 Tori sports the full cruise outfit  |
Paxil is awesome. Tori's been on the lowest dose of this SSRI used to treat anxiety for a month now. She has completely stopped handflapping. She's affectionate and related. She asked me this morning, "Mom, will you turn off the TV so that Nev will play with me?" When I declined, she decided to put on a puppet show for me with her imaginary brother (made out of the magnet toy she got for Christmas from Grandpa Bill) instead. She insisted that I pay attention and cheer afterwards.
I asked her this morning, when I gave her her pill, if she thought the medicine was helping. "I don't know. I guess so," she said. I observed, "You don't handflap anymore when I brush your hair." "Of course not", she replied. "You used to handflap when you were anxious," I explained, "You'd handflap so hard everytime I got near you with a brush that it was hard to brush your hair." "No, mom," she insisted, "I handflap when I'm EXCITED." "Well, either way, I haven't seen you do it lately," I told her. "Oh, okay," she replied.
When mom came over tonight, she related a similar exchange from earlier today. "Tori, you're not verbal stimming," she observed. "Of course I'm not sitting," Tori retorted, "I'm STANDING." "No, verbal STIMMING," my mom corrected. "Remember how you used to repeat stuff over and over?" "Huh?" came Tori's reply. "What are you TALKING about?"
I haven't heard her say "I was just being stupid" or "it's because I have autism" in weeks. She's still really weird, but she seems happy and confident. She seeks out the praise she used to shun. And she kisses me and tells me she loves me multiple times a day. Most importantly, she doesn't seem at all nervous. She's relaxed and at peace. |
.:.
| I hope she remember that Auntie Maddy is smart . --Auntie Maddy (2010.01.10) |
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