I could seriously go to bed right now, and probably sleep straight through until tomorrow morning. Tonight was a really quiet night, so I think that is attributing to the sudden MUST CATCH ZZZzzzZZZzzzs feeling that washed over me about ten minutes ago. Alyssa wanted to spend the night at my mom’s, and Ryan lounged with me for several hours while we read stories, played and watched a bit of television (Hell’s Kitchen and George Lopez FTW!).
I took Ryan with me to a psychologist appointment today. The appointment was supposed to be last week, after Ryan’s evaluation and diagnosis, but the psychologist had to step out. Dan was going to go with me, but worked really late last night. So I went with Ryan, after dropping Alyssa off at my mom’s house. The psychologist, Dawn, was very nice, and explained that the purpose of the appointment was to talk to us — the parents — about how we were doing, coming to grips with it, if we needed someone to talk to, etc. Honestly, I’m fine. As I said before, I knew deep down all along that Ryan was autistic. The verbal and written confirmation from a qualified autism research and development center was just reaffirming what I knew. It hurt to hear, but I expected it. Dan, on the other hand… I really feel he could benefit from talking to someone about it, and perhaps seeking his own kind of support. He does too. So once these next two weeks are over (we’re leaving for the beach next Monday and will be returning Thursday evening!), I’m going to set up an appointment for him.
Anyway, name that spot! I really don’t think it’s ringworm. I have had ringworm before, Dan has had it, and Ryan had a tiny spot of it along his jawline last fall. I really don’t know what to think it is (and neither does the doctor, hence the follow up appointment scheduled for Satuday morning), so help a girl out, darling interwebs, and give your input!
Taken yesterday evening. The dark area above the spot is an ever present callous from Ryan rocking and banging against hard surfaces. The tape marks are from an adhesive bandage that I found he is sensitive to. We switched to non-stick gauze pads and paper tape!
Taken this evening.
I just checked the weather. Tomorrow night it’s going down to 60 degrees! Ack! Dan and I are meeting Jason at a nearby pool for a “full moon” swim from 8pm-11pm. We’re all going to freeze our asses off! But it’ll be well worth it. ;) I’ll let you guys know how many people show up and brave the cool temps for a night swim!
Wow, Jenn. I just read your blog for the first time since coming home from the beach. When did you officially find out? How are you and Dan coping? Any idea how severe it is?
That kind of looks like a burn or a blister (?). But it definitely doesn’t look like ringworm….
I’m sure in any case, it won’t be severe at all. He is attempting to communicate with us, as late and half-assed as it may be. When he finally does start to talk I think we will have a much clearer idea of how bad it is. I’m going to hope for the best and hope that no one else drags my son down with labels and preconcieved ideas of what he’s capable of.
Dan, just make sure that you don’t drag him down with your fears and insecurities. Your anxiety and constant worrying about the what if’s and hopes that things aren’t that bad or bad at all can definitely be picked up on by Ryan, especially as he gets older.
is it possible it could just be dry skin? like maybe something is rubbing against his back when he’s lying down and it has gotten irritated? i hope you can figure it out soon!
Dan, I hope you didn’t take my comment the wrong way.
I totally understand your worries about the way society is going to treat Ryan. If it were my child, that would most definitely be one of my BIGGEST concerns.
I should say MAY treat Ryan. Because not everyone is a closed-minded asshole….
No no, I didn’t mean anything towards you, or anyone else that has had hopeful words for Jenn and I. My main worry/anxiety here is that Ryan could fall into a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’; he is given a label of autistic, which holds with it certain expectations of what his behavior should be. He is going to at least meet those expectations, which then will be seen as affirmation of the label and reinforces those expectations. Anything above and beyond those preconcieved expectations are going to be seen as a fluke– since he is obviously ‘autistic’, he can’t possibly be ‘normal’.
That is what I’m really worried about. That he’ll be dragged down by the label of being autistic even if he is capable of much more.
Ok, now that I see the photos, no, it doesn’t look like ringworm at all, so scratch that thought! Lol!
As I said on Flickr, my first thought was a burn, but surely it couldn’t be, you’d have noticed if he’d been burnt there…and HOW would he have gotten burnt there to begin with?! o.O
Have you been itching the spot or anything of that sort? If not, seeing how it transformed, I would probably guess spider bite, honestly. Although house spiders and common spiders usually won’t turn like that, they usually go away on their own if you let them be. I’m not sure, I haven’t seen much like it, but I had a spider bite awhile ago and I kept messing with it and it looked a bit like that – the second I left it alone though it went away completely in two weeks or so. Make sure your doctor rules out a spider bite, most of them are treatable but can cause some damage if left alone for too long.
Ok, not ringworm! It looks like a spider bite to me. I had two like that when I was a kid. They got big like this and to my knowledge I guess they had fluid in them because they ended up looking just like that of Ryan’s. Once I got a topical ointment from the doctor it cleared up but I have two nice scars about that size on me now. He’s probably just been bitten by something outside!
On the other issues. I think you two have the upper hand because Jenn has dealt with her brothers for her entire life. If it were me I’d be freaking out because I could never handle that behavior. I’d find some way to beat myself up over it for a while. I’m serious. I’m so glad she’s not doing that and she’s proactive. But if the school system starts to label Ryan I’d pull him out and home school him, there are great home school groups that allow the kids to be interactive and structure field trips, etc. Or I’d have my ass sitting at the school all day long until it changed and he was treated the way he needed to be treated. The most important thing is to not let him get lost in the crowd or group of kids like that, because they may all be diagnosed with Autism or ADHD and in a class together, but they are all going to have different abilities and needs.