Colin Goes To School

Post to Parent Support Group - Tuesday, 10/29/13

Colin Update: So far so good. My sister was able to enroll my son in his new school. Colin was taken for a tour and able to meet the principal. Tomorrow is his first day.

He seems to be sleeping better at his aunt's house and has not shown any signs of triggering. He wears his headphones at night when alone in his new room but not usually in the presence of others.

The weird part is today, when the lawn crew was arriving, my sister warned Colin and asked if he needed to leave the house with her to go on an errand.(Lawn mowers had recently become one of his worst triggers at our house.) He said he'd be o.k. and would go to the basement if necessary. When the hum of the mowers was audible, Colin had gone to the kitchen to get an ice cream sandwich and did not seem at all disturbed.

Could getting rest and eating ice cream in the presence of a trigger help keep it at bay? Did the advance warning help? Perhaps a different setting helped? Clearly this new setting is agreeing with him. I am hopeful.

Melinda: My miso is definitely much worse when I am tired and/or stressed out. Rest and ice cream could potentially be very helpful in reducing sensitivity.  

Me: Ice cream is my kind of medicine!

Teresa: Great news! Happy for you and your family. 

Lisa: All of the above can help. My daughter is much less reactive when in a situation where she is happy......and wearing earplugs and her Bose headphones. But recently in a situation where she was enjoying herself, she was able to tolerate someone who was coughing....normally her biggest trigger where she would want to hit the person. But she didn't want to leave the situation. So positive experience was able to override her normal response to a trigger. Glad to her the update on your son. What a tough road our kids have to navigate through life....when life itself is hard enough.

Dr. J: Change of scenery appears to be significant here and in other instances, takes a while to build up new triggers  

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My husband delivered the last piece of paper (birth certificate) to my sister yesterday morning. They met at a breakfast place so not to upset our son. Aunt P told Colin that she was going to meet his dad. There was no reaction. Our son knows that his aunt will be meeting and speaking with us but that he does not have to.

Colin visited his new school with his aunt at 1:00 p.m. to get formally registered and for a tour. The only glitch so far is that Colin is taking French which is not offered in middle school. He will have to take the bus in the morning with his cousin to the high school. Fortunately there are a few 8th graders that do this. Another oddity in the eyes of my sister is that Colin prefers to pack a lunch rather than buy one at school like his cousin. Our son told his aunt that he can make his own lunch and has done this at his house. Lunch meat and sandwich bread has been bought. 

Next on the list is new school clothes. We have sent a pile of Colin's clothing to his new home but our son is very reluctant to wear them. He seems to reject things that we have bought for him. Aunt P offered to take Colin clothes shopping and we told her to give us the receipts so we can reimburse her.

Colin seems to be sleeping well and adapting to his new home. My sister is afraid they will spoil him and teach our son bad behavior. My nephew has the latest version of Grand Theft Auto and has been letting Colin play this game which I find horrific. I am oddly o.k. with this. 

Everyone is a bit on edge as to when and what might trigger an attack. So far there has been none. Colin only seems to wear his headphones at night and in the privacy of his room. The curious event was mentioned in the above post to my parent support group. We were all surprised at the lack of a visible response to the lawn crew at my sister's house. 

Is he holding it in to appear "normal"? Was ice cream used as a coping mechanism? Does a new home make the difference?  Will there be a build up of new triggers?

Only time will tell.

We are a work-in-progress!