Quickly, news in brief

It's late, I'm tired, but need to get this stuff down:

1. Weds. talked to a psychologist who will do a full evaluation/assessment. In addition to the write ups that she and her team will provide, she will also be available for staffings, etc, and communication with the school, with other doctors. Of course, she doesn't take my insurance but I've decided not to let that stop me.

2. Went to the School on Weds as well to meet with both The Kid and The Teacher. We did this so that we could discuss, in his presence, the importance of the sticker chart thing. I still don't think the Teacher has totally bought into how much I would like her to do with it (a more regular evaluation of his behavior with positive requirements, rather than the current negatives, don't hit, don't scream), but think that rather than demanding that she change her criteria and do it my way, I figure that of all the things we can let slide for a few days, this would be the one. So, she just didn't think that The Kid cared about the sticker chart, but now knows that he does. The next step? Perhaps he can be given stickers/smiley faces for things that he DOES do as opposed to things that he DOES NOT do. This disturbs me and I want it to change.

3. During the meeting with The Teacher, I got to see first hand how The Kid behaves in school. It was scary. He couldn't stop moving. Either he was pushing his chair back on to two legs, grabbing crayons, or getting up while we were talking to him and going to do something else. He couldn't not make eye contact. It was frightening and it really broke my heart. He could NOT pay attention.

4. Had an appointment with a psychiatrist. We spent about an hour and a half in her office. She asked a lot of questions directly to The Kid, and then of me. My impression of her is good. She gave us a Rx for ritalin. Had it not been for what I saw in item number three, above, I might have resisted the prescription. But believe me, this is a crisis.

5. Friday he got his first smiley face! Hooray. It was also the first day that he took a half a tablet of ritalin in the morning. I asked both The Social Worker and The Teacher to give me their impressions of his behavior with the ritalin, but all I got back was the note with the happy face, scribbled along side said, "medicine helped." I know they are busy, but c'mon, first day with a psych drug I think entitles me to at least a full sentence.

6. Sat. gave him another half tab and took off to my hometown's annual festival parade. The Kid was excited and had a blast (danced to the bands, shouted Hi! to just about every car that came by), but was noticably reserved, for The Kid, that is. He had good boundaries and was polite to the folks around us. That was interesting to see.

More later, now, me sleepy.