Jake...the younger years

Now that I have given you a little back-story of how he came to be I will introduce you to him as a youngster. 


He was your normal baby, although took time and effort with anything. It took him an hour to eat an ounce of formula because nursing was out of the question, he just wasn't having that. He had to go through several types of formula until we found one that didn't upset his system. But after the initial jaundice and feeding problems, we were good...for a while. 


He spoke at an early age. And I'm not just talking about one word babbling. He used full sentences and was grammatically correct. He had, and still has, a better vocabulary than many adults that I know. He amazed people with how he spoke. He walked early, hit all his milestones either early or on schedule. 


But then the differences start. He never really reacted to pain like a 'normal' child. Things that should have had him on the floor crying just seemed to be nothing. He would shake it off and roll right onto the next time he would hurt himself. He had to wear a cast on his ankle for 2 weeks when he was 3 because he did tendon damage and we didn't realize it. He just woke up one day and wouldn't walk. So after a lot of testing they realized that when he stepped off the curb wrong one evening and pulled the tendon wrong and was just going to keep injuring it without the cast to stabilize it. But if you were to 'flick him' on the arm, he would scream. He would run headlong into a wall, crash to the floor, giggle and go on. Barely touch his arm, screaming...grab his arm and squeeze, no problem. Something just wasn't right. 


Hyper did not begin to describe him. Everyone told me it was just the Terrible Twos, the Awful Threes, etc. It would all wear off and he would calm down and be that functioning, thriving member of society that we all hope for. Well, I am here to tell you, it did not wear off. He is still that wild child. We tested the field of Occupational Therapy with some promising results, until the insurance would no longer cover it. End of hope for that one. Tried medication. 


He would vomit daily, sometimes several times. He hated to have his teeth brushed, and it is still a daily battle. Textures freak him out. He won't eat unless he has a glass of something to wash down EVERY bite of food. Otherwise he will just chew until it is no longer a palatable texture, gag, spit it out and then throw up. He did damage to the enamel on his teeth by vomiting so often. He had to go to a dentist specializing in children with additional needs. (Which, by the way, he did wonderful with. He colored while they did his extensive dental work. He was a rock star and was rewarded with a guinea pig. Don't ever do that, I speak from experience. They stink and don't really do much.)  


Sounds that are too loud or out of the ordinary upset him or excite him. He will run and scream this high pitched scream in little short burst. "Whoop Whoop Whoop Whoop." NON-STOP. He wants to play with other kids, but generally he gets over stimulated, resulting in the running, Whoop whoop thing. They will be playing and he will just be making laps, screaming. He rocks. Back and forth when nervous. He stims...repeated movements, the same one, arm swinging usually, for 30 minutes at a time. 


He hates crowds, they make him nervous. He will pull himself into his shirt like a timid turtle and rock, humming or singing to himself. Sometimes VERY loudly. Wal-Mart used to upset him the most. He would spend the entire trip in the cart, pulled in like a turtle, making loud noises to himself. It is at this point that I would like to say that people are very rude and judgmental. My 5 year old has been given looks that I would not shoot at an adult, just for doing this in Wal-Mart. Not hurting anyone, just calming himself. But people don't understand so they say and do stupid things. I am not in a place yet that I can just ignore these people. That Mommy instinct in me really makes me want to put them in their place. Anyway...back to my Jake. He gets 'itchy' when nervous. He will start scratching himself all over, saying, "I itch so much. I just itch." repeatedly. There was an incident in a Mexican restaurant on his birthday. They sang to him and put a sombrero on his head and whipped cream on his face. He scratched himself until there were red marks on his body and face, growled slightly at people and then said he was never going back there. He has though because he loves the beans and rice. 


In October of 2011 we took him to a university hospital specializing in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders for testing. After 6+ hours of 'testing'..and I use this term lightly...and a bill of $1900, they said he makes eye contact and smiles sometimes so an Autism Spectrum diagnosis was out of the question. Apparently all the odd quirks he has are just null and void because he would occasionally look at the woman asking him questions or watching him play with a car and shoelace. There was NO medical testing done at this center, only behavioral. They watched his reactions to situations and asked him questions. They asked us questions. I would personally think my information regarding him would be more useful since I went in with a notebook full of incidents that happen daily. Not like I know the child or anything. But hey, I'm not a doctor, or a university student, so what do I know? So...our diagnosis: Severe Combined Type ADHD with a possibility of Oppositional Defiant Disorder. He's hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive. No joke. I really think there is something more there. There are too many things that don't tie in with that diagnosis. 


They recommended medication, which we tried. He has been on it since October of 2011. At first I think it helped, but as of late, he has been  having adverse reactions. He went from hyper and impulsive... (Here I think I should explain his degree of impulsiveness before you say, "Well all 5 year olds are impulsive."  When he sees cars in the road, he doesn't think Danger, I could get hit. He thinks, Maybe I should go run with them. So he does. Mommy screaming and running behind him as he dodges cars in parking lots, laughing maniacally. Trying to open a can of Spaghettios with a knife, after he stood on the counter to get the knife. He just doesn't see danger the same way normal people do.)  Anywho...He went from hyper and impulsive with the attention span of a gnat to all of these things as well as violent, combative, mouthy, dangerous to himself and his little brother, SO angry and overall emotionally unstable. This was not my baby. So we are seeing a new doctor tomorrow and I have stopped giving him his medicine until then. He is wild, wilder than ever before, and seemingly deaf to all instructions, reprimands, etc. But at least he isn't plotting my early demise.  


I am so hoping for something amazing tomorrow. But I'm trying not to get my hopes up.