I cried.

Last night I cried…. It has been a long time since I purged…….

Why…..

Sadness washed over me…. Feeling helpless….. 

I couldn’t speak his language last night. He was stuck in his anxiety and I could not do anything to bring him out of it……

I tried everything…. Nothing worked…….

“MOMMY, MAKE MY HEAD STOP!”

No bandaid, no kiss could make this type of owie go away….

He was in such a good place a few weeks ago…..

Last night We were trapped in mental illness…..

I crave relationships with other’s who battle this same BATTLE…

“Cosmas, today is a new day… We get to start anew……”

WE WILL DO THIS……..

Reducing Meds

Lowering Meds……..

A slow journey but Cosmas has gone from always having his medication raised to lowering the dose! He was at 1.25 or respiredole and now he is at .50.  

What have I seen: Tad more aggression but control with it.. He is pretend punching his siblings.. It is very threatening….…. It really scares John…  

This is common for individuals coming off of meds because the brain has to relearn how work that area of the brain…..

PLAN: Uping the positive reinforcement…..Back to his TOKEN CHART…

I told Cosmas that we would have to increase his dose if this behavior continues… He immediately snapped out of it.. I always tell him to use his tools that his therapist is teaching him….

Learning a the language of Anxiety is difficult for all those involved…..

Coz’s token jar. This thing is key to better behavior!!!

A new language....,

How did we get here……….

Years of OT…. 

Physical therapy….

Behavior therapy….

Cranial Sacral Therapy……

Prozac

Respiredole

Clonazepam

Celexa 

Clinical Diagnosis: Autism and Anxiety…….

What FINALLY worked??????????? 

ABA therapy and neurofeedback therapy….

RESULT: LOWERING antipsychotic DRUGS!!!

“Neurofeedback is a method of changing the way the brain functions in order to improve or correct neurological dysfunction or to improve performance beyond the normal range.”

http://lighthousetherapeutics.com/neurotherapy/

            Picture on right is before therapy. 

              Picture on left is after therapy.   

Our lives have changed…..

Cosmas, “ Mom, I feel great.”

Cosmas’s life has changed… 

He now has a language to help him cope and regulate……

As a mother, I have a new language…. A new confidence on how to navigate this journey…