Okay, so today is a light day. I had a few tips I wanted to share that have worked for us.
Medications: We have 3 different colored boxes for each specific time. They obviously stay the same every week! I taught my son to lift the lid after he takes them so all I have to do is glance at them to know he has had each specific days dosage. Then I shut them before I go to bed or he does the next day and it starts all over. We always leave them in the same place so we both know where they are. We also re-fill them on the same day a week at a time. This allows plenty of time for refill requests and also hopefully gets most of them on the same refill schedule. If we are short for the whole week, I just fill the days I have and finish out the week when the refills are made. This way I don't have to remember which box needs what. Even though he is 19, I make sure he knows what each pill is and looks like. He checks them before he takes them. I make the boxes up every week or he does it with me checking them all. It is too dangerous for mistakes.
Public Situations:
We practice all the time on independent situations in unfamiliar circumstances. I purposely choose different routes, grocery stores, gas stations and ask him to go after something. This is usually extremely hard for him and creates great anxiety, but I gently push him. I do try to spread them out so they don't all happen in the same day. For instance, on the way to therapy I might buy gas somewhere new in the city for him to go and pay. At a new grocery store, I will give him a coupon and ask him to find it and bring it too me. This causes him to locate the item, read signs, compare products and sizes which is so important to his independent living skills. We are currently learning to write checks. We started slow, at a familiar bank and have moved up to unfamiliar once or twice.
Let me share a little story from our lives. For the first time just yesterday, he noticed that he was really anxious. Now, I have read this anxiety for years and knew the environment of public places with lots of people caused problems. The breakthrough that has finally come after years of working at it is that now HE is noticing the anxiety and connecting the situation. This is HUGE for helping him learn how to cope and de-stress himself. There is a VERY long way to go, but every little victory is celebrated.
Celebrate the Victories:
That is my last tip people. Celebrate every victory, accomplishment, or goal. Just living a day for these children is difficult, but to accomplish new or the unfamiliar or get through difficulties with tremendous amounts of stress is a reason to celebrate! When my son recently went into a new bank to cash a check even though scared to death, we all fist bumped him! Other people who don't live with autistic or mentally ill children may not understand, but by now you should. Go ahead and do the victory dance or the celebratory whoo hooo! You both deserve it!
Thanks for stopping by,
Lynne
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