Josh/log

2008

• 2008-06-19 (Thu): Josh beat up a developmental therapy provider. Details here.
• 2008-06-14 (Sat): While visiting with their father, there was an incident between Josh and Benjamin. Apparently Benjamin (in the pool) was reaching for a pool-toy that happened to be near Josh, who was standing on the side of the pool, and Josh began stomping Benjamin's head. Benjamin apparently coughed up some bloody phlegm as a result of the attack, but was fine within a few minutes. (The kids, their father, and possibly their father's friend Phyllis would seem to be the only witnesses; neither of us were present.) There were no marks on Benjamin's face, so we're uncertain about the details of this account.
  • Josh may have been angry because he wasn't able to get into the pool – we had forgotten to bring the kids' bathing suits, and Josh apparently has an internal rule that he can't go swimming if he's not wearing a swim suit. The other kids were swimming in their shorts; Josh had been invited to swim in his shorts but refused to do so.
  • This is the first incident I know of where there was evidence of actual physical harm resulting from one of Josh's attacks.
  • Earlier that day (while we were at the Farmers Market in the morning), Josh managed to slip in the office and eat all the reward gummi-bears left over from Camp Royall.
• 2008-06-08-13 (Sun-Fri): Josh spent the week at Camp Royall, and (to our relief) enjoyed it as much as he always did, i.e. a lot.
• 2008-05-24 (Sat) No DT for Josh today. He was okay for the first half of the day, started getting restless after 3pm, put on a pair of boots and got out through the driveway door which someone had apparently left open. I let him swing for a little while, then escorted him back to the door -- but it took two of us to get him inside.

  Later in the evening (9pm), he slipped into the office and discovered the gummi-bears we had been keeping as behavior rewards for him, and was pigging out on them. I had to take them away from him and it took an enormous amount of effort to get him out of the office without breaking anything; he knocked over a pile of books and tried to grab the shelves by the door to keep from being pushed out. After I got him out, he went on a rampage and started hitting things quite hard. He took apart Sandy's Beatles calendar (didn't tear it, but probably only because I caught him before it got to that stage) and knocked several things off the wall.

  Sandy managed to get him calmed down, so (at Tiffany's suggestion) I gave him a gummi as a reward. I think the timing may have been off on this; it probably should have happened *immediately* after he calmed down, or not at all, because he immediately slapped the doorframe, and then started going around slapping things again (though not as intensely as before). It seemed to have reminded him that he wanted the gummis, which maybe he had forgotten about for the moment.

• 2008-05-12 (Mon) Over the weekend, Josh got into the seed packets (for planting veggies and such) we had by the door, tore them open, and emptied them somewhere. So no veggie garden this year.
• 2008-04-29 (Tue) While Nick was trying to get some paying work done, Josh started having a raging temper tantrum and managed to get past Sandy to the kids, who had been hiding in the corner of the breakfast nook whimpering because they were afraid of him, and started hitting and kicking them. This was after he had escaped once from the house (back door accidentally left open... we need a checklist) and we consequently took him with us to pick up the kids from school. He even got a ride on the highway, which seemed to make him happy at the time. He was refusing to eat his chicken at the time, and glaring pointedly at the kids -- as if he had decided that they couldn't be around while he was eating. We already moved their computer out of the living room so they wouldn't be in his way, and we've already rejected any other possibilities for locating it (for various different reasons).
• many incidents not recorded during this interval
• 2008-02-12 (Tue) Met with Yolonda Wooten at Community Partnerships for Josh's "Person Centered Plan" (PCP). Not sure at this point what services Josh will be getting, but at least we were clear that we'll be applying for Medicaid (got the forms) and Yolonda will sign him up for the CAP waiting list.
• 2008-02-09 (Sun) Josh got dressed again and clearly wanted another outing. I took him for a walk at Piney Mountain (off Mt. Sinai Road); ended up going way off the trail and coming out about halfway down Mt. Sinai Road. Was very cooperative getting back in the car, but again absolutely did not want to get out of the car -- so we left him there. He stayed for a couple of hours and then got out -- he started to walk into the street, but as soon as he saw me he came right back and was completely cooperative about going inside. He was fine for the rest of the day, barring perhaps a short outburst of crying much later on (can't remember for sure).
• 2008-02-08 (Sat) Josh escaped through the breakfast nook window, but didn't run away. He seemed to want to get in the car and go somewhere; he tried the minivan and the Nissan, both locked, and then got in the Benz -- which miraculously started, so I drove him around in it for a couple of hours (more or less until it got dark) and he absolutely did not want to get out of the car or come back in the house; S & I had to work together. I think that was also the day he was hitting me repeatedly in the evening.
• 2008-01-16 (Wed)
  • Emailed Garrett to confirm Jordan's schedule for tomorrow & Friday (no response)
  • Around 21:05, Josh started crying bitterly (started mildly and got gradually worse) while Mel was watching TV, and then abruptly attacked Mel on the couch.
• 2008-01-15 (Tue)
  • Josh ran away from school again, apparently not long before the end of the day. Mr. Garrett (Josh's teacher) called and said that he had been talking with someone else (Mr. somebody) about what to do instead of going to the gym, since the gym was unavailable; Ms. someone was in the classroom watching the kids, and apparently Josh took advantage of the distraction to escape. Mr. Garrett only became aware that Josh had escaped when someone called in to report seeing him outside the school. They apparently found him down near the intersection of 54 and Fayetteville Road (presumably the police found him, though this wasn't mentioned).
  • Received a call from Terry Ames, who gave us a lot of information and described the intake process. We call the Durham Center at 560-7100, ask for "Screening and Triage", then explain that Sandy has an autistic son whom we'd like to refer for "Targeted Case Management". Phone line hours are 8:30 - 5:00, and the information-gathering process takes "about 10 minutes". The TCM people (compart) will decide the best match between Josh and a case manager based on personality.
    • There is a waitlist for CAP; 15 slots due to arrive shortly. Waitlist is about 50 long, but prioritized based on need.
    • Services base has been expanded... consumer stipend... CAP = "community alternatives program"... medicaid CAP waiver... ICFMR = "intermediate care facility"; institutional "level of care"
• 2008-01-10 (Thu) IEP meeting -- turned out to be Part One; Part Two will be on Jan. 31

2007

• 2007-12-21 (Fri)
  • Josh chose a movie he hasn't watched in some time and which was labeled only in writing (Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines) -- this would seem to indicate that he was able to read and understand the writing, although he may just have recognized the shape of the words or something. If we can ever get his DVDs to copy, we should try packaging them with no pictures, just words (including the DVD label) and see if he is able to recognize them. (It also occurred to me that someone should give him reading lessons connected with the lyrics to his favorite songs -- have the words written out on separate cards, see if he can rearrange them after seeing them in the correct order and having them sung to him boucing-ball style...)
  • Called Michelle Jones, but got answering system which wouldn't take a voice message; left a page and sent email. (Hmm, should have pressed the "check your email" option, but I hadn't yet sent the email at the time.)
• 2007-12-13 (Thu) Spoke with Vivian Roach on the phone. She is putting Lori Stewart on the case. Lori is someone they contract with when things are not going right in a classroom; she has more expertise than Michelle Jones. Lori will contact us to set up a time to observe Josh in a family setting and interview us, and will also observe him (possibly for several days) in the classroom, and then will recommend where he should be (choosing from all available options within the system, not just Jordan).
• 2007-12-12 (Wed) (Josh's 15th birthday) Josh suspended from school yesterday, for hitting other kids
  • Sarah at aftercare also said they can no longer serve him because he needs one-on-one (though we're thinking that if he showed evidence of being happier with his school situation, they might be willing to let him come back on a trial basis)
• 2007-12-11 (Tue) Josh ran away from aftercare again, and went straight to Dorothy's house
• 2007-10-29 (Mon) Finally found the GHA form, after days of exhaustive searching, in the pile to the left of my desk. It had simply been rendered nearly invisible by all the stuff which had gotten piled on top of it.
• 2007-10-22 (Mon) Had to pick up Josh from school at about 10:30 (S was at dentist, so I did it solo) -- he was hitting everybody (though the TA said nobody got hurt). Started first thing in the morning, when he didn't want to get off the bus. Apparently this has been a daily occurrence, and nobody has seen fit to mention it. I showed the TA Josh's notebook, which had obviously still not been opened at school since Robert Garrett's last note. The TA said we need to get in touch with one Dr. Mims, who is in charge of "the program" at Jordan. Having difficulty finding this person on the web.
  • 13:25 Emailed Vivian Roach, in view of Dorothy's recommendation
  • Spent most of the rest of the day gradually clearing off my desk trying to find the Albemarle (GHA) form, which seems to have totally vanished. Sandy says she doesn't have it.
• 2007-10-18 (Thu) was all anxious waiting for the bus; actually "awk"ed outside a few times, until I sang "this is the way we sing to Josh" and other made-up verses to him. Did that until the bus came about 5 minutes later, and he didn't protest anymore.
• 2007-10-17 (Wed) emailed Elizabeth Byars @ TEACCH about a couple of things. Follow up if no response by Friday.
• 2007-10-14 (Sun) While we were taking a shower, Josh apparently tried to load Qbert on Beaker. Later on, he had an extended period of crying and yelping (B&Z watching Chicken Run in living room). Maybe he has a headache? I've certainly had one all day.
• 2007-10-13 (Sat) Josh got into the office (while we were out doing errands - Rachel watching kids, Mel asleep) and messed with a lot of stuff:
  • bent green-wire lamp hook
  • scattered Sandy's soaps on couch, dented one of them
  • opened up bag of throat mints
  • found chocolate and candy, opened some, ate most/all candy, unwrapped chocolate and left it out on the couch
  • computers were all locked, otherwise he would have certainly done stuff on them too (he has in the past, which is why we started locking them; this is the first time he has really messed with anything else in the office)
• 2007-10-03 Josh escaped from school (Jordan).
  • Jordan did not call at all; the only caller was the police. They found him somewhere across I-40.
  • "Jann Yankee" (probably a therapist, possibly OT or speech) sent home a form for us to fill out; Sandy filled it out and sent it back the next day, sticking out so it could be seen easily -- but it's still there, at least a week later, possibly two or three weeks (not sure when it was originally sent home).
  • The only reason the police knew to call Sandy was because Jordan called The Lyon Center, and they gave the police her number.
• 2007-10-02 Josh escaped from afterschool at Lyon Park (not noticed until some time later) and was found by a police officer on Fayetteville St. (we don't know exactly where). He was cooperative when approached. This was the first time he actually got away to the point where nobody realized he had escaped.