It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
~Ben Franklin

No shit, Ben.  You’re preaching to the choir, buddy.  I have a 10 year old son who has CP.  He also has developed some rather unsavory habits lately.  I’m at my wit’s end over this and I’m ready to just throw in the towel and let my kid be gross.  Except that some of his habits might harm him or someone else.  So, you know how it is.  There can be no giving in when it comes right down to it. Listen up, little guy…YOUR MOMMY WILL WIN THIS BATTLE OF WILLS.

Jamie has started punching things.  Well, not quite punching but sort of swinging his right hand back and forth and coming into contact with things, people, brick walls, handicap rails, etc.  His little hand is bruised.  Not to mention the fact that he’s almost 100 pounds at 10 years old and who knows how big he’s going to be when he’s fully grown.  What if he hurts someone else?  I really couldn’t handle it if he hurt someone, whether he means to or not.  He’s not a mean-spirited person so I know it isn’t coming from that kind of place.

He screams at inappropriate times–like, seriously inappropriate.  In the middle of the grocery store, at the library, when Mommy has a migraine.  We tell him, “That’s too loud.  It hurts my ears.”  And then he laughs.  Inappropriate!  There is no rhyme or reason for why he screams.  But it is a very high-pitched scream that my husband calls “the brown note”.  The Mythbusters did a show on this myth and busted it, but I don’t think they ever met Jamie.

One of the least endearing things he does is regurgitate.  We’ve had so many tests to see why he does this.  Is there a physical reason? No.  We went to one of the top gatroenterologists in our area and she said there is no physical reason for this.  She did tell us that some children with CP do this as a stimming reflex.  He does not have reflux, except in that he makes himself have reflux.  So, for now, since we can’t stop it, he’s on a medicine to make sure he doesn’t damage his esophagus.

He does this weird stimming thing with his arm.  He pulls his arm straight out with the opposite hand, looks down at his shoulder and tries to bite his shirt.  Now you can imagine that if he’s just regurgitated his shirt gets pretty funky pretty fast.  Our healthcare worker has taken to tying up his shirt sleeves so that he can’t get ahold of them.  Another problem with the shirt sleeve biting is that he sometimes gets the top layer of skin on his arms.  This leads to bite marks and bruising.

In the middle of all of this is this amazing little boy, who isn’t so little anymore.  He’s still the sweetest guy.  Even with all of these weird things he does, he’s our super boy.  We are trying to find a psychologist to help us.  I’ve contacted a few physicians/therapists in our area and they all say the same thing: your insurance won’t cover our services.  I’ve stressed that I don’t care if the insurance covers it or not, I will pay out-of-pocket.  But no one seems to be able or have the desire to help.  I’ve just left a message for a psychologist who is 1.5 hours away.  We’ll see what comes of that.  Hopefully if they can’t help, they’ll know someone who can.

Tell me, does your child do anything that you consider a bad habit?  Since our KWSN sometimes don’t fall into the neat little categories where one can just do what other parents have done to curb bad behavior, what little tips and tricks do you have for me?

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