Day 15

The pendulum has swung. Josiah went from extreme, self injurious behaviors to the complete opposite, seemingly over night. We left town Friday morning, concerned with Josiah’s intense aggression. We returned Sunday afternoon to find a totally different kid.

Josiah is now mellow and relaxed, smiley even.  There are no signs of agitation remaining, only the sweet remnant of the boy we used to know.  You probably won’t believe this but he was wearing shoes and glasses when we got home yesterday. The caregiver said he had worn them all day long.  No kidding!

Here’s the problem.  Josiah isn’t eating.  He isn’t drinking. And as far as we can tell, he’s not sleeping much either. If we calculated right, he’s gotten only a few hours of sleep the last 2 nights.  This morning, he wouldn’t leave his bedroom.  Usually, he bursts from his room, bouncing down the hall.  Not today.  We couldn’t coax him out.  Instead, I snapped quite a few pictures, completely stunned by this drastic change in Josiah’s behavior. What is going on with our boy?

We let him stay in his room for a while, thinking he’d eventually work his way out. He didn’t. Last week we couldn’t get Josiah to leave the kitchen table, today we couldn’t get him to come to the table. We brought food and water to him in his bed.  He refused everything.  I climbed up on his bunk. We watched ‘Frozen’ on his Ipad for a little while.  I talked to him and snuggled him. I tried to carry him piggy back out of his room.  He wouldn’t budge.  Josiah just laid there, smiling sweetly.

Eventually, we changed Josiah out of his pajamas right there in his bed.  We got him into his school clothes, then Rick carried him from his bed to the van.  We drove him to school, completely uncertain it was the right thing to do.  How could we send our son to school on an empty stomach with little or no sleep?  What would his day be like?

Halfway through the day, I emailed his teacher.  I wanted to check in on Josiah to be sure he was doing okay. She said he ate about half of his food, had been awake all day and had participated in all the class activities.  She ended her response with, ‘It’s been a good day!”

This afternoon he’s refused to eat, refused to drink but has been calm and compliant. Josiah doesn’t seem sick but clearly something isn’t right.  I’m bewildered trying to figure out what has caused such a drastic change in such a short time with Josiah’s behavior.

What will tomorrow hold?  Will Josiah sleep tonight?  Will he eat tomorrow? I can’t imagine he can continue status quo for much longer.  We will be calling for some guidance in the morning. Maybe his psychiatrist can shed some light on these sudden abrupt changes.

I’m very happy to know Josiah is not currently a threat to himself or others and has calmed down considerably these past couple of days. I pray he’s physically okay and stays mellow for a very long while.

Wouldn’t you know it though.  The ABA specialist arrives tomorrow afternoon at 4 with a behavior plan to help us combat all the aggression.