Adopting Special Needs

Four days left until Hope's intensive. Yesterday was not good with Hope. The Dad did not want to put her in respite last night, so she i...

Hope wigged out last night. As directed by waiver worker, we called 911 and the crises person . Crisis person is 2+ hours away, a policem...

  Hope woke up this morning snarly. The Dad helped her pick out clothes just before he left. Unfortunately, when Hope put on the skirt, it w...

We no longer accept DAY in our house. The acronym stands for: Defiance Aggression Yelling . I point out the behavior to them, using which ...

Hope raged twice yesterday when the Dad wasn't home. I didn't lose it, although I thought about it. Thankfully, GB earned her dollar...

It has been a whole day of just Hope and I. Nobody to triangulate, no play options but me. We started cleaning the play kitchen after br...

SPOA stands for Single Point of Access. In New York, it is the only way to get mental health care beyond once a week therapy.  Hope's th...

Enchanted Suites Villa: Photo by Carmen Miranda GB had a smooth reentry. Hope... not so much. Yesterday was therapy Tuesday and Hope...

Hope has now had seven doses (very low- 2.5 mg) of Abilify. In that time she has had just one rage. Huge improvement! She is doing a better ...

Tomorrow is Hope's our big day. We see the pediatric cardiologist and hopefully get Hope cleared for medication. Please keep us in your...

We started week eight of Hope's total meltdowns. Yesterday she went for a drink in school- a journey of approximately 20 feet. One of th...

pa·tience /ˈpāSHəns/ Noun: The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. I have al...

I am writing this morning BEFORE Hope wakes up. This is probably the clearest and most positive my mind will be today. We are still doing ...

Hope had two therapy appointments yesterday. Double the fun. The Dad and went to the school in the morning and spent 90 minutes with her the...

Hope came home from school yesterday surly. I gave her a snack and afterwards told her it was homework time. She responded by kicking me, wi...

Strong sitting is a technique for helping RADlets heal that I first read about in a Nancy Thomas book. I modified this particular techni...

Hope is in the midst of a major regression. We have gone back to the basics. Tomorrow's post is on strong sitting. A couple of weeks ago...

Hope came home from school scowling yesterday. I took her book bag to see how her day had gone, and was sidetracked by the stuff in it that ...

Hope and GB had an appointment with the psychiatrist this morning. GB went first and had a normal visit. Then it was Hope's turn. Hope b...

Hope has been having nightmares that someone comes and takes her away because she "is bad all the time". We repeat our mantra regu...