WELCOME TO JIM'S AUTISM BLOG





Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.


"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980



Friday 21 September 2012

POST DOCTORS APPOINTMENT BEHAVIOUR

El nino waves
This week, we felt the wrath of
Hurricane Jacob.
As a parent of a child with Asperger's syndrome, I have developed the ability to notice trends, or reoccurring behaviours in my son.  And the latest trend is that, after a trip to the doctor's/ dentist's office, my son's behaviour becomes much worse at school.  This week Jacob has only earned 1 out of 10 stickers for his reward calendar.

The first 2 weeks of school were great, which Jacob earned over a dozen stickers combined.  But this week has been the complete polar opposite.  This week Jacob has been yelling at students, teachers and his EAs.  He's also refused to do most of his school work, to the point that he's had 3 pieces of homework each day.  Then today, he refused to do his spelling test.  And Jacob is great at spelling.  Yesterday afternoon was the only exception to this trend, but while he had no homework, his attitude and behaviour were still atrocious.

Both my wife and I, had a feeling that this week was going to be rough.  And we were not wrong to say the least.  But we know that Jacob's behaviour regularly takes a nose dive after an appointment like the one he had on Monday.  It doesn't matter if he's going to see his family doctor, his autism specialist or his dentist.  His behaviour is always worse after one of these appointments.

We of course, try our best to book such appointments towards the end of the week.  This way, his poor behaviour at school is only a day or two at the most.  Unfortunately for us, the appointment he had on Monday was with his autism doctor.  And of course you have to book way in advance and then take whatever appointment that's available.  And Jacob's Law states that if we're waiting for an appointment that takes months to get to, it will most certainly be on a Monday.

But what can we do?  Many aspie/autism parents know that sometimes we just have to roll with the punches.    Or play the hand your dealt, or whatever metaphor we choose.  This week's been so rough, that we're just going to forget that it ever happened.  And we'll still take Jacob out this weekend.  I know it seems like we're rewarding poor behaviour, but we feel that Jacob has had a very anxious and stressful week.  And a trip downtown might just be what we need to put this awful week behind us.

4 comments:

  1. I hope jacob is better this weekend for you guys. It's tough when you know he's going to be stressed but don't know what to do to help him get through it.

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    1. He usually does better on weekends, of course. After all, my son hates school. And as he's gotten older, he's improved at letting go of certain things. I hope next week goes better.

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  2. Hope next week goes better for him!

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    1. Well Mac, it can't go any worse than this week. He dislikes school so much, that I can see the relief in his face as soon as he gets out.

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