When asking politely doesn't work...

Janey woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.  It's been happening a little bit more lately, although still not at all as often as it used to.  This awakening, she was quite cheerful, but not at all tired.  Tony and I took turns staying up with her, as we usually do.  When my turn came, I tried to get her back to sleep by putting a whole bunch of blankets over her, which sometimes works.  This time, though, it just made her laugh and laugh.  And then she said "Pillow?"  I was a little surprised, as she isn't big on pillows, but I gathered up some and gave them to her.  She just kept repeating "pillow?" until finally, either she or I or both fell asleep.

The next morning, the first thing she said again was "Pillow?"  And because it was morning, I was awake enough to realize what she meant.  She was looking not for any generic pillow, but for Special Pillow.  

Special Pillow

Special Pillow is actually a pillowcase, put on any pillow.  It's the pillowcase she was given in the hospital when she had the burst appendix.  She became hugely attached to it there.  It didn't leave her side for weeks.  When we came home, she remained attached.  She never sleeps without it.  I wash it when I can, but if I want to make sure she sleeps, it better be around at bedtime.  It's the first and only object she's ever really been attached to.

It's a sign of how sleepy I was in the night that I didn't figure out what the problem was.  Special Pillowcase had fallen off the pillow it was on, and was lost among the blankets.  In the morning, when I finally wised up, I found it quickly, and Janey grabbed it for a big hug.

I've been thinking a lot about this whole incident the last few days.  The unusual part of it was how Janey didn't get a bit upset.  She just asked, repeatedly but without urgency, for the pillow.  It was her mild tone and lack of insistence, I think, that caused her not to break through my tired haze and figure out what she wanted.  

We often tell Janey just to ask for what she wants, not to scream or cry or throw a fit.  We tell her that she doesn't need to yell to get what she wants.  However, maybe she does.  When you don't have a lot of words to use, maybe tone of voice and volume and body language are necessary to get your point across.  Because she asked exactly how we ask her to, in a calm way, I didn't figure out what she meant.

I'm not sure what to make of this revelation. I think the big message for me needs to be to listen very well to her quiet and calm words (although I can't make any middle of the night promises).  Another thought, though, is that I want to try to be more understanding when she does scream.  Most children would have been able to say "I can't find my special pillow, and I can't sleep without it.  Will you help me find it?"  With Janey's mostly single word way of talking, I need to work hard to figure out what she means.  And I need to mentally translate screams into "This is urgent!  Pay attention to me right now!"

I'm not sure why Janey didn't scream about the pillow, but my guess is her desire for it was a lot like a lot of her OCD type arranging.  Often, before watching a video or eating or doing other enjoyable things, Janey arranges her surroundings.  She will turn off my computer monitor, move any laundry baskets to a different location, turn lights on or off, put the remotes on the table at straight angles, empty any half-full mugs of coffee into the sink (and then put the mugs back where they were, not in the sink!) and, depending on the day and her mood, a variety of other rituals.  She never gets upset doing these things.  She treats them like a job that has to be done---she does them in a businesslike and efficient way.  I think the pillow being with her feels like the monitor needing to be off---something to be checked off on a list.  Unlike with my OCD and I think most people's OCD, she doesn't seem to feel upset about needing to perform the rituals. So the pillow not being in place was more just something she needed to note and fix, not something terribly upsetting.

It's amazing to me sometimes how complex Janey can be.  I re-learn every day how much is going on in her mind, how much she can tell me if I learn how to listen.  I'll keep trying, Janey!  Thanks for being patient with me, sometimes!

Relentless Vigilance

One of my goals in writing this blog is to give a glimpse into what life is like with a child like Janey, a child with significant special needs.  It means a great deal to me that many people read this blog that don't have children like Janey, but want to understand her and others like her.  Some people also might read just because they are for whatever reason fascinated by autism, and I can understand that.  I used to read a lot of books about kids with autism, long before I ever had Janey.  I don't so much any more, probably because I read to get away from my own life a bit, but if I hadn't had Janey, I bet I still would.  I was thinking today, though, that there are two aspects of life with Janey and others like her that are almost impossible to explain with writing.  Of course, that never stopped me from trying!

Relentless     That's a harsh sounding word, but it's true. It doesn't end, this special needs parenting gig.  It never ends.  I admire and love teachers of kids with special needs.  They amaze me.  They teach Janey in ways I never could.  And part of that is that they get to go home at night.  I am glad they do.  They couldn't keep up that level of understanding and dedication all the time.  No-one can.  And that includes parents like myself.  I do the best I can, but at the end of some long days, I don't do much teaching or guidance or anything else but survival.  I do what it takes to get through the day---lots of videos, giving in to chips and ice cream, passing up opportunities to teach, playing the same song on repeat for hours just to be able to read a few more pages---all that.  Because there's no end of the day, really.  There is no weekends, no vacations, no retirement.  The job is forever.

You might say---that's true of any parent.  But in a lot of significant ways, it isn't.  My boys went to friend's houses, were in school activities, and by the time they were Janey's age, probably often preferred to have me a bit off-duty.  I never wasn't a parent, but there comes a point with most kids that you start being less hands on.  Now that they are 21 and 18, although of course I'll always be their mother, they are adults.  My active parenting with them is in many ways over.  With Janey, it will never be.

I imagine teachers and other professionals get very frustrated that their techniques and ideas and suggestions often don't get put in place once kids get home.  It's not that we don't want to, but imagine you were teaching a child like Janey around the clock, all week long, all month long, all year long, and you were going to be for the rest of your life.  I bet you would sometimes take the easy way out, be a bit of a slacker---not in ways that hurt or endanger the child, but in ways that let you make it to the next day.

Vigilant    Imagine how it was when your child was a toddler.  Imagine that they could only talk a little, not nearly enough to really tell you about any time you were apart, not nearly enough to explain medical symptoms, not nearly enough to reassure you that all is well in their world.  Then imagine putting them in a school bus with drivers you didn't really know, or having them in a daycare program you weren't completely confident was well supervised and staffed, or, being desperate for a night out, leaving them with a babysitter you found through an agency.  Imagine they somehow, although still being a toddler, looked much, much older, almost like an adult.  Imagine the fears you would have. Imagine how you might not take advantage of desperately needed possibilities for a break.  Then imagine that stage of life never ended.

I worry about Janey every single second she isn't right in front of Tony or the boys or me.  I worry because I've read some awful statistics about how vulnerable she is to abuse.  I worry because I have seen with my own eyes that not all programs for kids like her are anywhere near adequately staffed.  I worry because I took her to the emergency room of what was recently rated one of the best hospitals in the world and because she couldn't talk, because she was difficult to examine, no-one even touched her stomach, although doing so would have likely revealed her high fever was an indication her appendix had already burst.

If you've had a toddler, you know you would move heaven and earth to protect them.  Not that you wouldn't with any child---I would probably stare down a lion if it were trying to hurt William or Freddy.  But they can tell me if something is wrong.  They can speak up for themselves.  It isn't all up to me to make sure they are safe.  I'm able to give that responsibility to them, more each year.  But I can't with Janey.  I never will be able to.  I need to be vigilant, forever.  

Relentless vigilance.  That is it in a nutshell.  That is the part of life with a child with needs like Janey that really can't be fully explained.  It is why stress levels in parents like us are said to be much like those of soldiers in combat. But Janey, you are worth it, a million times over.  I will be relentlessly vigilant for you until my last breath.

Tough week---has to get better

I hope I don't have another week like this one in a hurry. Freddy seems to be on the mend. The best guess is that he had infectious colitis, which is now healing. Just another scary disease you never know exists until you find out the hard way. Janey hasn't had a worse week in years. This morning I set her off by the unforgivable sin of trying to have her watch a Kipper video she hadn't seen before. She loves Kipper, and I found a new one on the Netflix instant viewing cue, and put it on as she seemed happy today. That lasted about one second after she realized she wasn't watching something familiar. She's been screaming now for half an hour. She screamed much of the day at school yesterday too, leading the principal to decide she shouldn't go on a field trip to the junior Special Olympics field day she was supposed to go. Probably the right decision, but I felt sad she missed yet another opportunity due to her tantrums. I think she might have been happy once she was on the school bus. I told her all morning she was going to go on a school bus. But I am glad the principal is involved and caring enough to make such a decision. I'm really drained. I've got nothing left. I wish I could go away for just a day or so. But Janey is very, very upset when I'm not around lately, and it's just too much for one parent to handle that and 2 other kids and all the house stuff. I wish there was still respite money out there. Oh, well. Janey said some good things this morning before she freaked out. She told me early on "I want to watch a Winnie the Pooh video" and when I didn't hop right up, she said "Right now!" Then later when we were doing questions for M&Ms, and I asked her her teacher's name, she said "Ms. LeMeu" for the first time ever. Then I asked her what was in Ms. LeMeu's tummy, and she said right away "A baby". That was great. She often doesn't really listen to the question. I was asking her how old she was, and she constantly said "Janey". Then as a guess, said "J-A-N-E Janey" then "Yellow". She seems to think if something worked once to answer a question, it might work again. Well, she's screaming in my ear so I guess my 5 minute writing time is over.