Skip to main content

A "Cluttered" Mind

Have you ever had so much mind "clutter," that you did something absentmindedly? Well, a few weeks ago, I accidentally took one of Dominic's Ritalin tablets!!  I keep 3 out of the 4 medicines that I take for my heart "issues" on our kitchen counter as well as his bottle of Ritalin.  I guess I was thinking about the new medicine the cardiologist just put me on and was also thinking it was time to give Dominic his third Ritalin dose of the day.  After I realized what I had done, I hyperventilated a little kind of wondering what the reaction would be.  He is on a small dose (5 mg), thank goodness, so I kind of sat back and waited to see what might happen.  Luckily, there was no bad reaction, it actually kept me more focused for the next couple of hours than I had been all day. I sometimes wonder if I have ADHD :)  I think when you're a mom/parent, your mind is always one step ahead thinking about what you have to do next.  I'll never forget one time I was in a store and I was so much in my own thoughts, I almost rammed my cart into another lady.  I said, "oh, I'm so sorry, I was in my own little world."  She kind of laughed at me and said, "well, I hope you're very happy there!"  I laughed and said back, "well, yes I am!"  I had a good chuckle about that for the rest of the day :)  Today, I locked myself out of my house.  I beginning to really think my mind needs a good "decluttering!"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Those "Steps" to Independence Can Be Hard

We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...

Why We Pursued Guardianship of our Son with Autism

Last Thursday morning, my husband, Dominic and I went to our county's Probate Court and had Dominic's Guardianship Hearing. My husband and I are Co-Guardians, and we were granted "Partial Guardianship," which means Dominic can make some of his own decisions (future educational and vocational placement options, what to wear and how he wants to spend his free time), but my husband and I will make his medical, health care, legal, contractual and major financial decisions. The subject of Guardianship in the disability "world" has been and continues to be a controversial and divisive topic.  I was a panelist for an Autism Conference this past summer and presented on what it's like to have a child with Autism. Towards the end of my presentation, I mentioned that Dominic had just turned 18 and that we were going through the Guardianship process. When the attendees could ask questions, the first person that went up to the microphone started telling me that I was...

Presume Competence

Since we have traveled outside of the United States since Dominic was very small, we have had to get him a Children's Passport every five years. Since his current one expires in February of 2024 and he is now 19, we had to apply for an Adult Passport. I don't know why my husband and I picked Dominic's first day of school and Michigan State University moving in their students, but the appointment was yesterady at 3 p.m. We had gathered all of the documents needed and then went into a special room in the East Lansing Post Office just for Passports. The three of us sat down and the clerk asked Dominic his age. He said, "19." Since we were also getting his picture taken for the Passport, he went into a separate room, where she took a picture of him and then let him look at it to make sure he liked it (it will be his picture for the next 10 years)!  He said he did, so he sat back down with us. The clerk filled out a bit more of the paperwork and then she let Dominic s...