Category Archives: antisocial personality disorder

Treatment plan sabotage

It seems that our son is afraid of moving to another facility.  Keep in mind that there has been no talk of moving him to another facility.  But it is a fear of his.

Since his primary changed a couple of weeks ago, he has been in a down hill slide.  Can’t undo the change in primary because one staff member changed employment.

CookiesHe has been:

  1. Combative
  2. Stealing
  3. Hoarding food and snacks
  4. Disruptive

As part of his treatment plan he is isolated from his peers at meal time, as that is when he provokes most frequently.  He can not enter the kitchen/dining portion of the lodge without a chaperone.

We tried to assure David that there are no plans to move him.  If anything we are increasing the praise we are giving him for the good things that he does, and not focusing on the negative.   In essence we are trying to give him positive support.  Yet he seems determined to sabotage himself.

This week he stole nearly 2 dozen cookies.  I haven’t received a list of the other items yet, but since David has a history of hoarding food, they make sure that I know when he is doing so.  He also has a history of theft, but that hasn’t really been an issue.

Accentuate the positive.  He has made so much progress since he has been at the current facility.

Related articles

Hope – for peace in his heart

Red, green and blue lights showing secondary c...

Red, green and blue lights showing secondary colours. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

David is really struggling over the last 24 hours.  A majority of it is his response to his primary staff leaving.  That he formed that strong a bond with someone is important.  So while I understand that his behaviors are negative right now, maybe we need to look at it from a different angle.

He formed an attachment of some kind with someone.  This has only happened a couple of times in his life that I know of.  So this is huge!  Is it appropriate?  Maybe not always, but it should still be celebrated.  So we are trying to work with David and the staff at the facility to show David that it is ok.  That how he feels is ok.

With the Autism, David doesn’t understand sadness.  He understands how different emotions get him different things, but he doesn’t understand emotions.  So the key is to show him that the “loss” he feels is normal.  How do we do that?

Do I wish that he had bonded with his family?  Yes, but what I wish for isn’t important.  We need to focus on David.  Time to take off the rose colored glasses.  Try to see the world how David sees it.  Is that even possible?

Related articles

the greatest treasure

David turned thirteen years old last Tuesday.  On July 28th, will be 11 years since his adoption was finalized.  How quickly the time goes.

For David’s birthday, we went out to the facility he lives in to visit him.  Most of the family went.  We arrived late Monday, spent Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday visiting David.

He wasn’t with us all of the time, just in 2 or 3 hour spurts.  It was good to see him.  He has grown so tall.

The hard part wasn’t just in seeing him, it was the fear.  I could sense it in his siblings, though they all did their best to hide it.  I know Mom, I and Aunt all felt that fear.

Before we even arrived at the facility we had a plan in place to lock up all of our technology while David was with us.

Nothing like giving him a chance.

He is so polite.  He came to us the evening of his birthday, and everything was “yes, no, please and thank you.”  He was polite before, but not like this.

He brought his birthday present from the residence with him.  A football.  It was so neat to watch he and his sister play catch that evening.  When David was at home, she was a frequent target of his physical, emotional and mental attacks.

For his birthday, we gave him a guitar, amp, case, some picks and a warning that his being able to play it hinged on his behaviors.  Without positive behaviors, there is no guitar.  David seemed excited, at least as excited as he can be.

We gave him other things, but not for his birthday.  Things that he needs.  Shoes, clothes, and what not.

Wednesday, David joined us for lunch.  Never seen anyone eat so much peanut butter.  According to staff, that is normal for him.  He would eat peanut butter to the exclusion of everything else if they let him.

During those periods when David wasn’t with us, we scavenged for treasures in the second hand stores in the community where he lives.  So many treasures.  I think that the whole family will agree that the greatest treasure we received this week was the time with David.

Wednesday evening we watched movies with the kids.

Thursday, David came back for lunch.  He is in summer school, so everything was worked around that schedule.  That afternoon we met with the care team for the monthly update.  It was great to see faces and put them with the names and voices we have been hearing on the phone.  I reiterated our desire to have the least amount of medication possible for David.  Less is more.  So we are continuing to wean him off the medicines.  Nice to work with a psychiatrist who agrees with that concept and doesn’t just push more pills all of the time.

I explained to the kids during family therapy before we left to return home, prior to his placement in this facility, David had to go through a med wash about every 60 days.  He hasn’t had one med wash since he moved to the new facility.

Our stay with David was facilitated in part by the placement.  They have residential units for family.  we took up two units because of the size of our family.  The staff was incredibly supportive.  While I am frustrated with the idea of David being so far from home, I feel that we are blessed that he is in this facility.