During a session with Dominic's psychiatrist a month ago, Dr Rubin mentioned that Dominic should be taught not to touch girls at all. I had thought it would be ok for him to hug them, but only if he asked them first. I was teaching him to ask if a girl wanted to be hugged, or have him standing so close. However, Dr Rubin advised that he had seen many teenage boys with Autism or Aspergers end up in legal trouble for inappropriate touching. This scared me because I could see Dominic as a teenager and not knowing that walking up to a girl and touching her (even if innocently) could get him in trouble. So we started teaching that touching a girl is not allowed.
A couple of weeks ago Dominic brought home the 2nd pink slip of the year. At this point last year we were already up to 4 or 5. Apparently while Dominic was eating lunch he repeatedly said "penis" to the girl next to him. She went to tell after he said he would tell her what it meant. According to Dominic (because his version is always entertaining, even if no where near the truth) he was just whispering "penis" to himself and she happened to overhear. He couldn't tell me why he was whispering "penis" to himself in the middle of lunch though. He was spoken to, but not punished with suspension or detention. I had a talk with him about what is and what is not appropriate to say to girls, or other boys for that matter.
I brought this up during our last session with Dr Rubin. Dr Rubin gave him a lecture on what was ok to say to girls and what was not. At one point Dominic yelled "don't say that!". So Dr. Rubin, funny man that he is, wrote on a piece of paper "do not say anything sexual to girls". I explained that Dominic had no idea what sexual meant so he changed it to "do not say anything about boobs, butts, or penises to girls". Dominic hid under Dr Rubin's desk for most of the talk, but I hoped he at least remembers it. I'm hoping the embarrassment of the whole situation prevents him from wanting to repeat it in the future.
Dominic has been doing pretty well lately. But even Dr Rubin got to witness Dominic's complete lack of impulse control when Dominic started throwing toys around his office. He prescribed a new medicine that he said would help give him some impulse control. Sounds like a miracle to me, but I said we'd give it a try. So far all I've noticed is that it makes him pass out. I looked it up online and was surprised to find that it is used for high blood pressure! I could not find any off label uses for ADHD or impulse control or anything like that! I am calling the doctor today for an explanation. Soon after taking the medicine Dominic starts saying odd things. Like "I can't feel my legs" or "My nose feels swollen". I am so terrified that I am hurting him with these medications. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing.
I do think the Abilify is a good choice though. Dominic is doing so much better in school this year. He's getting along with everyone, excelling on his school work, and has only been in trouble twice. We had our first parent teacher conference last week. It lasted 4 minutes because Dominic has no problems with school work. His reading assessment scores are a full point higher than the school and district average. On their scale they want kids to be at 19 points at the end of the year for first grade. That was his score three weeks into school. His math scores are 98%, reading 100% and writing 99%. His handwriting became incredibly neat and readable one day. It was completely out of the blue! I took a story out of his bag and was so surprised I actually asked him if he had written it. He said yes, and that he had decided to write neat now. His intelligence never ceases to amaze me. I am so grateful and happy that I do not have to worry about his school work.
This week is fall break. He has homework to do so he doesn't lose any skills. I'm on vacation and we have absolutely nothing planned. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with him. :- )
