Mine has always been good with labs. I stopped holding him at 2, and had to convince lab techs to stop waiting for two people. He didn’t flinch. At 6 he had dental surgery, and asked the nurse why he waiting to start the IV. Nurse was shocked, came over, and had the easiest start of his day. My dd, on the other hand, had to be held full body until she was 12 (hit by a car, dislocated and broke her shoulder, so I couldn’t hold the same way anymore). After that I started asking for matter-of-fact techs. Sit down, zip it, don’t move, and don’t count her. Just stick and be done.

He takes about 5,000iu daily and his levels hang between 50 and 70.

The sock thread made me think of this connection... All of his socks have holes, and the old man morning walk down the stairs is pronounced. So I’m thinking he tightened back up. That always messes with him. Since this is fixable, I’m going to take him for an eval and get some numbers.

The weather has seriously sucked. I’m sure that messes things up too.

Thanks. :) Sometimes just posting helps.

Other work has gotten easier or remained the same. Delayed transition issue is probably the biggest. Winter blues is a good reason. No sun, but his D is good (we supplement high and watch numbers). Nutrition. Big one. He’s been refusing most foods and living on ham and cheese sandwiches. Though they do have lettuce and tomato, which is better than some of his other refusal periods. Not likely growth spurt, but probably gearing up for a spring one. His size 11 shoes are starting to get tight; and he pretty much jumped from boy’s 6 to men’s 10 in a blink last year. Current game obsession is happening; but if speech if done, he knows I’ll leave him to his game. We still don’t have his math curriculum, so I’ve been allowing some crappy math behavior.

I didn’t know what else to title this. Lol My 13yo has autism, adhd, a borderline IQ, and very likely dyslexia. He’s in a public cyber school and still qualifies for speech. Functionally, depending on the day, he can look like a perfectly normal 13yo going out around town, playing video games, etc. While other days he’s flappy, avoidant, and just looks like a non typical teen. I realize fluctuations are normal, but the degree we deal with goes with his special needs. So, he has virtual speech 3x a week. I consider speech to be the backbone of his educational needs. If he does nothing but speech in a week, it’s still progress! He’s had the same SLP since May 2016 (so very end of 5th, all of 6th, and now 1/2 way through 7th). Tuesdays I understand any behavior out of him; it’s a 45 minute writing lesson (it’s actually supposed to be 30 academic minutes with a 15 minute transition time. But he had been cooperating for about 40/45 since September). Wednesday and Thursday is a 30 minute speech session. The format is consistent. His session goals are presented right at the start. Anything new is introduced in EXTREMELY small pieces, usually with funny videos, because new challenges will cause him to take off. 5th and 6th were incredibly hard with behavior and getting him to attend. The reason we kept virtual was because he didn’t give her any inappropriate behaviors (he refused, but never cursed at her, never uses wiener or fart jokes, etc). September of 7th rolls around and he’s amazing for her. He’s getting work done, making progress on goals, getting in on time, and just doing what’s expected of him. I want to say it has gotten harder to get him in, but once I get the headset on him, he did well. He transitioned back from winter break as well. In the last 2 weeks though, the switch flipped again and he’s being ridiculous. Still not inappropriate towards the SLP, but everything else is back. He does not respond to traditional rewards and punishments. So earning something for good, or losing something for bad backfires. I have a BCBA who has been with us for 2 years to verify this. I don’t even know if I have a specific question here. Lol. Just help me talk through this. We’re 1/2 way through the year and he was doing well. He was even attending math! I honestly don’t know what changed.

Minimally adequate parenting needs to be defined better. More care needs to go into the emotional neglect category. Neglect needs to be taken more seriously. Supervisors should not be able to shut down the opinion of an investigator who has been to a home 10 times in 2 months and wants to remove the child. (This would have prevented a big abuse incident, but maybe wouldn’t have kept the kid out of the home long term). Families that have had longer open cases, or multiple open cases for neglect, should have an undefined number of unannounced visits by different workers before the case can be closed. Parent training when the kids are in the home shouldn’t be scheduled. The trainer just pops in to assist getting ready for school, after school, dinner, whatever. Home checks should all be unannounced when the case is open. Caseworkers shouldn’t stay on open cases for more than 6 months. They get too close. The house isn’t “that bad†anymore. Etc. Eye drs and dentists need to be making more calls to report. A 3yo with thick glasses who never has access to those glasses is not being cared for. Untreated amblyopia because the child whines a bit is not acceptable. No idea how to help kids who are hidden, but there are plenty of visible kids who are being neglected and abused and not being helped. That doesn’t mean I don’t care! I basically took a family in and make sure the kids are seen.

I have a tin of pencils. All lovingly sharpened. All with bare erasers because my kids eat them. 😒

Flu B positive test last year. I think I had flu once on thanksgiving as a teen. I remember having a high fever and sleeping all day, though don’t recall recovery time. ETA: dd has never had flu. Ds had H1N1 in 2009/2010.

I BEGGED my son’s father’s side of the family to only give amazon gift cards for xmas. He still ended up with a few hundred cash. Pizza, candy, soda galore. No advice. Just sitting right here with you.

Even having a knife loving boy here... hell no. *Maybe* if the 4yo with the knife was the only part of the picture; he could have grabbed and ran. But 10mo + older kid not supervising sounds like a good bit of neglect. My knife lover got his first tiny pocket knife around 6. Never ever played with kitchen knives. Didn’t get a decent sized knife until 12, and that was because it looked cool and it hangs in his room.

1. Borderline. I could go either way having difficult kids. Bad day? Tantrums all morning? 2. Borderline. Possible poor supervision at home and learning poor ways of managing conflict. 3. There has to be more going on. Unsupervised 10 month old gives biggest pause. Overwhelmed mom, hopefully just needs more support. 4yo with a pocket knife doesn’t scream terrible, but given lack of supervision, probably hasn’t learned knife safety. 4. Hopefully not more than educational neglect. In my area, in my experience, the biggest signs are parent cleanliness, if kids are clean and dressed for school, and teeth condition. If any or all of these things is even slightly questionable, there’s more going on. I think the differences are in parent acceptance of needing to learn. I’ve learned and grown for sure. Looking back on dd’s first 3 years, I sure as hell could’ve done better, and wished I’d been taught. But then ds was born and didn’t go with the flow of young mom, so I learned.

That’s why I didn’t hesitate letting him spend $50! I figured better quality = longer lasting, and his own money = better care.

I don’t think their computers have Bluetooth, or it’s really finicky. Normally, yes, he fidgets, has chewed (his chewed pair lasted almost a school year!), leaves them on the floor, etc. We do have hooks for headphones, but they had rarely been used. He hung this current pair though. They were still new enough and bought with his own money that he cared for them. The current pair also has an L connector, so much easier to remember to pull out properly. Can they be returned if they were clearance? I know we don’t have the box, and I can’t find the receipt.

This current pair was bought after December 26th! That’s not even a month.

My kids are both in cyber school. School sends headsets with mics every year. And every year we need a couple more. This year I was positive it was 100% my son not giving a hoot about caring for the equipment. But several weeks ago he decided to buy himself a new headset. On clearance, he spent $50 (xmas money). He’s taken very good care of this headset, at least in comparison. The mic is dead. Any idea what to do?! He needs a functioning headset with mic for speech therapy. The built in mic in all 3 computers is not good enough. (Speech is not for artic)

I don’t have a food processor. When I made mayo the texture and consistency were great. I just didn’t like the flavor.

Yay for Pensyltucky!!! Lol. Walmart had Duke’s so I grabbed a little one.

I can’t afford good oil, so I tried it with Walmart brand light tasting olive oil. Dd liked it, but I didn’t like the oily aftertaste or feeling. I’m sure I can get Duke’s on Amazon. I’ll try that. :) Mayo is minimal in sugar for me, but it brings up a kid battle. Dd loves her condiments, and we’ve been getting the healthier versions, which take some time to get used to. When she’s in a mood, she likes to point out that the mayo I use in tuna 3x a week has sugar. So since she’s not wrong, I need to find something tolerable.

It depends. I had to force my son to attend drum lessons and swimming lessons. He was an absolute perfect student for the instructors though. I just dealt with meltdowns and crap before and after. It’s paid off for us. He’s been playing drums for 5 years and is amazing. He’s also been allowed to stay at the pool alone years before he was supposed to. They love him and he actually helps when the Y camp is there. Other activities I’ve forced and none have stuck. He’s done gymnastics (forced in place of physical therapy, doesn’t have the flexibility to move up much), homeschool band, homeschool gym at the Y, and a few other things. Young Marines is puttering along, but neither of us are feeling it anymore.

I’ve made it at home and wasn’t thrilled. Is there a mayonnaise without sugar or fake sugars?

My (Crossfit) gym is having a party this month. Everyone attending is asked to bring their own liquids other than water (I don’t drink, so water is fine), and a covered dish. I’m guessing there will be a lot of people. I have absolutely no clue what to make. My dd has to follow the low FODMAP diet, so I’d like for something that fits there. Any ideas? I’m watching the sign up poster to see what other people are bringing, but it’s still pretty bare.

Instead of tuck crunches, I sit as V as possible and hug my knees, then bring my hands and arms out wide from my body.

I’ll ask about trying this in therapy today. Hopefully I’m just not sitting right, but sitting on the floor kills my back. A yoga mat does nothing. I need like a memory foam mattress. Lol