Conor is a tremendous joy in my life. When I say he is a joy I mean HE is a joy not his Autistic Disorder.
My blog sidebar, and many of my blog comments feature the tremendous joy and pleasure we find in Conor. But his Autistic Disorder is exactly that. It is a severe disorder which restricts and limits his life and, sometimes, poses serious challenges for his mother and me as his parents. Last night between 2 and 4:30 am was one of those times.
Conor has been a bit out of sorts with the long school Christmas vacation. (Here in New Brunswick the students don't return until next Tuesday with the teachers taking a professional development day next Monday at the end of the vacation which they often do at the end of vacation periods). Last night around 2 am Conor woke up agitated and turning on televisions, computers and running around the house. He got worked up at one point and began hitting himself in the face and head and biting his hands. I tried to talk him down but he was too wound up last night. At a solid 6 feet Conor is strong and too much for Mom during some difficult times even though they are few and far between. Last night when I tried to grab his arms to keep him from hitting himself he lunged forward ... quickly ... and put a serious bite in my arm. You can see the result in the picture above, taken this afternoon.
Today I attended at outpatients at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton and received a tetanus shot and an anti-biotic prescription for infection. That last tetanus shot I received was 10 years ago after an incident coming out of a local grocery store when Conor bit the back of my hand causing blood to shoot up like an oil well causing a woman nearby to look very faint.
Conor does not mean to cause harm. He is a great joy. He is our buddy forever and he is worth every challenge we face from his Autistic Disorder and then some but there are times when it is tough, very tough, to be the parent of a severely autistic child.
Last night was one of those times.
My blog sidebar, and many of my blog comments feature the tremendous joy and pleasure we find in Conor. But his Autistic Disorder is exactly that. It is a severe disorder which restricts and limits his life and, sometimes, poses serious challenges for his mother and me as his parents. Last night between 2 and 4:30 am was one of those times.
Conor has been a bit out of sorts with the long school Christmas vacation. (Here in New Brunswick the students don't return until next Tuesday with the teachers taking a professional development day next Monday at the end of the vacation which they often do at the end of vacation periods). Last night around 2 am Conor woke up agitated and turning on televisions, computers and running around the house. He got worked up at one point and began hitting himself in the face and head and biting his hands. I tried to talk him down but he was too wound up last night. At a solid 6 feet Conor is strong and too much for Mom during some difficult times even though they are few and far between. Last night when I tried to grab his arms to keep him from hitting himself he lunged forward ... quickly ... and put a serious bite in my arm. You can see the result in the picture above, taken this afternoon.
Today I attended at outpatients at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton and received a tetanus shot and an anti-biotic prescription for infection. That last tetanus shot I received was 10 years ago after an incident coming out of a local grocery store when Conor bit the back of my hand causing blood to shoot up like an oil well causing a woman nearby to look very faint.
Conor does not mean to cause harm. He is a great joy. He is our buddy forever and he is worth every challenge we face from his Autistic Disorder and then some but there are times when it is tough, very tough, to be the parent of a severely autistic child.
Last night was one of those times.
