1.26.2009

Hello With Eyes

We switched Leelo to Risperdol on December 31st.

The positive changes in our son have been amazing. I've not seen a Leelo this happy, friendly, and engaged for years. He is a delightful boy, and I am enjoying all the snuggling on the couch, snuggly wake ups (yes, we occasionally have to wake him up), and requests for kisses and hugs.

However he is still targeting his baby sister (and in fact has become increasingly crafty about it) and so we remain very very vigilant, and our house is by necessity divided. At times I find the stress incapacitating.

We have gotten some extra help with Leelo (and are working on getting more regional center respite) and that helps. His new therapist, V, is a strong, intuitive guy who believes in Leelo absolutely. He is a gift.

We also changed the position of his bed away from the wall as he was compulsively dropping straws behind it and getting up and moving the bed himself.

Here are general notes for January from Leelo's home record, which I was also not keeping up for the past few weeks:

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HEALTH
Very healthy. Continues to gain weight on Risperdol. We have eliminated croissants, added more fruits & vegetables. We are making a concerted effort to get him more exercise (though this is hampered by recent rainy weather).

SLEEP
Sleep in all of Jan has changed. Due to Risperdol? Generally goes to sleep easily 8:30 - 9, wakes up between 6 and 7, sometimes has to be woken up! Averaging 10 - 11 hours FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE.

DIET
Whole Wheat croissants eliminated. Soy yogurt added (eats with spoon). Probiotics switched to every other day. Over course of month, has started eating apples without reinforcement. With Sage, has started eating freeze-dried mango, green beans, snap peas, blueberries. Yesterday ate dried cranberries voluntarily with reinforcer, ate greasy buttery homemade garlic bread with huge whole cloves of garlic happily and without reinforcer. [Who is this child?]

MEDICATION
Risperdol .5 mg every morning and evening at 6:30.

LANGUAGE
Language has been generally good. Lots of shouting, "Mommy!" or other names to get attention. Continues to reverse pronouns, "Mommy, give it to you!" (me). As Supervisor M has noticed, he has been compulsively asking for his statements to be echoed. When asked to say hello to a friend, he didn't look at them but said, "hello." I said, "Leelo, with EYES," and he turned and looked at them and said, "Hello with eyes"!

BEHAVIOR
"Abilify anger" and inability to tolerate being denied is practically gone. Behavior has generally been really great; friendly, happy, engaged, snuggly, asking for lots of hugs and kisses. He is a delightful boy 1:1. Still has occasional compulsive head-slapping upon being denied; when done for attention it is reduced by lack of eye contact. ***HOWEVER*** he still has a compulsive need to hit/push/slap Mali. The two of them cannot be anywhere near each other without a physical barrier between them. Also, okay with going on long walks again, and also is once again allowing us to brush his teeth.

TOILETING
Has been having some problems with toilet accidents, especially at school, with Therapist V, Therapist R, and Seymour (though not with Squid). We have generally gone back to taking him to the toilet every 60 - 90 minutes.

IN GENERAL
Abilify "fog" has dissipated. Two days after stopping Abilify, he spontaneously picked up and properly manipulated "egg tower" toy that he had previously found baffling. However he has become more crafty about trying to hurt Mali, for instance throwing projectiles at her (phone, balls) which he has never previously attemped, and also going upstairs while she is sitting at the bar and trying to drop shoes on her head.

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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:43 PM

    It sounds like Leelo is doing better. I am so, so glad to hear it.

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  2. Risperdal was the miracle drug for Jaymes... I'm so glad Leelo is responding so well.

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  3. That is so marvelous it just makes me want to cry. Hoping it all continues, except for the Mali stuff. I can't imagine how stressful that must be.

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  4. Charlie takes the same amounts, but the second dose around 3.30pm.

    Have the toilet accidents only occurred since being on the new med? Charlie had some trouble with the same. seems to be better, but due to eating more, stomach problems (or the potential for them) have been up.

    Hope things get better with Leelo and Mali, always pulling for all of youz.

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  5. Anonymous10:33 PM

    Our son is on the same thing. We felt the same way when he began taking it. Then we forgot. In fact, my hubbs was adamant about taking him off.

    Then he (our son) got sick and couldn't take it for a little bit (he would have vomited it anyway) and we saw the change. Yep, it's a good thing to be on it!

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