A Night to Celebrate

Something magical happened at our house this week. Ian became less afraid of his world. It is not a miracle that this happened, but it is remarkable in that all the reasoning, talking, and reassuring we have done in the past were finally able to sink in - with a little help.

The magic came in the form of 25 mg of Zoloft.

We have been giving him 25mg for several weeks with some improvement in his anxiety. This week our doctor advised us to bump it up a bit. That extra half pill has made such a difference.

It began on Wednesday night at Kung Fu. Ian was promoted to the level of Second Degree Green Belt. Not only was he excited about his own achievement, but he cheered - even "woo-hoo'ed" - for the others who were being recognized. He understood that hard work goes into being promoted to the next level. He recognized that other people had been involved in the same quest. Kung Fu certainly is not a team sport, but it is through cooperative learning, some exclusive coaching, and practicing with a single partner that individuals achieve rank and honor. He knows that now and appreciates other people's efforts.

On Thursday he surprised me again by trying a food that he used to say was yucky. We had shredded pork sandwiches for dinner. Honestly, if I didn't know how good it was, the sight of it would probably make me somewhat wary. But Ian tried it, liked it, and ate some more. No arguments. No pleading. No icky faces. He just did it.

Today was the show-stopper. Ian has always been afraid of our media room. It is very dark, and very scary. If the doors to the room are open when he goes to play in the toy room just next to it, he will slam the doors shut. Sometimes he even asks me to close the doors before he enters the toy room. But today he wanted to watch Robots. He ran upstairs with the disk, hopped into the dark media room, and bounded through the abyss to the DVD player. I had to turn on the light just to see where I was going. TWICE he asked me TO TURN OFF THE LIGHT!!! so he could see the movie better. I left him alone, in a dark room, with the sound booming. He watched the movie twice. When it was over, he and Ainsley danced gleefully to the concluding music.

Just now Steve informed me that Ian...for the first time ever in his life...has gotten out of bed with the lights out, and went to the bathroom to pee without calling us to come with him. This is the boy who, just a few weeks ago, would scream bloody murder for 2 hours at night because he was afraid of monsters under his bed. This is the child who was too afraid to remove the blanket covering his head, so he would call me to his room to bring him a glass of water when there was one within reach of his bed.

This is my son with Asperger Syndrome, ADHD, OCD, sensory integration dysfunction, and anxiety. This is my child coping successfully with all of these assaults on his system. This is a night to celebrate how far he has come.