Week Ten

Week Ten is courtesy of the Wendy Marianna group!

When Thomas was around 9 years old, he began recognizing his strength and acting out in increasingly violent ways. Ian and Molly decided to take him to see a child psychiatrist in the area.  The goals listed in Thomas’s IEP were harder to achieve than originally expected; by bringing him to a psychiatrist Molly and Ian hoped to gain another professional opinion of what to do. The child psychiatrist recommended various behavioral intervention strategies and put Thomas on Olanzapine, an antipsychotic medication used to treat children with Autism.  

Thomas is now 12 years old. Over the past three years, Molly and Ian have watched Thomas grow in many areas, especially the more challenging areas such as expressive language and stress management. One of Thomas’s original goals was to use verbal communication to express his desires. At age 12 he has begun regularly using phrases such as, “Thomas needs the bathroom,” or, “Thomas wants noodles (or other food he is requesting).”

Ian and Molly began working longer hours during the week to earn some extra income. Although they were originally apprehensive about what to do with Thomas, a parent in their support group set them up with the Matthew’s Center. Thomas was able to receive after school care until 6 pm. Another area that Thomas has grown in is with his social world.  Thomas has made two friends at the Matthew’s Center, Primrose and Katniss, two girls with Asperger Syndrome. The trio has helped each other use more verbal communication and imaginary play, but work still needs to be done.  Ian and Molly have recently attended Thomas’s IEP meeting to update his goals.  The most significant progress the team hopes to see in Thomas is in the social area because middle school focuses more on group projects, athletics, programs, and other opportunities for young children to work together. If Thomas is able to participate more easily in any of these realms he will have achieved the goal for this year and will be better prepared to enter high school in the future.