Fighting for Answers | Category Archives: advocateadvocate Archives

Fifteen Days Post FASD Camp

So fifteen days ago David had the opportunity to attend FASD Camp. Summer camp. The day I dropped him off, I snapped a selfie of the two of us. Minutes after snapping this photo, he was off meeting new friends with the same disability that he has. The Disability Yes. My son has a disability. You can’t tell it by looking at him. That disability is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It is not the only one he has, but it is the focus of this post. We learned last winter of this camp called fasdcamp. It is just for kids with FASD. Thus began the process of applying for camp which began before he came home from care in January. In mid-April, we learned that he had been accepted. This was after a rather lengthy telephone conversation with the camp medical director about David’s condition. See, they want to

Don’t give up on me.

With those few words, “Don’t give up on me.” David ended our phone call tonight. I assure him each time that I won’t. He is our son and will always be our son. See today he admitted to assaulting his mom. If he had been adult, he would have been guilty of a felony. As it is, he is in a detention center where he has been since March 27th. On Friday he will move to what is called a safe bed, which will allow him a bit more freedom, as well as a chance to get back on his medication. (why the detention center for youth doesn’t give him his medications like they are prescribed is a fight for another day). Then next Tuesday, he will be moving to a Youth Home in another city. See. For the longest time, we (his whole team) has referred to his condition

Compliance – Continued Medication Issues

Compliance – Continued Medication Issues We are in week two of David’s not getting his medication as prescribed. Thus, he is out of compliance, though it appears to be a systems issue. Today, I contacted the detention unit, asked to speak to the medical person, and was transferred to him. When I asked what the issue was, the nurse said “he is not in compliance.” I asked, if he was refusing to take the medication, and rather than providing me an answer, he said “who is the probation worker?” (I use probation worker as a loose descriptor for the person involved in David’s case.) I explained who we are working with, and gave the nurse that information, as well as contact information for the worker. The nurse then said “thank you” and ended the call. So I called and left a message for the probation worker. I also called our