Wow, lots of heavy stuff going on here....
As for MJ and the clondine, etc...it is a lst resort (as pople who know us in person will attest to) I do use other methods when possible, brushing, redirecting, etc....but sometimes it just doesn't work and I have no choice, she is self-injuring and other-injuring when she gets going...which happend last night (again)
As for therapy, etc...we've been unsuccessful finding anyone who will deal with MJ. Even though she is homeschooled, her Neuro told us to go ahead and register her for school (she doesn't *have* to be registered until next school year) that they have to provide therapy, (they are required to from the age of 3) When I called them last month they told me to call again in July that they wouldn't register her now...so much for helpful.
I realize that a huge majority of teachers are fabulous, but we've had 4 teachers in the last year arrested for abusing non verbal special needs kids. I wish there was a way to differentiate between them.
We've also been told that she is *too funtional* for a one to one aide, even though she has a feeding tube, cannot potty train, is self injuring, will hit others, only speaks in single words, ASL and PECS....The 4 ST's we've had here have all wante us to choose ONE means of communication (ASL, speech or PECS) for her and we won't do that, we will let her communicate any way she can (we are just thankful she is still trying to communicate)
We don't want her in a exclusionary classroom that wouldn't be good for her.
If you do know of any resources here in FL, we'd love to hear about them. CARD won't accept her, the school district is stalling us, we're still trying to get UCP to call us back. We're exhausted from trying to find anyone that will help us.
I'm always happy to answer any questions.
OT: This is a very contemplative time of year for us too...although we give up yeast...
Relax, Rick, we're cool. That's not mine. Mine's the groovy sway w/ the microphone (usually invisible in my case). Although if we combine mine & yours, we could probably make it onto the next tour.
