For the past couple years my son has been having tics, mostly in his face. Repeated and rapid blinking is his most prominent tic. But, he also make sounds in his throat, which are a little hard to explain in writing, kind of a throat clearing sound. He also repeatedly clears his throat, coughs, and makes other vocalizations. In addition to his tics, my son (who I'll just call E), is a
very emotional child. The smallest things will set him off into a whirlwind of crying and screaming, total meltdown.
His teachers since he has started school have pulled thier hair out trying to get him to sit still and pay attention. E is smart as a whip and is ahead most of the other kids in his class academically, but socially, he just does not fit in well. He has ADD or ADHD like behaviors, with a generous dash of Obsessive/Compulsive behavior thrown in there for good measure
During class, he will be bouncing around in his desk or crawling around on the floor. They even had to get him something called a T-stool to sit on during carpet time so that he wouldn't be all over the place.
His teacher called me the first week of school complaining about E. She said he is coughing so much that she can't hardly hear herself talking in class, and it is disturbing the other students, and she has scolded him for it because she "can tell it's not a real cough." I said to her, "I don't think he can help it." And she said, "Well it is very disruptive." He comes home from school sad a lot, and says that everybody hates him. It breaks my heart.
I have tried making changes in our diet to see if it would help with his attention problems and tics, but nothing I've tried has worked. I talked with his doctor for a long time at E's last checkup about everything. She recommened that he see a neurologist to be tested for Tourette's Syndrome. So, that is where we are right now with it. I made it clear to her that I am not thrilled with the idea of E being put on any kind of medication, but she said there are other options, like behavioral stuff that we can try. Meds will be a last resort. So, I guess I'm pretty stressed and worried about my little boy right now. It breaks my heart to see him having such a hard time at school, especially when he's so smart. I'm hoping we'll get some answers this Friday though.
In other news, I got part of my kale cooked and frozen. I think next, I will dehydrate some.
I made english muffins this morning using my sourdough starter! They are super yummy!!!
I'm proud of this one, it was a bit of work! They aren't quite as pretty as the store ones, but they taste better and that's all we care about.
In sad news, I lost a chicken. The one that got the worst of it from the dog attack finally passed away this weekend. I was totally not expecting it, because she seemed to have gotten so much better, but there she was in the corner of the coop, dead.
My FIL asked if we were going to eat her, but I just couldn't do that. We buried her by the garden instead.
Tonight it is off to Parent/Teacher conferences. Not really looking forward to it honestly, because I know it will all be complaints about E. Sometimes it's enough to make me want to homeschool, but I don't know how we would pay the bills if I quit my job. Oh well. Hope everyone's having a good day!
