Well the school week for Austin continued to go downhill, culminating in a seriously difficult day at school on Friday. When I went to pick Austin that afternoon my cell phone rang and it was Austin's para letting me know that he was in the office and that they needed me to come in. When I got into the office his para let me know that he had spent the day in the office and that they had to restrain him at one point for everyone's safety. He also tried to leave. According to her this all began in 2nd period which of course was the continuation of the packet work from earlier and it escalated from there. She told me that he knocked over the chairs in the room where he was and made a mess of some t-shirts and empty school water bottles. The other para commented that she should have me look through the window at what he had done, his new para said no she will see that when she goes in.
When I entered the room they let me know that before Austin left they wanted him to clean up the mess he had made. He was clearly still upset, tears and wanting to leave. I looked around the small room (the size of a small office)...this is where he is supposed to decompress and calm down. Inside there was a small desk, 2 bikes and their gear, 2 chairs, an empty box that had t-shirts and water bottles in it. The shirts and bottles were scattered about and in the corner was the weighted blanket to give him deep pressure. Nothing about this space was soothing whatsoever at all. If I were told I had to stay in this room I wouldn't have been happy either. It made me cry to think that is where he spent his day. Don't get me wrong I don't condone the destruction or the fact that he was throwing things but how can they expect him to calm down in this environment and to succeed? He needs sensory input and output at these times and they don't have the facilities there. I tried to hold back my tears as I explained to Austin that we needed to clean up the room before we could leave. I guided him step by step on how to clean the room so he wouldn't become overwhelmed again and of course by doing it this way instead of just saying clean up the room he was able to successfully do it. So frustrating, I just wanted to get out of there.
It scares me when he tries to leave the campus, that and I hate that they have to restrain him. Even though I know it is for everyone's safety. I am not sure how much the dog will change all of this I just know it will keep him safe and will give him confidence, as well as peace of mind for me. I had to wait a few days to write about this one because I just was tired of it all. Sometimes I get that way, but as a great friend reminded me God had plans for us all and Jesus is always by my side.
The rest of the weekend went well, we celebrated my Dad's birthday and Austin actually played a game with his cousin's! Today we played the Wii and started posting comic books on eBay for Austin's fundraising. The store on eBay is called Comics for a Cause. We also are getting the ball rolling on the raffle. Wish us luck and send up some prayers.
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