The prodigal member has returned.....

[mykdsmomy]

Hi everyone and I apologize for my extended absence. Life has taken over and I have turned into a hermit.
I've referred a bunch of mamas here but not sure if they made it over :)

I blog now and you're all welcome to check it out http://adventureswithboandboo.blogspot.com/

Things have been crazy.....Noah is finally in an ED preschool class and while I love his teacher, I'm just not sure it's where he should be. I'm struggling with lots of things right now and am just trying to figure out what to do. (Aren't we all?)

Anyway...Im back :o

[greenbeanbanshee]

Welcome back! Whoo hoo! We have been waiting with open arms the whole time....:bighug

What are you struggling with right now? Anything you want to bounce off of us and get some input on?

I will have to check out the blog.

~Bethany

[mykdsmomy]

Awwww thanks Bethany!! :hug

Well, the "summary" of what we've gone through up til now is in my blog (it's in the first post titled "Why I started this blog".

Basically our youngest, Noah (not sure if you remember) was drug and alcohol exposed prenatally. Even though we've had him since he was 8 days old, he has a very long list of acronyms for diagnoses after his name.

We've fought with the school district for the last two years. We've been through several neuropsychological eval's as well as appts with a geneticist, psychiatrist, therapists, etc.

The list of dx's he has been given from all of the Dr's are ADHD, GAD-NOS, ASD, Pdd-nos, possible bipolar, (probable fetal alcohol effects or alcohol related neurodevelopmental delays), early onset conduct disorder (which I highly disagree with this dx), mood disorder-nos, sensory processing disorder)

My mommy instinct tells me he has ADHD, Autism, GAD-nos, and ARND , along with sensory processing disorder.

The problem I'm having is that the :mad: school district, even though I had the dx of autism from a LEADING RESEARCHER at UCLA, denied him autistic services because the school psychologist who evaluated him "didn't see" the autism. :mad::mad::mad: (i'm not sure if you're getting the vibe that I'm a little ticked about this :lol )
Anyway....they wanted to label him ED but I insisted he be labeled DD. They still put him in an ED preschool :rolleyes: I absolutely LOVE his teacher. She is wonderful and I can't say enough good things about her.....BUT......it's basically behavior mod. The first week, they had to *hold* him because he was trying to hit the teacher, run out of the class, etc. He was scared and I HATED leaving him :( He is used to it now (3rd week) and looks forward to going every morning. He really likes his teacher and she says she's not sure if he even belongs in her class because he is such a well behaved student. (You should see him when he comes home....he is BOUNCING off the walls and FREAKING OUT over every. little. thing.) I shared that with the teacher and she told me it's because he *knows* he can get away with it at home :( (In other words, his behavior would improve greatly at home if we were as strict as she is).

There's a part of me that thinks that if his brain has been affected by the alcohol, then he is not "hard wired" to "learn" from behavior mod. He may *look* like he's improving when reality, he's just trying to *fit* in and not get in trouble (fear). Does that make sense?

I spoke with an awesome psychologist the other day (it's in my blog) who has done extensive research on ARND/FASD and he told me that Noah will need SUPER SUPER SUPER structure to succeed. He will need SIMPLE instructions for everything and tons of repetition. He actually gets this from preschool....but it's the core philosophy that I'm having a hard time with.

Their focus is on changing behavior. It is teaching them how to be a model citizen. I, of course, want to change Noah's behavior, but the underlying causes need to be addressed first.

Example: Noah gets tired at school. (8:45am-12:45pm). His teacher has made him a *quiet spot* for when he needs a "break" from the group.
The next day she said he "abused" it and she kept him in from recess because she told him "well, if you're too tired to join the group, then you're too tired for recess and you must need your rest". I understand her logic. I respect the years of work she has done with these little ones and she is a wonderful teacher.....HOWEVER, Noah has ADHD and sensory issues to boot....keeping him in from recess is only going to make his behavior worse because now he has no "outlet".

The thing is, at home, I've not been able to change his behavior. (But I also havent been making drastic changes except making excuses for every time he acts out).

I guess the bottom line is I want to bring him back home. I wanted him in the autistic program and they wouldnt put him in it. He has speech delays, sensory issues and fine motor problems. He has a hard time reading social cues, understanding language, etc.....He cannot transition well AT ALL.

Can I give him what he needs at home? Should I bring him home? They all tell me that homeschooling would be the WORST thing for him because he needs to get over his anxiety :rolleyes:

I just don't know what to do......(gotta run for now....Noah is upset) .....