Just thought I’d pop a post on here while the kids are busy watching a dvd.
Beth’s been quite up and down again this week. We had a huge fight on Wednesday over the fact that she had watched a dvd when we got home and just went to put another on. I explained that no, she had watched one already and she could play on the computer after dinner so she’d have to do something else to entertain herself. Well it escalated into her flinging herself around and actually scratching herself, something she’s never done before. I ended up banning her from the computer for the evening. This is fairly drastic in our house as I try not to punish with things that make my life more difficult but it had to be something that she actually cared about. Once the Simpsons came on at 6 she calmed down and coped ok with reading and playing after dinner but the whole incident left me actually shaking. It really reinforces the fact that you need to pick your battles because they have to be worth it.
Thursday we had Sensational Kids. Melinda (OT) is leaving so it was our last session with her. There is a new OT called Kate who is starting in a month so we’ll see how we go with her. I really believe that if we couldn’t claim this under the Mental Health scheme through Medicare then we probably wouldn’t bother with OT as I don’t see much improvement on that count. Speech however is a different matter as I’m constantly seeing advances with each session. Beth was a bit scatty in speech but we still had a good response. Rod knows how to perk Beth up and can read her well. They ended up playing Hullaballoo, an old favourite of Beth’s. Rod got lots out of Beth with playing rough and tumble with her, taking the cranium pads away and almost wrestling with her, she loves this and it speeds up her response times and alertness. I’m looking forward to how the alert / how does your engine run suggestions for the classroom go as I think that once Beth knows what level she is on she can self correct, therefore keeping her in a ‘just right’ frame of mind.
Rod told me that somebody started at Sensational Kids last week and when he asked where they had heard about them they said they had read it on here! Yay, I’m so pleased that I could (hopefully) help somebody out as I find them amazing. He also told me that they are talking about opening up a new Sensational Kids somewhere over this way. He said that he would probably work between the 2 which would be good for us as I wouldn’t want to change therapists but would love it to be closer to home.
Beth ran off this morning. We didn’t realise until I heard the front door slam and in she came. I asked where she had been and she said she had taken Minka out. I was so cross as Minka never goes out the front to toilet but out the back door and Beth knows this. Luckily there was no traffic around as she was across the road when I found her. You just can’t let your guard down for a moment. Beth has barely done that at all in the 4 years we’ve lived here but just lately she’s been doing the odd thing here and there. I know she knows that it’s the wrong thing as she often announces herself after it’s done and that pisses me off even more. I don’t know what it is, the treatments, puberty, or just pushing the boundaries. I remember early on being told that the preschool years are awful (which they were), then they settle down in primary school, only to get bad again during the teenage years. I must remind myself not to get too complacant as those years are fast approaching. Cyclone Beth is gearing up peoples, brace yourselves!
