Our Island Family Life

I am making a call this week to our family doctor and then Connor's counselor and asking them to give me some paper work with Connor's diagnoses and explanation of his limitations. I will also talk with the family doctor about medication options. Then having all this in hand asking for an IEP from the school so he doesn't get in trouble for his missed days. IEP - Independent Education Plan. We can come up with a solution to make sure he gets all his credits. It is a step. The school will have to abide by what the doctors and counselors recommend without penalizing him. Maybe he will need some kind of meds for anxiety to keep going to school until he has some more therapy under his belt to build up his coping skills. Right now he is simply losing himself in his guitar. He practices all the time. He did the same thing when he was into the XBox so I know this is his coping mechanism right now. He is obsessed saying how he wants to have music as his career and how he doesn't need to go to college. I am not too worried about this yet since he is still young but he doesn't get that he needs to do well with his SAT's and maintain his grades on the off chance he "changes his mind" about college. I really think this is another of his mini obsessions. Of course this may be it and he will do something in the music field someday. He is quite good and has been able to just pick up the instrument and play it. I can't do that. I like that he is doing something creative other than watching tv or something like that because it keeps his mind active and isn't too far into withdrawal. Still, he is really going for isolation like the past two years. It started earlier than last year and I know it was because he was with his dad. The year before it started later and was shorter than the year before that. No hard and fast rules with this and all you can do is pay attention to what has worked and what hasn't. I have gotten zip for advice on how to handle the situation and this "plan" is all mine. I think the fact he is going to be in therapy once a week and under his full cooperation is a huge feat in itself. Those of you who know how hard it is to get a loved on to really commit to therapy will understand. Baby steps.