Whew. It’s over.
It’s been a rough week for Christian, but he’s made it through. And so have we. Finally, for the first time all week, he woke up and was happy and functional enough to actually go to school.
T is out of the “hospital” and home, and Christian is getting ready to spend the weekend with her. For us, it’s been difficult having to deal with his distrust of his school counselor and extreme moodiness; his anxiety, fear, and worry about her has literally taken over his life for the past week. When he gets this way, he doesn’t realize how difficult it is on everyone around him. In addition, to that, he forgets that he has responsibilities despite the fact that he’s in a bad place and that we all have lives to lead as well.
Much of my week was spent arranging visits with his therapist–and getting him there, which is no easy task on a weeknight … with traffic … at 8:00 PM … when I don’t even get home until almost six. How am I supposed to come home, feed five people, and get him where he needs to be in time? The stress was starting to get to me.
Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness ~ Richard Carlson
But Christian in a good mood, is a thing to be treasured. His good mood put me in a good mood. He didn’t fight or squabble with his brother or sister and I had no problems getting him to take not only his daily dose of Prozac, but a multivitamin as well.
One of the things that came about this week involves his school counselor. As a state mandated reporter, I can now understand why she called T’s school to inform them of her thoughts. On the other hand, I now have to deal with a mentally unstable 15 year old that feels betrayed and no longer trusts her or other authority figures for fear that they will also betray his trust.
I spoke to her on Wednesday–the third day in a row where he couldn’t function enough to attend school. After three days, a doctor’s note would be required. Luckily, Thursday was an in-service day and there was no school. She asked me if he had an IEP (individual education plan) or a 504. Essentially a 504 “refers to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which specifies that no one with a disability can be excluded from participating in federally funded programs or activities, including elementary, secondary or postsecondary schooling.” What is does is offer an altered curriculum for students with disabilities, including mental disabilities. She suggested an emergency IEP, which will involve a meeting with the counselor, all of his teachers, and Christian, Alan and I. Since we had a preliminary IEP last year while he was in middle school, this should actually cement the plan for the future.
It’s been a difficult time, but at least we’re finally making progress.