I cant help but wonder if any of you are still humming to the duck song? Its been stuck in my head for days. :-)
I mentioned a film Duck watched with her dad yesterday, they watched Jack and the beanstalk. I don't know which version because I was out, but I do know it had giants in it who, according to Duck, go around chopping peoples heads off! She only raised this concern at bed time but was totally convinced and distressed that it was real. PDA children are often found acting out role play from films or TV and becoming so totally engrossed its almost real to those watching. Its important to remember these children often struggle to separate fantasy from reality. So although her frantic cries of 'The giants are coming' seem amusing, she is genuinely scared that the giants may come. Needless to say, despite taking her medicine on time, she didn't want to go to bed. :-( Another night for mummy in her room. However, I did tell her that if the giants didn't come tonight I would be in my own bed tomorrow. Duck asked what if the giants did come? I couldn't help but reply that we would be dead then so it wouldn't matter. Maybe not the best thing to say!!! Trying to settle Duck was interesting. All she would say is that the giants are coming, every noise, creak and whistle of the wind. Duck was so desperate to avoid sleeping, that she asked to clean her teeth. All PDA people are probably laughing right now PDA children DO NOT want to clean their teeth EVER. Long night again....
Needless to say Ducks medicine finally kicked in and she fell asleep. The morning came with a distinct shortage of giants and I am pleased to report we have survived to fight another day. Its another day nearer to school, which isn't good. However, I have 'fun' stuff planned for the morning to make the day go quicker. :-)
The morning went well, Duck drank lots of liquid and actually doesn't look half starved, which is impressive when you consider she has refused all solid food for a week now.
We went to soft play with 2 little people which Duck loves because she can 'control' the little people and they do what she says, so she was telling them where and when to climb, with me closely behind giving them a leg up here and there because Ducks legs are much longer than theirs.
The afternoon was quiet, Duck spent plenty of time in her own world on the PC which may not be ideal, but in an anxious child, its a little dose of heaven!
Duck suddenly demanded home made chicken soup, sadly we had used the last from the freezer so we took a trip to Tesco in the evening to grab the bits and she happily prepared and cooked it. The only problem we had is that it had to be the same as the one before, which is fine if you actually use a recipie. Sadly, I grab a few vegetables and a piece of chicken and chuck it in a pan so I have no idea if I have go it right. We will have to wait and see!
Then a friend called to tell me she has found lice in her friends hair. That caused a drama, I had to nit treat all of us and Duck HATES it. So we had issues over treatment, then issues over bath, not going into too much detail but Duck was not a happy Duck. Ultimately, in all of her 'Nos' came a predicatable few lines of 'I don't want to go to school tomorrow' or 'I am not going to school tomorrow' and even 'I have not had enough time away from my teacher, its not time to go back'. Then she threw in a few ' I am not having a bath' and 'Get this stuff out of my hair' to which I reminded her I would gladly, but I couldn't unless she was in the bath. Eventually, Duck was in the bath and allowing me to 'Get that stuff out of her hair' Thankfully we found no lice either, but that just caused a few more 'I didn't need that stuff did I?'s going round. Still, at least I know I am sending her to school free of the little 'friends'. The fact that she will most probably pick them up by lunch time tomorrow is not really my fault.
The soup was cooked and left to cool whilst I finished bathing Duck. And then it was bed time. :-(
Bed time was totally horrific. You see, the sooner Duck goes to sleep, the quicker tomorrow will come. Duck doesn't want tomorrow. Like, I mean, REALLY doesn't want tomorrow. So husband carried her kicking and screaming up to her room, I had to get her dressed, which isn't such an easy task when Duck doesn't want to get her pyjamas on and then she ran and hid at the end of her bed screaming. There is no point getting angry, Duck doesn't mean to be naughty, she just isn't coping. The meltdowns are a panic attack and need handling as such. So, I picked up the laptop and sat on the spare bed waiting for her to calm down. some 15 minutes later, she calmed enough to pick up her tablet and start playing a game, still saying she isn't going to sleep because she doesn't want tomorrow, still demanding I stay in her room for the night. I calmly say I get too cold and its not comfortable for me and I will stay until she is settled. She tells me that will be all night. I think it will be until her medicine kicks in. So last night it was giants, tonight its school. All I can ask is one small question....Have you got any grapes???
For anyone who doesn't know, we believe our 9 year old daughter has PDA type autism. I am fighting to get a diagnosis as its a postcode lottery within the NHS. Although its a condition which was first diagnosed over 30 years ago and the National Autistic Society have recognised it as a form of autism for almost 10 years, the NHS still fail to recognise it. Please help by signing and sharing the petition to get this changed. There are thousands of children, teenagers and adults with this condition. All of whom need support. But they cant get the support they need with no diagnosis.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57807
For anyone wanting more information on PDA, here are a few links for you..
PDA in the national autistic society www.autism.org/PDA
The PDA resource website www.thepdaresource.com
And here is a you tube link that a lot of people have found useful for information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ZDdyMDCa8
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