Difference between revisions of "Josh/2010/behavior"

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(Created page with '''written 2009-05-05'' Josh becomes very unhappy (a mix of sad and angry) when he is not regularly involved in activities he finds engaging. Under these conditions, Josh will be...')
 
(Some updates before we go to the Home)
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''written 2009-05-05''
Josh becomes very unhappy (a mix of sad and angry) when he is not regularly involved in activities he finds engaging. Under these conditions, Josh will become aggressive (hitting self, others, walls, furniture) or try to escape. He has run away from home, school, and afterschool care several times each, and Durham Parks & Recreation consequently said that he could no longer attend their special needs summer camps or afterschool until he has a one-on-one worker to handle him.




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At home, he wears only a shirt and underwear. We have avoided trying to teach him to keep pants on (for now) as it has been useful as a way of signaling to him that he is about to go somewhere. He can clothe himself, often without prompting, but sometimes he resists or does not cooperate. He can put on shoes but needs to have his laces tied. He can put on sandals or velcro-laced shoes unassisted. He always puts his clothes away appropriately (shirt/pants go in hamper, underwear in underwear bin, shoes/sandals in shoe pockets) when he takes them off.
At home, he wears only a shirt and underwear. We have avoided trying to teach him to keep pants on (for now) as it has been useful as a way of signaling to him that he is about to go somewhere. He can clothe himself, often without prompting, but sometimes he resists or does not cooperate. He can put on shoes but needs to have his laces tied. He can put on sandals or velcro-laced shoes unassisted. He always puts his clothes away appropriately (shirt/pants go in hamper, underwear in underwear bin, shoes/sandals in shoe pockets) when he takes them off.


One of his workers has been teaching him to bathe himself; at home, it still takes substantial work to get him into the bathroom (he turns it into a chasing game), but once inside he generally is cooperative will step into the shower and on request will wet his hair with the showerhead. (He would fight both of these things strenuously only a few months ago.) He still needs someone else to soap him up, rinse, and towel him off. He can't shave himself, though he could probably be taught to do so with an electric shaver.
When we first began regularly bathing Josh 1-2 years ago, he was very resistant -- but he has become more and more cooperative since then, and will now step into the bathtub on request and even wet his hair with the showerhead, though he ofteb resists the amount of wetting needed to really be effective. He still needs someone else to soap him up, rinse, and towel him off. He can't shave himself, though he could probably be taught to do so with an electric shaver. He will tolerate someone else shaving him with an electric shaver for short amounts of time, but tends to shy away; possibly a reward system could help extend this time. Regular shaving sessions, even if incomplete, might also help.
 
Josh tends to have a "group" of things that he carries around everywhere. He sometimes misplaces one or more items (sometimes in the middle of the night), and may become quite agitated once he notices something is missing. Agitation continues until all items are found, though he may ramp down slightly if he recognizes that a caregiver is looking for the missing item(s). He may also remain agitated for a little while after the item is found, working off the stress and anxiety built up while it was missing.
==Less of a problem now==
''The following behavior became notably less severe during Spring and Summer of 2009; Josh has not hit anyone for many months now. He still gets bored on weekends and probably over holidays, but this has been manifesting itself more in obsessive disassembly of toys and other personal items (cutting bead necklaces with scissors, breaking CDs/DVDs) and "getting into things" looking for something interesting to do. -2009-10-06''
 
Josh becomes very unhappy (a mix of sad and angry) when he is not regularly involved in activities he finds engaging. Under these conditions, Josh will become aggressive (hitting self, others, walls, furniture) or try to escape. He has run away from home, school, and afterschool care several times each, and Durham Parks & Recreation consequently said that he could no longer attend their special needs summer camps or afterschool until he has a one-on-one worker to handle him.

Revision as of 18:24, 6 October 2009