Monday, December 31, 2007

Help! My Son Just Shortened His Life Span

Philip has been stealing all sorts of food the past few months and in constant food reaction. His diet keeps his autistic behaviors at bay but also helps him with impulse control and social skills so when he cheats on the diet he loses whatever little impulse control he has, acts like a crying whining girlie PIB and I really hate to be around him. He is in constant trouble, can't focus on his schoolwork and he continues to steal food b/c of his loss of self-control which sets him off on a cycle of reactions. Tonight he just grabbed a piece of fudge and ate it. The last time he ate a piece of chocolate he was in reaction - his worst one yet - for over a month. He's been clean for a couple of weeks and was doing well. I am so frustrated. I cannot keep him from doing this - he is already under constant surveillance - is not even allowed to set foot in the kitchen , nor is he allowed to be in the basement where his brothers keep their candy stash by himself. If he wants to play in the basement, I send Betsy to watch him - how stupid is that?! He has his quiet time in the living room so I can watch him. And I don't send him to bed unless someone else is in the basement with him. Nothing works. He understands that the infractions cause him to get in trouble, he apologizes, repents, says he'll never do it again - which I believe about as much as a rat's patootie. In fact, he's earned the nick-name Rat because he sneaks off and steals other people's food. This is so incredibly frustrating. Can I put him in a padded room for the next two weeks?! And, No he's not hungry. I've been making a point of making him LOTS of food at meal times so that he is not hungry. He just hates his diet. He wants what everyone else has. And he has NO self-control.

Mabye I can send him to work with his dad for the next two weeks....hmmmm. ...unless someone out there has a padded room for rent....