebook friend, you have to hear this story. She was telling me that Betch, one of her hallucinations, talks about one of the girls that is in residential with her. I asked what Betch says. She told me that Betch doesn't understand why she calls the staff "Betches" and "Holes". Now Oksana does not understand cuss words so this is what she thinks the girl is calling the staff but you can put two and two together and figure out what she is really calling them! So I tried to play it off as no big deal and told her that was pretty silly to which she replied "The staff sure doesn't think so!!" I died laughing! These are some of the benefits of that intellectual disability!
Larry and I are getting ready for a weekend away together in a couple of weeks! I.CAN'T.WAIT! We are going to go to a Weekend to Remember marriage conference. These are the conferences that FamilyLife does and that is the ministry we worked for in Little Rock. We are so excited to get to see some old friends from the ministry and spend a weekend focusing on each other. It will be awesome :).
In other news we have a new family member! Our nephew, Zaine, was born earlier this week. He is so cute! I love having another boy in the family. My in laws have 7 grandchildren now and our 2 boys were the only boys for a long time. Here are some pictures from the first time we met him.
I think that updates you for now. I'll be back soon to share more!
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Head Shots
I just registered Anya for the pageant. I'm still laughing about the whole thing! Here are the head shots my friend took! I chose the one at the bottom. Even though the other 2 are amazing the one at the bottom is best for the purposes. She is so cute!
Monday, September 28, 2015
How It's Going
Thank you Samara J for lighting a fire under my behind to update this blog! I really should update more often because there is plenty to share. Since I'm behind I'll have to give an overview.
Oksana is not doing well. She has decided to completely refuse to walk. She whines and cries constantly to try to get them to do things for her and then when they do she laughs at them and says things like "got you". Oh boy she is having a good old time. She is driving the staff insane. We had a meeting about her last week with her teacher, residential staff, Crider, and regional center (department of mental health). It was a really good meeting. We came up with some ideas to attempt to get her walking again. They told us how she is exhausting the staff. I have to admit that I felt validated. Larry and I have been doing this for so long alone. We have been exhausted beyond belief. It was good to know that someone else understands what we feel. Her aggression has not increased greatly which is good. She is choosing different behaviors this time. She has figured out they are more effective at getting her what she wants. That is not to say that she isn't aggressive but it isn't any more than the usual. After our meeting her Crider worker went to do a visit with her. They walked out to see her and she was flat on the ground refusing to walk to the cafeteria to eat. It was good for her to see first hand what Oksana is doing. She mentioned to me that just the 20 minutes she spent with her was exhausting. She is really pulling out all the stops.
We have only seen her a couple of times. We took her to the doctor and that went well. She really wanted to go to lunch so she did a very good job of holding herself together. She started to fall apart after lunch was over (no more incentive to behave) but we got her in the car quickly and got her back to residential. The next time we went to visit her our visit went well but by the end she decided to completely refuse to walk and we had to call the staff to come get her. The third time we went to visit her they were on a field trip and no one told us. I always give them advanced notice of our visits for just this reason. I was so annoyed. That was just this past weekend and I don't know if we will have a chance to see her again before Saturday.
In other news I am really enjoying my job. It has taken me quite awhile to get back int he groove of teaching. I primarily have taught preschool to lower elementary and now I am teaching high school. It is quite a change and I am writing the curriculum so it is has been challenging. I love my students and I'm having a lot of fun with them. I also love working front desk at the school. I have gotten to know the kids and parents so much better than when I just dropped the boys off and picked them up. It has been a real blessing.
We are working with Anya's behavior therapist and she is doing great. We still have a long way to go but we have already SIGNIFICANTLY reduced one of her most annoying behaviors. Her therapist warned us that it would get worse before it got better. Boy did it! I was physically shaking one day because her behaviors were CONSTANT. After that day it started dropping off pretty fast. Like I said, we still have a long way to go but it has been great to have the time and energy to focus on her now!
We are also having Evan evaluated for ADHD. Again, now that our attention isn't 110% on Oksana we are seeing things and working on things that we haven't had a chance to address because she demanded so much of us. Evan is such a great kid. Unfortunately he is showing a number of signs of the inattentive type of ADHD in his school work. I think it hid itself for a long time because he was homeschooled and I served as his external organizer. Now that he is becoming more and more independent it is affecting him in many areas. We have seen it in school, horseback riding, and we also learned that there is a link between ADD and Social Anxiety Disorder which is a huge issue for him. He will be evaluated in early October.
Amazing what we can do when we can focus on everyone in our family and not just one person....
One more random little update. Because it will be absolutely hilarious, I have decided to put Anya in a beauty pageant for people with special needs :). Her respite provider is going to help her on stage (this pageant has a helper for all of the contestants). I think she will need a talent. She will probably kick someone and stick her tongue out at them! She's pretty talented when it comes to misbehavior! I have to send in a head shot of her. My friend who does our family pictures really wants to do a head shot of her so I will post it on Thursday when we meet up with her. If nothing else this should give us something fun to focus on for awhile :).
Oksana is not doing well. She has decided to completely refuse to walk. She whines and cries constantly to try to get them to do things for her and then when they do she laughs at them and says things like "got you". Oh boy she is having a good old time. She is driving the staff insane. We had a meeting about her last week with her teacher, residential staff, Crider, and regional center (department of mental health). It was a really good meeting. We came up with some ideas to attempt to get her walking again. They told us how she is exhausting the staff. I have to admit that I felt validated. Larry and I have been doing this for so long alone. We have been exhausted beyond belief. It was good to know that someone else understands what we feel. Her aggression has not increased greatly which is good. She is choosing different behaviors this time. She has figured out they are more effective at getting her what she wants. That is not to say that she isn't aggressive but it isn't any more than the usual. After our meeting her Crider worker went to do a visit with her. They walked out to see her and she was flat on the ground refusing to walk to the cafeteria to eat. It was good for her to see first hand what Oksana is doing. She mentioned to me that just the 20 minutes she spent with her was exhausting. She is really pulling out all the stops.
We have only seen her a couple of times. We took her to the doctor and that went well. She really wanted to go to lunch so she did a very good job of holding herself together. She started to fall apart after lunch was over (no more incentive to behave) but we got her in the car quickly and got her back to residential. The next time we went to visit her our visit went well but by the end she decided to completely refuse to walk and we had to call the staff to come get her. The third time we went to visit her they were on a field trip and no one told us. I always give them advanced notice of our visits for just this reason. I was so annoyed. That was just this past weekend and I don't know if we will have a chance to see her again before Saturday.
In other news I am really enjoying my job. It has taken me quite awhile to get back int he groove of teaching. I primarily have taught preschool to lower elementary and now I am teaching high school. It is quite a change and I am writing the curriculum so it is has been challenging. I love my students and I'm having a lot of fun with them. I also love working front desk at the school. I have gotten to know the kids and parents so much better than when I just dropped the boys off and picked them up. It has been a real blessing.
We are working with Anya's behavior therapist and she is doing great. We still have a long way to go but we have already SIGNIFICANTLY reduced one of her most annoying behaviors. Her therapist warned us that it would get worse before it got better. Boy did it! I was physically shaking one day because her behaviors were CONSTANT. After that day it started dropping off pretty fast. Like I said, we still have a long way to go but it has been great to have the time and energy to focus on her now!
We are also having Evan evaluated for ADHD. Again, now that our attention isn't 110% on Oksana we are seeing things and working on things that we haven't had a chance to address because she demanded so much of us. Evan is such a great kid. Unfortunately he is showing a number of signs of the inattentive type of ADHD in his school work. I think it hid itself for a long time because he was homeschooled and I served as his external organizer. Now that he is becoming more and more independent it is affecting him in many areas. We have seen it in school, horseback riding, and we also learned that there is a link between ADD and Social Anxiety Disorder which is a huge issue for him. He will be evaluated in early October.
Amazing what we can do when we can focus on everyone in our family and not just one person....
One more random little update. Because it will be absolutely hilarious, I have decided to put Anya in a beauty pageant for people with special needs :). Her respite provider is going to help her on stage (this pageant has a helper for all of the contestants). I think she will need a talent. She will probably kick someone and stick her tongue out at them! She's pretty talented when it comes to misbehavior! I have to send in a head shot of her. My friend who does our family pictures really wants to do a head shot of her so I will post it on Thursday when we meet up with her. If nothing else this should give us something fun to focus on for awhile :).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)