Yesterday there was discussion about Dean and I visiting the school B attends. Since this discussion took place in a mix of Serbian and English there was lots of potential for information to be misunderstood. (or just plain forgotten since we were discussing several topics at once! LOL) When it was time to arrange our ride for today, Dean said that was today and I said it was tomorrow. So, today when we arrived for our visit there were LOTS of kids and caregivers out on the playground, and one of the staff said that B looked around quite confused that we weren't out there, and then was brought back inside, which he wasn't happy about.
We found him up on his floor but in a different room. He came to us right away, and I asked to speak with the social worker or psychologists about the school visit. In the meantime, we didn't want to take him outside for his snack since there were a lot of kids out there, so we went up to the 2nd floor to use the playroom up there.
Problem: We changed the routine.
B was not AT ALL happy that we were changing things up. He pointed to the elevator, signing "Eat!!!" as hard as he could. We did, indeed get on the elevator, but when we tried to get off on another floor, not the one that leads to outside, he was NOT going to get out of the elevator. I pointed to the bag, "Eat." I signed, "Ide." and put out my hand. He shook his head no and dug in his heels. "Ide" I said, bit more insistently. Finally he came along. He was not happy to be walking down the hallway to the playroom so I reached into the bag and showed him the water bottle was in there. Talk about dangling a carrot!
Once in the playroom, some staff who remembered Asher came running to see the photo book I have along, so Dean worked on snack with B while I kept tabs on my book. When I came back to the room they were done with the pudding, which B loved, and were trying some cheerios. He chewed a few using his front teeth, but his mouth looks incredibly sore (his gums bleed constantly without any stimulation. Poor baby!) so I'm not really surprised he didn't want to chew with his back teeth. After a few he started spitting them out so we moved on to the juice.
As for the rest of the visit, it was spent not letting him kick over the table, not letting him hit, not letting him kick (us or anything else) and with him spending a lot of time sitting on the floor crying. Pretty much a repeat of our 1st and 2nd visit. But, we're not dismayed. I think tomorrow's visit will be spent back in that very same room. Maybe. We'll see how much energy we have tomorrow. LOL
Today I was having trouble seeing what he needed. I mean, yes we changed the routine so he didn't know what to expect from us, but other than that I just wasn't able to see and understand what he was trying to tell us with his actions other than the attention seeking stuff. I didn't know the best way to handle him today. I guess I didn't bring my "A" game! LOL
Oh, he did soak through his diaper so we brought him back to his caregivers for a diaper change. Or should I say double diaper change? They put two disposable diapers on the kids. You know, better to spend a ton of money on diapers than to potty train them, right? We were able to see that the small spots of vitiligo he has really cover large portions of his body. Yeah...we'll be getting that thyroid thoroughly checked out when we get home. Both Axel and Asher came home from Serbia with very low iodine levels (which affects thyroid function). Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, yet I would venture to guess more than half the kids here have vitiligo. Also, we've seen that his tonsils are huge so they will need to come out. Looks like we'll be doing lots of things under anesthesia: Teeth cleaning/removal (he has two rows of teeth) tonsils and probably adenoid removal, ABR (hearing test) though I suspect his hearing is fine we'll get it checked anyway as long as he's out! That's all I can see up to this point that would need to be addressed with a trip to the O.R.
We found him up on his floor but in a different room. He came to us right away, and I asked to speak with the social worker or psychologists about the school visit. In the meantime, we didn't want to take him outside for his snack since there were a lot of kids out there, so we went up to the 2nd floor to use the playroom up there.
Problem: We changed the routine.
B was not AT ALL happy that we were changing things up. He pointed to the elevator, signing "Eat!!!" as hard as he could. We did, indeed get on the elevator, but when we tried to get off on another floor, not the one that leads to outside, he was NOT going to get out of the elevator. I pointed to the bag, "Eat." I signed, "Ide." and put out my hand. He shook his head no and dug in his heels. "Ide" I said, bit more insistently. Finally he came along. He was not happy to be walking down the hallway to the playroom so I reached into the bag and showed him the water bottle was in there. Talk about dangling a carrot!
Once in the playroom, some staff who remembered Asher came running to see the photo book I have along, so Dean worked on snack with B while I kept tabs on my book. When I came back to the room they were done with the pudding, which B loved, and were trying some cheerios. He chewed a few using his front teeth, but his mouth looks incredibly sore (his gums bleed constantly without any stimulation. Poor baby!) so I'm not really surprised he didn't want to chew with his back teeth. After a few he started spitting them out so we moved on to the juice.
As for the rest of the visit, it was spent not letting him kick over the table, not letting him hit, not letting him kick (us or anything else) and with him spending a lot of time sitting on the floor crying. Pretty much a repeat of our 1st and 2nd visit. But, we're not dismayed. I think tomorrow's visit will be spent back in that very same room. Maybe. We'll see how much energy we have tomorrow. LOL
Today I was having trouble seeing what he needed. I mean, yes we changed the routine so he didn't know what to expect from us, but other than that I just wasn't able to see and understand what he was trying to tell us with his actions other than the attention seeking stuff. I didn't know the best way to handle him today. I guess I didn't bring my "A" game! LOL
Oh, he did soak through his diaper so we brought him back to his caregivers for a diaper change. Or should I say double diaper change? They put two disposable diapers on the kids. You know, better to spend a ton of money on diapers than to potty train them, right? We were able to see that the small spots of vitiligo he has really cover large portions of his body. Yeah...we'll be getting that thyroid thoroughly checked out when we get home. Both Axel and Asher came home from Serbia with very low iodine levels (which affects thyroid function). Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, yet I would venture to guess more than half the kids here have vitiligo. Also, we've seen that his tonsils are huge so they will need to come out. Looks like we'll be doing lots of things under anesthesia: Teeth cleaning/removal (he has two rows of teeth) tonsils and probably adenoid removal, ABR (hearing test) though I suspect his hearing is fine we'll get it checked anyway as long as he's out! That's all I can see up to this point that would need to be addressed with a trip to the O.R.
"B" needs a name, and we all want to know what it is. :o) (u actually called him Asher, in this post) You already know that we can't always have a great day, sometimes it's just mediocre, and other's just downright suck. Having fun keeping up with you guys thru your blog, and fb. peace and contentment for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd good catch Kathy. I'm actually surprised I haven't leaked his name a dozen times already because I type it by mistake all the time. LOL My kids know his new name though. They don't know his Serbian name. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell I had another comment but it disappeared. I can't give his new name AND post pictures. I have to choose because he is not legally ours. And we can't give him a new name until he's legally ours either. Next week. Next week will come soon enough.
ReplyDelete