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suzidfloosey
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Re: Justin ~
That's great!! Kids with ASD do really need outdoor activity and LOTS of it - they all tend to be so pale as they tend to favour hiding away in their rooms but with encouragement they come out and enjoy it greatly.
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It seems when she gets a certain type of buzz on that's when she gets all wishy washy and tries to make contact with Justin
Addicts are so manipulative - it's a difficult situation.
Hope the w/end goes well. It's still raining here LOL but at least the weather is mild. We're all off to West Cork this w/edn to the beach...in the rain LOL but we'll don our rain jackets and boots and run around like mad things - the sea air is the best doctor!
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
Oscar Wilde
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Jul/21/2007, 3:17 am
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jinzleftbuttcheek
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Re: Justin ~
If she gives you anymore trouble I have two words for you : Restraining Order!~
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Jul/23/2007, 6:04 pm
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1lost1
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Re: Justin ~
We had the greatest weekend tinkering out in the yard... Justin is a natural. He "worked" his little heart out & he enjoyed it. Friday night we did the bulk of it. And we finished up Saturday. When we got there Sunday he came out the hallway on his own, I didn't even have to hollar for him. My heart just melted.
Mom never called or stopped in. Dad moved out Friday morning and we haven't heard from him. It was wonderful. We just tinkered at our own leisure and played with the kitties ~ it was wonderful.
I am hoping his mother, now that she spoke with Shawn has backed off and is caught up in her own stuff. I expect since she stopped in and called recently it'll be awhile before the phone rings again. Jimmy had been adamant to her Mother that under no uncertain terms is her daughter permitted at their home when she is all drugged up. He has made it pretty clear if he catches her at his place in the state she gets herself in, it's not going to be pretty. She doesn't have a took a few hits off a doobie buzz/ had a few drinks at the bar buzz ~ it's like something I have never seen before ~ she goes into a full blown coma where you honestly can't make out most of what she is saying. I have no idea how she drives her vehicle in that state but she does.
So lets hope she keeps to herself if she can't get herself cleaned up. It's such a sad situation it really is. But we are getting through it and I know it sounds awful to say, but I honestly think Justin have never been happier. I sure hope its the case and I hope that what we are doing helps him.
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Jul/23/2007, 6:26 pm
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suzidfloosey
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Re: Justin ~
Again typical addict behaviour, drop in, cause havoc and then disappear. Well you guys are better off with the 'disappear' bit! Also, the careworkers are used to dealing with situations like that so I'm sure Shawn knew exactly what to do when meeting her.
Isn't that great that the w/end went so well - I was thinking of y'all. Our lad is a great physical worker too when you get him to come out and get started he'll work for hours. We have a local fruit farm here and when he hits 16 will see about a few wks work in the summer for him as it's easy in that the breaks are defined and in between they just work. Well done to you all and the fact that Justin came out himself is a sure sign he's doing well!
How is his thyroid status now? any improvement re. neck goitre etc?
well done all!!!
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
Oscar Wilde
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Jul/24/2007, 3:45 am
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1lost1
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Re: Justin ~
Shawn is actually going to assist us with the Thyroid Issue because we haven't been made privy to much about it... The Maternal Grandmother just occasionally picks him up for an appointment. Now with all the Chaos of the diagnosis she has not had any communication with Jimmy.
I told Jimmy this weekend I feel like his neck has a more "normal" (I hate that word but...) the appearance has changed. It is not as enlarged as what it was. I am thinking this might be because he takes his medication daily and also Jimmy has put his foot down about allowing him to have a full case of pop in an evening.
Shawn is scheduled to stop tomorrow and he told us he would have information of suitable doctors and we'll have to go from there. At this point Jimmy just makes sure he medicates daily. Jimmy also has him scheduled to see a General Practitioner. Because we have to use Medical benefits that the State provides the appointment was scheduled months out, I do believe he finally gets to see someone the first or second week of August. We were willing to pay out of pocket to get him to an appointment quicker but it was quickly pointed out that blood draws and the like are very expensive and that while the physical would cost in the neighborhood of $75.00 the additional things required would make a bill most likely in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars and we just don't have it to spare at this time.
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Jul/24/2007, 12:31 pm
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suzidfloosey
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Re: Justin ~
Oh that sounds good - yes making him take his meds regularly is hugely important and sounds like it's doing what it should re. his goitre. The bloods can be expensive there I'm sure. His GP should be able to take them when you get the apt - there's no reason he needs a specialist for that. Then it's actually a simple enough matter to interpret them so hopefully the GP will do that for you also. Justin is an adult now size wise etc so they don't have the worries that they would have with a little one. Given the amount of pop he has drank in the past he really needs a diabetes check - this is a simple blood test also it's just that the 2 can go together as they are all autoimmune. Not meaning to frighten but best when getting bloods to get all done at once.
you guys are doing an amazing job and it's lovely you have Shawn to take some of the load also.
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
Oscar Wilde
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Jul/24/2007, 1:46 pm
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1lost1
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Re: Justin ~
Jimmy is thinking Justin might have developed depression. Now he had his evaluations and both were very clear he showed no signs of depression. But his father stayed with Jimmy and Justin while getting his new place.... he then moved out within a couple days. Justin's behavior didn't change while Mike was there at all ~ he kept the same habits he had from day 1. Jimmy has noticed since the weekend Justin is acting different. He feels he isn't eating like he was and is more withdrawn (which he is withdrawn when everything if fine, but he is even more withdrawn than usual). We can only figure it could be 2 things... Mike coming and going. Even though he didn't act differently he liked the fact his Dad was there (and they didn't spend any time together, Justin did know he was sleeping there though) or his Mom is possibly calling and we aren't aware and maybe discouraging him as far as spending time with Shawn. I think it's related to his Dad... Jimmy can't understand how it could be since the two had almost zero interaction.
Will Justin have noticeable bouts of depression if this is what this is? Or is this possibly just the flow of moods that are typical and this is our first time seeing this?
Yesterday was his Shawn day and it went well. Jimmy wanted to speak with Shawn but they didn't have a private moment so Jimmy is calling him if he hasn't already. But... Shawn is pretty much in the same boat we are because he doesn't know Justin very well, they have only spent a few hours together.
If this is depression, what should we do? If this is a cycle and too be expected, do we just let it right itself? Also the eating...because his diet is so limited, I hate for him to miss nutrients ~ do we nudge him to eat or how they say with babies that they have an automatic instinct to eat what their bodies need, is this the same with Justin? Do we let it go on for a couple of days or do we push him to have his meals?
Any help would be appreciated as we haven't had this before and are unsure how to handle it ~
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Jul/26/2007, 3:01 pm
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chefkim
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Re: Justin ~
certainly not am expert here, but I would maybe talk to him and see if he may want counseling and or meds.
depression rarely goes away on its own and can get down right bad...Keeping himm in my thoughts...
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Jul/26/2007, 6:34 pm
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1lost1
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Re: Justin ~
Thanks Kim. He has autism and we are just getting our feet with with learning about his needs. To ask him something like this he would be so frustrated and uncomfortable ~ as sometimes we struggle a bit with chit chat. Strangers make him uncomfortable he would never volunteer for counselling. We have just gotten him with a counselor, they have met 3 times, but he doesn't see him for depression ~ he is a more a "life buddy" helping him become comfortable as he matures into adulthood.
And thanks for thinking of him Kim ~ he's such a neat guy and he's had a rough life to date ~ any extra goodie vibes someone could send his way certainly won't be wasted.  
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Jul/26/2007, 7:53 pm
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suzidfloosey
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Re: Justin ~
Hi lost,
My tuppence worth - tread very very carefully here, even in the use of the term depression. With autism you need a specific autistic experienced psychiatrist to diagnose real depression. Autistic persons are withdrawn and generally anxious individuals, it's the nature of this disorder. Also those with thyroid disease can appear more 'down' than the normal population. People with autism do get down and more withdrawn when there are unpredictable things happening - they are unsure so they react in the only way they know which is too withdraw and this can manifest in many ways.
We took our son to an autism psychiatrist 2yrs ago as we were concerned and worried by his general form and language he was using and she assessed him carefully and afterwards told us she felt that he was doing well considering all he had to deal with mentally/emotionally and at the time health wise.
Symptoms that would diagnose depression in the normal population could be 'normal' manifestations of anxiety in an autistic person. They person who assesses and diagnoses people with ASD need to see below the 'autistic layer' - they need to (as another common phrase in asd world goes) put on their autism glasses and then do the assessment.
My advice for what it's worth would be to talk to Shawn. He will know what to do and hopefully they have an autism specific specialist who he can consult if needed. Counselling re. behaviour/moods etc very rarely works for those with autism - Im sure you can understand why as to counsel you need communication and those with autism lack the key to unlock that area of themselves. A therapy that can work very well though is something called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT - this is a REALLY good tool for those with ASD as what it does is teaches them positive associations to replace the negative ones. They generally don't like doing it but it can bring great results. Our son was 10 and having massive tantrums, withdrawn, angry etc especially around school. With CBT he went from not being able to even remember the tantrum (and these were HUGE tantrums) or what caused it to being able to feel the build up of a tantrum physically in his body (he learnt to feel his heart pounding, sweating, breathing faster etc) and was taught when he felt this he was to leave the room - it took months but was a huge achievement, the leaving the room then dissipated the whole thing and eventually the outbursts weren't there anymore in school. It is a tool we have to remind him of as those with ASD need to learn and re-learn a lot of this stuff but it's there. Again any CBT therapist would HAVE to be autism specific, not just familiar, specific. I've seen therapists who think ASD and ADHD are the same thing!! It is actually dangerous to have a person with ASD counselled by or worked with etc by someone who isn't autism experienced - more harm than good can be done.
I don't know if that is any use to you Lost. I would advise strong caution re. this and ensure that if you ever do get a diagnosis of depression for Justin that is from someone who actually knows what they are looking for and that the treatment is also autism specific. Depression meds while invaluable tools aren't always the way to go for those with ASD.
Hope things are better for the w/end - try to get Justing out working again if you guys can - i feel that could cheer him up and get him out of himself like it has done before. Physical work is really a great thing for these kids, as with all of us it calms the mind and is almost like a meditation. Also the sooner his thyroid tests are done the better - unless those levels are optimised he'll always feel a little low in himself.
Thinking of you all and apologies for the rambling post.... (hugs)
Some Links below
CBT Info
Good book - Tony attwood is world leader re. aspergers
Last patched up by suzidfloosey, Jul/27/2007, 4:59 am
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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
Oscar Wilde
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Jul/27/2007, 4:12 am
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