Seven years. Over a thousand hours at hospitals and specialist appointments. Countless interventions at home. And it turns out the most important word to help my daughter’s treatment is this: NO. No… we’re not doing a nineteenth round of medication adjustments. It’s time for hospitalization. No… I won’t take her home from the hospital and…
Category Archives: Mental Health
Wounding Words, Wondrous Words
I almost couldn’t hear it when she spoke. Words uttered under breath, understood loud and clear. “You’re so late,” she rolls her eyes, clicks her tongue in disapproval. I smile anyway, pass by, walk my daughter to class. Fifteen minutes after the bell rang, we’re entering campus. The words rattle me again. But not…
Well THAT explains a lot! (New Neuroscience Research Findings)
“Did you notice how angry your sister is getting when you talk to her like that?” “Can you see that mom is frustrated when you’re not listening?” “What do you mean, you didn’t think she was sad? She’s crying!” These might seem like things only parents with kids on the Autistic spectrum may say to…
Trust
Shirt soaked, the suds engulfed my arms. Water sloshed as she fought me. She’s 9 and I’m still stronger, so I finally got her in the tub. Breathing hard, I knelt next to the bath, stroked her dark hair, poured calm words over her anguish. Warm water wrapped her struggle-reddened skin. She slowly calmed, began…
Book Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Most people just don’t get it right. When they write for us, about us, or to us. When it comes to others’ view of our lives in families with special needs, I’ve never seen anyone show it like it really is.* The lack of realism, empathy (and appropriate gallows humor) is partly why I’m writing…
Romanticizing Adoption and Special Needs
It’s tough being an adoptive parent. And a parent of special needs kids. I’m both. And today reminded me of one of the most frustrating aspects of our situation: other people romanticizing it. Sitting on a counselor’s couch at a residential treatment facility where one of our girls has been for 6 weeks, life doesn’t…
Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting….
I don’t like waiting. Which is kind of ironic because I’m a mom, and a mom of multiple developmentally delayed kids. For years we’ve been waiting with one of our daughters – waiting for meds to kick in, for her moods to stabilize, for her mind to find balance. At our meeting with the counselor…
Soothing An Anxious Child
Some kids just pop out of the womb self-assured and confident. Mine, not so much. Raising 2 former foster kids, assurance is like a foreign language in their minds! It’s been a huge learning process for us to figure out what works and what doesn’t in helping them find confidence in stress. And I know…
Helping Kids With ADHD Make Friends
“They don’t want to play with me!” She yells, stomping up the stairs and throwing her book bag down the hall. As is my daily habit, I wait until she blows off steam and it’s calm in her room again. Then I walk in, plop on the floor next to her where she’s creating an…
Homework Strategies for Moody Kids
A few weeks back in school and all the old frustrations are in full swing. The pencil-breaking. The paper-ripping. The weeping. The gnashing of teeth. You’d think schoolwork was, in fact, hell on earth. But really it’s just hell to a child with a learning disability. Especially one that’s at the mercy of bipolar mood…