We realize along with the music fetish as of late... the blanket wagging is outta control!!! Russell is like Elton John meets Linus!! heehee... since his stimming evolves this blanket stuff is getting in the way of getting to bed. Ususally Kevin has to lay his legs on Russell and he is out.. and he has always had a blanket with him. Now that he is stimming hard with them, we have to take them away just so he can fall asleep. Does Mikey do this?

We find some things more "outta control" then others. Years ago when he spinned things it was AWFUL.. truly awful. Some not so bad for us.. but the blanket stuff and his music stuff is making him SOO hyper too. And then with the music stuff he is so obsessed he doesn't want to go outta the house sometimes... but we take him anyway.. he needs a darn break!

How is this stuff with you guys?

A.

The towel shaking is still going on. The hardest part is finding just the right towel. He has to go through a few test shakes with a couple of towels before he is happy. But it isn't an overwhelming behavior... it doesn't interfere with the other things he likes to do such as playing on the PS2.

The behaviors have been much more under control since we started the Depakote and now we have him on Risperdal before bed and that helps him fall asleep. Is Russel on any medications?

No.. Russell isn't on any meds. We do keep Melatonin in the house now for when we can't get him asleep at night... but don't do it daily anymore like we use to. I know on the Yahoo listserve a few are on those meds you mentioned. How did you come to the conclusion Mikey needed the Depakote? What specifically is it for, for Mikey?

A.

Depakote is to help control impulsivity, aggression, and stimming behaviors. Risperdal reduces anxiety. The problems were clear to us that his behaviors were interfering with his ability to learn and he simply could not control his behaviors.

You might want to talk to a pediatric neurologist about the possibility of meds.

And I almost forgot the focalin. That is for ADHD.

I had put in a call to our DS clinic.. to the NP there and she called me back today. they are helping me with a few things but we addressed the behaviors and are being referred to a doc to help us managing these, just not give us DX.. we shall see! We did talk about meds and just what can be done and the clinic does agree that going to places and getting a DX is one thing, but we need someone to help us keep things in check.

I guess only time will tell!

A.