Clonidine, don't fail me now!!!! =)

This is how well Clonidine worked on Saturday night.... =)

Here's a little pic of how Miguel's self-stimming behaviors affect him...

Note: bruised forehead from "head-banging". He'll spontaneously bang his head against the edge of a table, the corner of the table, square on a table, a wall, he'll hit his head with his own cane, his fist and he'll try to headbutt my arm while I lead him. Miguel has been known to drop down to the ground and headbutt the cement, too. This almost always brings a tear to my eye.



Furthermore, his lips are almost ALWAYS chapped, crusted, peeling, etc. from licking his hands. The backs of his hands actually get callouses from the licking behavior. When we lived in Chicago, the cold, dry winters, in combination with his licking, would cause his hands to bleed.













The whole weekend was really relaxed, so there are no meltdowns to report. (YEAH!!!) But relaxed isn't the norm. I keep a tight, structured schedule for every weekend. We are very predictable day-to-day because, well, we have to be. Autism rules my life.












We slept in Saturday because the weather wasn't conducive to my scheduled ride. I've also found that since Winter break, Miguel has been wanting to sleep in more. This is tough for school days and for me, since I am A HUGE MORNING PERSON!!









So, we caught a cyclocross race that afternoon. Miguel was kinda FANTASTIC and enjoyable. The little beefcake likes to be outdoors as much as possible.

Sunday, he went to the sitter for the afternoon while I went for a little ride. He was great for Didi, as usual.

Here's the deal though, he went to sleep at about 2130 (which is SUPER late for him) and he woke up around 0300. He fell back asleep around 0500, after a good bath.

THEN!!! Last night he went to sleep around 2100 BUT he woke up at 0130.....Yeah, he sooooo didn't go back to sleep. This little dude has been up since 0130!!!! Oh, and so have I. I can actually sleep through the Perfect Storm, unless I know Miguel is up. Only one time, did he sneak out of the bedroom and head for Uncle Jason's room. I intervened at the door. Whew!!! Close call.

My intervention skills haven't been that honed since I moved here. I find that I sleep more peacefully when I know there is another adult in the house to be alert, too. When Miguel and I lived alone in an apartment, I'd wake for EVERYTHING, sleep on the sofa (to watch the refrigerator and the front door) or just sleep on his bedroom floor. He can be a bit of a handful at times. By "at times", I mean "all the time". =)

Anyways, I am hoping to find another job soon and I hope it is better paying, so that Miguel and I can get a place of our own and return to an independent state of normalcy. I feel bad "living" in my brother's house so much. We wear it out pretty good.

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

--Henry David Thoreau

Clonidine woes....

The majority and, sometimes, only challenges of being a parent of a special child is dealing with "everyone else".

"Everyone else" includes, but is not restricted to, pharmacies, doctors, specialists, store patrons, restaurant patrons, insurance companies, local school district employees, local service providers, plain ol' stupid people, the ignorant and the ridiculous. I haven't captured "everyone else" in this description....but it is a solid start!

So, Migs has woken up grumpy the past 4 days. Just irritable, difficult (to say the least), stubborn and crabby and I'd like to relate these symptoms to the poor guy not getting his evening dose of Clonidine.

A side bar to my train of thought: I attribute all of Miguel's behaviors, attitudes or moods to a response to his natural environment and Autism. So, it boils down to symptomology and not "Miguel". I don't believe Miguel acts this way out of choice. I don't believe anyone would act this way by choice alone....that is ridiculous. So, anything he "exhibits" is a "symptom to his environment", which could be a stranger coming in the house, changing locations in a restaurant (from the waiting area to the table), running out of a certain item at the dinner table, getting out of the car and going inside somewhere, leaving somewhere and going outside, getting off the swing, getting out of a pool, a locked bathroom door and recently "just getting up" seems to be a mood altering factor. Living with Miguel is quite an analytical experience. Once you understand the "experience of Miguel", your view on life or situations change dramatically. For example, I told my good friend that Miguel attacked an assistant at school and her response was, "uh-oh, what did they do?" Not to excuse the assaultive behavior or say that the assistant deserved it, but she understands that certain things in Miguel's universe can't be messed with or he may explode in an aggressive manner. Nuff said.

Back to Clonidine and the absence of.... The poor dude has been out of Clonidine for over a week now. Partially due to me being an idiot and partially due to the doctor being an incompetent ass. So I have been working on fixing this small--turned ENORMOUS--detail in his life and, in the meantime, it appears as though he is maybe not sleeping sound enough to wake up in a good mood--that's my best guess. He has wet his bed (there is plastic covering over the mattress for all you clean freaks, like myself, out there) 3 nights in a row and he woke up in a piss and vinegar mood for the past 4 mornings.

Now, I can REALLY APPRECIATE an early morning, piss and vinegar mood more than most (seriously, I can) but not from this sweet guy. Not when I have to get him dressed and on the bus at 0700. No sir.

So, I am trying to get this whole prescription dilemma rectified so he can go back to being sweet but, more importantly, tolerable and to sidestep any future issues with this neurologist....I scheduled an appointment with another one and I hope for competency and understanding.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Newest development: Miguel knocks (usually on the kitchen table) and then asks "who is it?" :)

Oh, my heart leaps up... :)

"Love takes up where knowledge leaves off."-- Saint Thomas Aquinas