hi mommygiraffe,
I wish I wasn't so tired... I'd like to write more but I just wanted to say welcome and stick around. This forum has given me a lot of strength even when I only have time to lurk. :grin:
My son is 8, too, but his interest is horses instead of giraffes. The IEP helped a lot. He is removed from the large classroom at times & placed in small groups with other kids with a variety of difficulties. They form a small community and help support each other.
Social skills training helped somewhat. They set a day aside that a group of kids (some with difficulties, some not) were to practice a skill at recess. That left fewer lonely days. But, things didn't improve much on the off days.
After a year, the only complaint from the counselor is that he's still making too many horse noises when between classes in the hallway, and that puts his friends off. It seemed pretty minor to me! He now has friends to "put off" after all!
Hi Leanna, welcome to AFF.
Hi, Leanna..I just wanted to say, that Darkman thing your son did sounds so cute! I grew up somewhat of a Tomboy and watched alot of Ninja Turtles, so I kind of get some of the super-hero idealation that boys have. Even though I don't have a brother, so on the rest of it I'm relatively clueless.
Welcome!
My son just turned 9 was diagnosed almost 2 years ago. The thing the psychologist told me would make the biggest difference for son was for me to learn all I could about the condition. It does make a difference, and being here helps me understand my child as well.
Tantrums and behavior difficulties are usually the result of frustration and/or over stimulation. That they don't understand the world and the world doesn't understand them. Sensory overload that is confusing. And so forth.
I realize you are suffering from a debiliating illness yourself, but I would start by looking at what issues you can remove from your child's life. Making his days go smoother will, simply, make your days go smoother. To that end I would start with the bus. Get him off it. Arrange a carpool or other means of transportation if you cannot find the means to drive him yourself (if at all possible I encourage you to try driving yourself - the extra minutes to chat about and prepare for the upcoming day with your son will help him a lot). The bus is a poorly supervised environment and not one that is helping your child.
Next, see what can be done to help your child during recess. This was something we talked a lot about during my son's IEP. The school is working on creating a game room, which would be a more quiet place my child (and others, of course) could go to play a board game. There are also a few classrooms left open where children are allowed to go and read or use the computers. All these options help my child, since it gets him out of the playground where he (a) has trouble with the sports kids like to play and (b) is open to more teasing.
Very important, find out what the teachers are doing to stop the teasing. In our school teasing is not tolerated. Yes, it still happens, but all the kids will get down on the one that did it, because they all know it is wrong. The school needs to teach that attitude top on down.
Finally, ask the teachers to give you as much advance information on the curriculum and schedule for each day as possible. If your son is like mine, you face a constant stream of "what are we going to do today?" questions. My son doesn't like surprises; he wants to know what to expect. The more he knows what to expect each day, the better he can prepare himself to handle it. He actually can handle most everything with enough advance information and preparation, it makes that much difference.
Remember to just sit and cuddle with your child and enjoy him. I am sure you do, already, just reminding how important that is for both of you. And you don't have to be healthy to do it.
Good luck.