Last night was one of those nights----
First of all Dakota struggles with bedtime in that he goes to bed when the TV show he wants to watch goes off the air verses going to bed when he is tired-- I have spoken to him over and over to explain to him that you can take naps, that you can dose off and wake up later, that you go to sleep when your body tells you that it is tired----Some how this concept does not translate to him YET!
Another problem we are having at bedtime is that he does not fall asleep readily and has used this time to employ another destructive habit which is twisting and pulling his hair --yes that's right we are still battling the hair pulling{There are several other excerpts with references to this behavior which is about the drive me out of my mind}
By waiting until the lights are off he can engage in this behavior without anyone being able to see him and try to interrupt and redirect the behavior.AND the bigger problem is that it stimulates him so it takes even longer for him to fall asleep.
SO by 1:35 am he was finally ready to try to go to sleep -- I lolly gagged around a little because I knew he was not going to turn off the lights and just fall fast asleep. Somehow he decided that he was going to make a final stop in the bathroom--Not just to relieve his bladder --IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
After a substantial time in the bathroom I hear him call for assistance. I arrive to find "small deposits" everywhere.{For the record this is totally out of character or behavior --we have not had this type of incident up until a minor one about a week ago. At that time I explained to him the importance of waiting until everything not only exited his body but made it into the toilet before standing up and calling for help.}
Needless to say I was more than upset. I told him that he was going to clean up. I did not mind helping when he was sick and had mistakes but it was another thing to expect my assistance when was just being careless.
He was not happy with me but I knew that I had to drive home the idea that this was not acceptable and at this point in time that he had not been engaging in this behavior before so this was no time to start.I got the Clorox wipes and helped him "motor through it all the while he was pissed off at me because I was making him do something he "expected" me to do. This continued on as I had him but the wipes in the shower as I did not want him to flush them down the toilet and cause another problem. after finally getting him to finish his cleanup duty I had him get in the shower because his bottom was altogether another issue.
Once he was in the shower I explained that he had one more duty which was to pick up the wipes and put them in a container so I could throw them out----This became the second battle of the war that was waged last night! Hr absolutely refused to cooperate. He would not pick the wipes up. So I told him that I would not help him complete his shower until he do so. He remained in the shower the better part of one hour with me asking him every 5 minutes if he was ready to help me.Finally after the shower curtain came down and he realized that I was not budging and giving him many options including using a rubber glove or even using his foot to slide them into the container he acquiesced.
It was a hard thing to do and I found myself questioning my decision to take on this battle but in the long run I think it was the right choice---
One of the biggest indicators in Autism is if you see your child regressing. That usually signals many things most especially the end of the learning process so in order to push ahead and continue to hold out hope for more improvement you have to continue to stretch and challenge you kids. I have seen growth in Dakota as an ongoing process and at this point I am not ready to throw in the towel.
I always say as long as I see improvement -- even baby steps I will hold out hope!
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