[tri-med] Re: Is this a sensitive subject?/camp

In a message dated 3/28/07 7:16:24 PM, TRIER9@xxxxxxx writes:


> Sometimes I wish I would have sent Bri to camp when she was younger.
> 

I started sending the kids to respite camp for weekends three or four times a 
year (each, not at the same time) when they were about 10. Then we got a 
respite provider who would come to the house a couple of times a week, which 
meant 
we could get out together once in a while. When I fell and broke my leg in 
the early 90s, it was very helpful to have her come up and help Wade when I was 
flat on my back in bed. But when Dom's behaviour started getting so difficult, 
I was torn between having the respite provider coming more often or less, 
because I felt that somehow I needed to get a handle on him. But after Wade 
died, 
and it became clear that the local school district was going to do nothing to 
get him in a more appropriate educational setting (something that provided 
mental health services), that would allow him to live at home, the only thing 
left was residential treatment. But he was 14 by then and it was not as 
traumatic for me to have him live away from home as it would have been when he 
was 
younger. But I still felt as if I had somehow "failed" him. But the sensible 
side 
of me knew that he was not progressing at home and if there was going to be 
any chance for him to have a successful life, I needed to do whatever it took 
to get him the help he needed. I can't imagine a case manager coming to the 
house and telling any of us California moms that there was a nonpublic school 
program available for our kids, especially when they were younger. But then, I 
had no real issues with the kids when they were little. Ali and Dom got along 
well and it was mostly fun watching them grow. And I got used to weirdness and 
just forgot there was anything different. I still do all of Dom's medical 
stuff. He has big dental work this Saturday (under anesthesia), so I will have 
him 
come home on Friday evening, and then keep him home with me on Saturday night 
and maybe Sunday, depending how long it takes him to recover. When he was 
little, it was nothing for him to have a day surgery procedure one day, sleep 
it 
off and be back at school in the next day or two. Now that he knows that folks 
are supposed to feel a little crummy after something like that, he may decide 
that recovery is not so easy. LOL



Nan
mom to:
Dom, 9/16/83, Tri 18 mosaic and Bipolar Disorder.
Ali, 6/12/83, Autism, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD



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