Saturday, May 05, 2007

Headbanging/Communication

K.C.'s teacher has been working with him on his communication device. We just got it 4 days ago, it is called a Macaw device. His teacher says that when the new school year begins, I can request it be sent home with K.C.! I am so excited for K.C.! Just thinking about all the possibilities that this device can have for K.C. thrills me! His teacher says she believes he will learn to use it in time! Last week the school nurse phoned me and said that K.C.'s teacher was having a very hard time keeping him awake and that he was very, very sleepy. I immediately thought seizure. He always gets very quiet and has these very long staring spells just before a seizure. I told the nurse that and she said, I should come pick him up. I did just that. The change in routine threw K.C. off big time. He screamed and kicked the back of my seat all the way home. I thought I was going to lose my mind. It is very hard to drive with a child kicking the back of your seat and any words you have for him doesn't go through only makes it worse. I was silent until we got home. K.C. was still going strong and as soon as I unhooked him from his seat he slid out of the car like jelly straight to the ground and head banged twice before I could blink an eye. He hasn't head banged in awhile and I had even thought we might be over that mountain but no, not yet. I have seen K.C. head bang many times but I can tell you that each time he does head bang I get the same feeling. Stomach is in knots, scared to death he's going to seriously hurt his head and the after K.C. has head banged there is always a "letting it go" period where he's very limp like and crying. This is the hardest part for me because I just want to cry and cry because he has hurt himself that way and because K.C.'s cry sounds different that the regular cries. An after headbanging cry sounds hurt, sad, very sad, almost as if K.C. is trying to communicate "I'm sorry." I will never get used to seeing that ever.

7 comments:

Mamaroo said...

I am sorry K.C. had a difficult day and you too. I know how hard it must be to watch him hurt himself and feel so helpless. It sounds promising that K.C. is learning to use augmentative device. Hopefully once he is better able to communicate it will alleviate some of his frustrations. Hang in there Tina! {{{{HUG!!!}}}}

kristina said...

Charlie used to headbang at such moments---when something was out of the ordinary routine, as you note. It was almost like doing so helped him to "switch" something in his head. While Charlie has stopped, I can see him still having the potential----hope things have been okay since. That is so great about the Macaw device, please let us know how it goes!

JUST A MOM said...

Iam so sorry it is so hard! I wish I could help.

Julie Julie Bo Boolie said...

Oh honey my heart cries for you on days like that.. I hope they're very very few and far between.

HUGS

Lora said...

Tina, That is so sad, it made me cry just reading it:( It does hurt when they headbang, I would feel so helpless when Griffin would do it. I feel for you and I wish that I could help you somehow, I wish that we lived closer so that I could give you a big hug! We love you guys, hang in there. It is great news about the Macaw device, I am happy for that.....Oh the possibilities!!!!!!!!

Melissa said...

Sorry if this is a repost. It didn't look like it went through! LOL

I'm sorry KC had such a bad day. I hope that he does well with the communication device. I have a friend that was just telling me they are looking into getting one for her daughter. Such a great thing for you AND KC both!

GClef1970 said...

Oh Tina. :-( I am so sorry you had a tough day watching KC do that to himself. How heartbreaking it must be. I know exactly what you're talking about with the driving-while-being-kicked thing. Conor makes me lose my mind every couple of weeks with SOOOOO happy to hear about the Macaw! Can't wait to see the amazing progress that he will be making.