We all sat down and spoke with Dr. Pattie about this and Elliott was hysterical. He’s just so far over the edge, there’s not a whole lot of rational thought taking place. He’s totally fight or flight and it took a considerable amount of time to even touch on the subject without him freaking out.

There wasn’t a whole lot accomplished but we are trying a slightly different approach. We want him to feel as much in control as he can. This has to get done and we’re saying that it has to be within the next thirty days. We want him to decide when to have this done because that way he’s choosing to do this rather than having it done to him. It’s a fine line but like I said, we’re trying a different approach.

Elliott wants to get it done and over with but he’s too afraid, especially if we tell him when it’s happening.

Having taken this approach, Elliott is now considering whether or not he wants to do this today while we’re at the pediatricians office. This is progress because before we approached it this way, he would even think about it without hyperventilating. Now he feels a bit more in control and he knows this is important. The fact that he’s thinking about doing this today, all on his own, is a ignorance step for him.

Obviously, this isn’t open ended and we will make it happen if this goes in too long. We also wouldn’t do things like this if it were something critical to his health and well-being.

Our goal is more long term. We’re trying to teach him ways of working through things like this on his own. It’s not easy but we did make some progress. We’ll see how today goes. There are no expectations and we will be very matter of fact about whatever he decides to do. I have a feeling though, he’s going to go through with it and get it done so he can put it behind him.

We have to think outside the box because our kids don’t fit any mold. They think and experience life in very unique ways. We have to be creative to make things work sometimes.