D's at church camp for 9 days!

July 19, 2009

For those of you who don't know us, my son just turned 13 and has mild

Aspergers. It was diagnosed about 2 years ago. Before then, he had a diagnosis

of ADHD (since the age of 5.) He takes medication during the school year for

ADHD (Daytrana patch, but only on weekdays, no weekends, holidays, evenings,

etc...) He's had behavior therapy for 3 years with an awesome psychologist and

then about 6 months of 1-1 talk therapy with a different psychologist who

specializes in ADHD a couple of years later. Me (I'm a single mom) and my

parents (live close-by, very involved, especially my dad) have had parenting

training from the 2nd psychologist and it helped tremendously! I never thought

things would be as good as they are right now for him 5 years ago. He really

started to turn a corner in 4th grade. He still struggles socially, but he's

" getting " it more and more with every passing day. He starts 8th grade at a

public school in August, plays the tuba in band, and is on a rec soccer team in

the fall and spring seasons. I only explain this because I know our kids are

all over the place in terms of functionality on this support group so I wanted

to set the stage.

Dylan's at a church camp for 9 days (we're on day 2 right now.) They drove up

in a van from Texas to Tennessee. Monday through Friday they are doing white

water rafting, fishing, paintball, hiking, horseback riding, etc... It's 5

boys, 4 girls, and 3 adults. I think someone forced him to call me tonight to

tell me they made it there safely. The conversation lasted maybe 20 seconds and

that's because I asked about 5 questions! He does not like to talk on the

phone. I think this trip will either be a huge success or a big failure. He'll

really have to be on his own and out of his comfort zone for an extended period

of time, trying new foods and new activities on a daily basis. He's familiar

with all three of the adults and several (but not all) of the kids at the camp,

which helps. Plus, the adults are great and it should be a safe setting at

least to some degree since it's church-related. The overall mood should be

positive and supportive. I'll let y'all know how it went when he gets back!

p.s. The night before he left we found out he'd had a fractured toe for a few

months and RE-fractured it at our home that evening! But there's not much they

can do about it so he could still go on the trip and participate in everything.

Cross your fingers that he doesn't injure it even more!

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