Typical day

Here is a typical day at the Hummel's. Dad is at basketball. Lexi is at his game with her grandparents. Timmy is almost napping with Mickey Mouse and Robbie is in his room intermittently talking to himself, yelling, stomping, hopping and yelling " EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". He had refused to go his Dad's game, screaming he was not going anywhere and throwing his shoes. Just another Saturday. I was patting myself on the back this morning because I've figured out a way to sneak his hydroxyzine ( given on days he is very agitated for anxiety) into Oreos. The mistake was being over confident and trying the same technique with his citalopram, given daily for anxiety. These pills are peach and have coating, which makes crushing them almost impossible. Robbie is too clever and sees it almost immediately. Remaining Oreos go in the trash. I tried again with gogurt,( yogurt in a tube so you eat it on the go) but again he detected it and spit it out. He knows he is supposed to take it every day. We have explained what it is for. Today he agrees to put it in juice but once in the cup he looks at it and spits it out. At night he easily takes his cocktail of clonidine and melatonin, but the citalopram has proven more difficult to get into his system. Since beginning this course of medication his reports at school have improved. Yet at home we are still dealing with the same aggressive, angry out bursts. Today he tried to bite my face........ A totally new one here. Most of the time Robbie is still a loving, kind boy but when the outbursts happen, things change. I know this is a stage and as with other stages, it will end and some new challenge will emerge. We are working with his neurologist, obviously as I listed a few of the medications in our Arsenal above. I left out Ativan , which is reserved for extra tough situations but will be used more frequently I imagine. We are working with his school, monitoring behaviors and discussing plans. We are working with a new home behavioral team. They have developed a plan and it is in the beginning stages of implementation. The plan involves a visual behavioral ladder where Robbie moves up and down depending on behaviors. ( I caught him moving himself up after I had moved him down.) Additionally we have the same sensory issues. Thankfully Robbie is beginning to use the swing in his room more. He has tons of pillows on his bed to hold- and scream into in necessary. He has been holding onto a small silver baby brush and rubbing his hands on it. This may mean we go back to entire body brushing. Which helps to calm Robbie's sensory system, at least for a minute. This child remains to be a puzzle. We are constantly changing the pieces and rearranging the plans. But we do it because he is Robbie. He needs us to be his voice and we love him!!😘