Information Overload

So, this has been a crazy month for the people in my house. Atticus has been suspended 4 days in three weeks, and I've got an official diagnosis for him. Autism Spectrum (AS), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), ADHD and insomnia.  That was quite a lot to handle. I know that I'm not the only parent who has heard those words, or that ever will, but it's quite the information to take in.

My month has been nothing but non-stop appointments, suspensions, phone calls and filling out paperwork.. and that doesn't even include my day job! (Although at this point I'm not sure what to call my day job anymore, running around the medical health system for information or actual working where I'm employed!) This much information is hard to handle, so I've turned to my Mom super power - organizational binder!

I've created a binder to help with this information overload. There are quite a few categories, but these are the ones that I found helpful: Therapist, Psychiatrist, School, Pediatrician, Hope Community Resources (local group that helps people with disabilities), Stone Soup Group (another Anchorage local group that helps parents with kids with special needs), Individual Education Plan (IEP) papers, Parent Reports (especially helpful when trying to describe his behavior to everyone), and TEFRA information (a health insurance supplement).

I feel better with the binder set in place, but it still doesn't help the craziness that my family is going through right now. We're back to searching for the right medication, adjusting therapy times, and trying to survive kindergarten. We're about half way through, but to be realistic I'm concerned for next year already. I'm sure every parent of a SPED child is like that!

Thanksgiving is almost upon us then the craziness of the Christmas holiday is here. We're still waiting for snow up here (Yes, Alaska has no snow in the middle of November... so weird!) but once that falls it'll really feel like winter. I'm hoping this year he'll be willing to get outside and build a snowman or sled. I think it'd help him get through the rest of kindergarten if I can get him outside during the winter break a much as possible. We'll see. In the mean time I'll keep fighting the battle of information overload with my awesome red (and organized) binder. Bring it on!