RETIRED: Target chit chat

The original dx for him was Asperger's and the ADHD-CT. The latter has always fit him but the first not so much. It took a couple of years and a LOT of research on my part (and friend's help) to figure out exactly what was going on. You know how it is as a mother though. You know when something just isn't right and you don't rest until you find out what's wrong.

The problem is, there aren't many doctors, counselors, or specialists of any kind that are all too familiar with SM. We were VERY lucky with this school in that the diagnostician actually has a very close friend whose daughter also has SM. If it wasn't for her, and my own knowledge, he'd have a very difficult educational road ahead of him.

Even at a young age I knew that something just wasn't right. Tanner never slept through the night. And, by that I mean, he would either stay up ALL night or he'd get up a bazillion times a night. The pedi kept saying he'd outgrow it. Everytime I brought it up he'd find a reason. By the time he was 2 and still up all night I knew that wasn't normal. Actually, it took having my 2nd baby to finally see what was normal and what wasn't. He has always had a speech impairment and no amount of speech therapy has really helped. Maturity and repetition is what has helped.

He's very unique. I love him more than my own life. I would do anything for him. I just get so exhausted with his antics and such that I have to blow off steam somewhere.

I feel bad about writing all of this out (and worry about judgement) so please let me know if this isn't the place for it and I'll delete it.

My son is six, daughter 4, daughter 2, daughter almost 1.

My son (tanner) has Selective Mutism. In other words, he has such severe anxiety that he can't talk in most social situations. Even having immediate family around can cause issues, and he doesn't talk to them. He's been around my mom his entire life and still has a hard time talking to her. He also has been dx with ADHD Combined Type. (hyperactivity and impulsiveness) He was medicated for a short while but we had some problems with insurance and he stopped taking it. Since going to school the Focalin hasn't really been needed. Because the anxiety is so severe, it counteracts the ADHD in school. He's the best kid in the entire district! But we pay the price at home. He's aggressive, loud, often violent, and rarely needs sleep. Everyone always offers me advice but they don't understand what it's like to be the mother of the child that shows no remorse, responsibility, or accountability.

For the past 2 years I've looked for ways to work with him. It's been a search that has always ended with me feeling more lost than when I began looking.

*sigh*

and there's the story of my life. Eat your heart out Dr. Phil.

The original dx for him was Asperger's and the ADHD-CT. The latter has always fit him but the first not so much. It took a couple of years and a LOT of research on my part (and friend's help) to figure out exactly what was going on. You know how it is as a mother though. You know when something just isn't right and you don't rest until you find out what's wrong.

The problem is, there aren't many doctors, counselors, or specialists of any kind that are all too familiar with SM. We were VERY lucky with this school in that the diagnostician actually has a very close friend whose daughter also has SM. If it wasn't for her, and my own knowledge, he'd have a very difficult educational road ahead of him.

Even at a young age I knew that something just wasn't right. Tanner never slept through the night. And, by that I mean, he would either stay up ALL night or he'd get up a bazillion times a night. The pedi kept saying he'd outgrow it. Everytime I brought it up he'd find a reason. By the time he was 2 and still up all night I knew that wasn't normal. Actually, it took having my 2nd baby to finally see what was normal and what wasn't. He has always had a speech impairment and no amount of speech therapy has really helped. Maturity and repetition is what has helped.

He's very unique. I love him more than my own life. I would do anything for him. I just get so exhausted with his antics and such that I have to blow off steam somewhere.

I feel bad about writing all of this out (and worry about judgement) so please let me know if this isn't the place for it and I'll delete it.

The original dx for him was Asperger's and the ADHD-CT. The latter has always fit him but the first not so much. It took a couple of years and a LOT of research on my part (and friend's help) to figure out exactly what was going on. You know how it is as a mother though. You know when something just isn't right and you don't rest until you find out what's wrong.

The problem is, there aren't many doctors, counselors, or specialists of any kind that are all too familiar with SM. We were VERY lucky with this school in that the diagnostician actually has a very close friend whose daughter also has SM. If it wasn't for her, and my own knowledge, he'd have a very difficult educational road ahead of him.

Even at a young age I knew that something just wasn't right. Tanner never slept through the night. And, by that I mean, he would either stay up ALL night or he'd get up a bazillion times a night. The pedi kept saying he'd outgrow it. Everytime I brought it up he'd find a reason. By the time he was 2 and still up all night I knew that wasn't normal. Actually, it took having my 2nd baby to finally see what was normal and what wasn't. He has always had a speech impairment and no amount of speech therapy has really helped. Maturity and repetition is what has helped.

He's very unique. I love him more than my own life. I would do anything for him. I just get so exhausted with his antics and such that I have to blow off steam somewhere.

I feel bad about writing all of this out (and worry about judgement) so please let me know if this isn't the place for it and I'll delete it.

Wow dd - I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a hard time with him. He sounds like a very special boy. He is lucky to have a mama that cares so much about him.

Back to L&L - Did you get the regular book or the young kids edition? I would highly recommend the later since your kids are still little.

And don't worry about this not being the place... we're all here for you!

Did you guys see the linky [wcco.com] that ladycat posted over in deals?

for a while there, when ds was about 3-4 years old, I thought one of us wouldn't make it.

I remember those days. I could NEVER fall asleep BEFORE ds. I had to be sure he fell asleep first or who knew what he would be up to. Every now and again I was too tired to stay awake and would fall asleep first and he would ALWAYS take full advantage of it.

One night I woke to find him sitting on the dining room table with a big can of coffee, throwing coffee grounds all over the room and saying "whee" at the same time

And when he didn't do anything destructive, he would leave me subtle and no-so-subtle hints to let me know he had been up during the night. One of his favorite things to do was open all the blinds in the house, so that when I got up I would wonder 'didn't I close them before bed?" the other was to fill all the glasses with soapy water and put them in the fridge. I thought I would go insane

Ok teri - I KNOW this isn't funny. But I'm LMAO over here reading these shenanigans. The opening the blinds thing would drive me batty!

I know!! He was a lil devil, he still can be too!! Thats just the tip of the iceberg too. He was ALWAYS up to something.

Dreem, I wish I could make it better for you, and Setsail and all parents of special needs kids. All you can do is your best, and remember to take care of yourself. DS could be destructive with stuff. For him though, it was a frustration thing. For instance, if his dvd player wasn't working and he couldn't get it to work he'd hit it, or throw it or do something to it.. He would end of breaking it worse and then cry because it was broken. I think the hardest thing for me as a parent was learning to see the world through his eyes...learning to think outside the box that most of us think in. Once I could do that, I could understand better what he was thinking and feeling, and understanding why he was doing something made me not so angry at him in return.

Did you guys see the linky [wcco.com] that ladycat posted over in deals?

Target said it didn't know about the coupon problem until WCCO called them. Reached by phone on Monday afternoon, Target spokesperson Jenn Glass said, "We are working on a fix. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our guests.

How can they be working on a fix if they didn't know about the problem?