Cycles...

I've mentioned before how Eden's behaviors are usually cyclical and usually lasts about 2 weeks. Once again, Eden has proved that once we try and figure something out and we think we've got it. Not so much. It's been almost 4 weeks of erratic behaviors and increased aggression.

The first thing we ask, when something like this happens is if she is sick or not feeling well. WARNING more poop talk. Giving her past history of "belly issues" that's the first thing I looked at. I first checked her school log to see how frequently she has been going at school. We went back to every 30-45 minutes for most of the day, and was having...um...we'll just say loose stools. I called her kidney doctor and they increased her medicines and also suggested I call if she doesn't show improvement in 2 weeks they may need to see her sooner that April. We still haven't had much improvement but I'm going to give it another week and then we'll see.

The next thing we look at is if something has changed. This is a little more difficult. You see that I am paranoid about change for this reason. I do understand that sounds silly but when your child starts having meltdowns when you brush her teeth the wrong way; you start getting a little freaked out. I've been talking to her school seeing if there are any changes there and there hasn't been(until today but I'll get into that later).

All of these things I can control, and I am a control freak. I need to have some control over everything just for my peace of mind. I can't find anything, so now I'm left with a child who is slowly slipping out of my control, I don't know what's going on with her, and she about to have some changes coming. This should be beautiful...NOT!

On to school news, Eden has been having more and more behaviors at school. Yeah she has more words and it has been helping, but only marginally because her behaviors have be increasing. The teachers in the school do not have the time to write down all of her behaviors and when they happen because it's really not that easy to do. I've talked with them and settled with getting a copy of their "incident report" when they file them. When Eden has major "events" the teachers have to file an "incident report" and I've requested a copy every time they write one. It doesn't take into account the "little" meltdowns she has but I'll get a feel for the big issues. In the last week I've gotten 6 of them.

More school news is that there is an opening for her in a different classroom. This one is more "inclusive" and has less support and more NT (Nero-typical) children in it. It's a 3(children) to 1(teacher) classroom and one of those children has "special needs" and two are NT. This is a big step up, she has been in this classroom 2 hours a week since the beginning of September for some "peer modeling" (linked is a great research study on the effectiveness of such modeling). Her teacher talked about moving her to this classroom and thought it best to put her into the classroom for the whole day today to see how it goes. I thought it was a great idea.

Her first day in the 3 to 1 classroom was to be expected. She did really well with some verbal prompts during "rest time" where the children lay down for a little while to relax (like a nap time), she didn't sleep but did stay "resting". Circle was great, she is a pro a circle, because that is something that she has learned she just has to do to get any of the other fun activities during the day. For the rest of the day her teacher said she got very overwhelmed very easily. She came out of these issues on her own without having to be removed but they were frequent.

After today, her teacher told me they are going to put her in this classroom 2 full days a week, until she get's the hang of it. This creates less stress for her. She WILL get it, I know it. Her teacher is also concerned because when she gets stressed she does have aggressive tendencies. It may cause the other kids in her classroom to "alienate" her. Yes...that's the word she used. It's the only real part of the conversation I can quote.

I know that it's just a word, but this whole time; getting her ready for kindergarten, I have been worried about her being in a classroom all day. What happens if the kids see her and start to "alienate" her? Should I let them give her a "pull out"? Is that best for her? Yeah I'm second guessing myself again. It's been a constant battle in my brain. I register her for kindergarten tomorrow, then we start with meetings, screenings, observations, and all that comes with this transition. What should I really do? And when do I know I'm doing the right thing? Probably never...but I'll do my best.