It’s been a long weekend for The Autism Dad family. The boys are struggling in the sleep department and subsequently, so am I. I’ve been too tired to write as frequently as I like to.
As my first post of the week, I want to make sure that bring you up to speed on some things going on with Gavin that have me very worried. The following concerns are not in any particular order.
- Gavin’s memory is getting worse. It used to be just his short term memory that was problematic but even his long term memory is beginning to suffer. In fact, his short term memory is getting even worse than it’s been. He’s now struggling with very simple, one step tasks and is often unable to complete them because he can’t remember what he was doing.
- This is perhaps the most concerning for me personally. Gavin’s been falling quite frequently, as of late. He falls going up the steps at least a couple of times a day. He’s dropping things that he’s carrying and knocking stuff over as well. Part of the reason for falling up the steps is that he’s trying to run. We’ve had to sorta really clamp down on this because we have an open staircase and he could seriously hurt himself.
- My third worry is sorta tied into the previous paragraph. When Gavin falls, he gets extremely frustrated with himself. This almost always leads to him punching himself in the forehead or his legs. I know this is relatively common amongst kids on the spectrum but we haven’t seen things like this in awhile.
There isn’t much we can do with these concerns. The falling can be limited by limiting his movements, which feels really shitty to do.
With the memory issues, we can employ voice recordings, videos and additional visual prompts. Unfortunately, much like his loss of coordination or motor skill, this is all part of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and there is no cure.
We can try and work with him on better managing his frustrations but frankly, I can’t even imagine how he feels. I’d like to help him find a less self-destructive way of dealing with it but that’s easy to say because I’m not facing these same life limiting problems.
My heart is broken over these things and I wish I could take his burdens away but I can’t. All I can do is be there for him in every way possible.
