#364 Sunday 4 September

For a girl who was tired out she managed to stay up late .... It was 10pm before she finally settled. Much of it is the stimming ... the reduced Risperdal is showing clear effect. I don't think any further reduction would be a good idea. At this level we can see a reduction in appetite (yay!) but the stimming is very clearly up. This is generally OK but it affects her night time routine and general agitation level. It makes life harder for us. We'll give it a while longer to see if the price (of appetite control) is acceptable.

We were shopping recently and I realized that much of our anxiety control method revolves around flexibility .... we change our plans moment by moment to seek the path that will lower her anxiety levels. We constantly watch for signs that she is building to a "melt-down" and plan accordingly. In one sense this is very wearing .... and we dream of a time when she can self-manage ... but in another way it can be very relaxing because most of the time we can have no personal plans ... we just go with the flow.

I can hear some voices questioning whether our method isn't creating a spoilt child .... obviously that risk is there .... but we can clearly see the difference between Kaylia as a normal child (wanting her way) .... and Kaylia battling the demon within her that creates such huge anxiety. She tries so hard!

Breakfast: a "bloggish moment"!
We've been trying Ventolin (inhaler plus spacer) to see if the cough is an asthma one ..... the hard thing is to get her to inhale! This morning I actually saw the vapor go in! And then we noticed a girl who was holding her breath and keeping her mouth shut tight  .....
Next moment she swallowed the vapor! (not inhaled)!




Fathers Day lunch at Floreat Beach .... Kaylia went to wade with Mim .... and ended up swimming!