It's hard to answer these questions without going into a long explanation of what's been going on.
Now, I have no doubt in my mind that his therapists are trying to help him. His personal staff (1:1 aides) seem to have the most trouble with him. Obviously, it is not their job to work with him; they are there solely for supervision. To best explain how he is doing, I find it necessary to break it down into categories.
Therapy
The good - He is learning a lot during his therapy sessions with Keila. He can now do peg, color coded puzzles with very limited guidance in just over a minute. YAY! He can also thread extra large beads onto shoestrings with almost no guidance. He is able to stack pretty much anything with little guidance. He also will follow simple commands like, "pull the door closed", "push the door open". "turn the shape around", "pour the water over the flowers", "put on your shoes", "pull your pants up", "put your feet on the floor", "pull your desk up to you", and "walk on your heels." This gets me very excited. He has also learned how to get his own paper cup, and work the little water machine by pushing the lever down and filling his cup up, drinking it, and throwing the cup away. YAY again! He is also out of pull-ups. HUGE CELEBRATION! Still not exactly potty-trained, but is being toileted every hour so they experience almost no accidents. I'm sure he'll get used to the routine and eventually signal 'it's potty time' or maybe even take himself to the bathroom.
The bad - As he will use the potty to pee, they are having extreme difficulty getting him to go number 2. He has gone number 2 while I was there one time. We think it was because they happen to catch it in time, and it was too late for him to stop going. He is extremely irregular and has gone 4-5 days with no BM. :( He has had to be given laxatives so that he will go.
Aggression
The good - He has very little aggression with Keila. Also the expressive therapist experiences almost no outbursts. He has formed deep relationships with both of these women.
The bad - EVERYONE else sees aggressive and violent outbursts multiple times per shift. His 1:1 aides see the most outbursts than anyone else. I believe I know why. Evelio likes attention. He likes to be center stage. He loves to be praised. His 1:1 aides are not as close to him as his therapists. They do not work with him like the therapists do. He does not feel a bond with them. Also, they only really show him attention when he is doing something wrong. This, in my opinion, is teaching bad behavior. He has a purpose for doing everything that he does. I always tell them if he is doing something bad, tell him to stop in a calm tone-of-voice. If he starts thrashing around, ignore the behavior and he will eventually see that he is not getting any reaction. Then, when he does something good/right over exaggerate your praise. Say "YAY" and clap your hands and smile. He enjoys the reaction. That will teach him to behave well and do the right thing and people will show attention to you. Also, his state insurance coverage recently requested proof that he needed a 1:1 aide still. He was placed with another child and one aide. The result was disastrous. It only lasted a few hours, during which he attacked several children and became so distraught with separation anxiety that Keila found him in his room on his bed sobbing. It took her an hour to calm him down enough to take a nap. I am very upset that he went through this even just for a few hours. He is not ready, and in my opinion will not be ready to be taken off 1:1 assistance for a long time. He is much too dependant on the attention and has to be assisted with almost every daily task for this. I just hope that it hasn't set him back too far. Overall, his aggression has not improved much, and in some areas, has worsened.
Health and Appetite
The good - He is growing and not ill.
The bad - He hardly ever eats anything. He is an extremely picky eater and will go days without eating even if he is starving. If the food isn't something he loves, he will not eat it. No ifs, ands, or buts, it will not get touched. Example: He loves Trix yogurt but absolutely refuses Yoplait yogurt. One visitation day I got there at 5pm and Keila told me that aside from Skittles, Evelio had eaten 10 Cheerios all day long. This has resulted in quite a bit of weight loss although I will contribute some of his weight loss to growth spurt. They have given up on trying to get him to eat what he is served at the moment, because it would seriously threaten his health. They are not serving him junk food, but if he wants 3 extra bananas, he gets them. He is also being given vitamin supplements. They are trying various protein sources like shakes and Magic Cups (ice cream or pudding) but so far he doesn't like any of that. I suggested maybe stirring protein powder or something into his Trix yogurt. This has also resulted in his irregularity.
All-in-all, I believe he will not be ready to come home any time soon. Keila was telling me a few weeks ago that he might be coming home by the end of October, however, how he melted down after being taken off 1:1 assistance, I don't see that happening. (He can't be released if he is unable to function without 1:1 assistance :( ).
I miss him so much. He has grown so much also :(. Every time I see him he looks older. I'm just so ready to bring him home.
April 2012
July 2012 (no booster seat)
