Based on my posts from the last two weeks, and this one, I guess Dar’s eligibility for services must be undergoing its annual scrutiny. There’s no reason for that to bother me. We haven’t had home services for the last two weeks (our new person starts Monday). By that, I mean that resources are finite, and though this isn’t my idea of a perfect world, we have to compete with other families for those resources. My hard-won cynicism – won partly through doing endless exercises with Dar – tells me he’ll be qualifying for a long time. Someday, I hope to be thrilled to be proven wrong.
Again, I would hope that a blog post like this gives some comfort to affected families, while also giving a grim cheer to less affected families – even though your kid is driving you crazy, at least you don’t have to fill out forms like these!
So the survey, here printed verbatim, asks me to answer Never, Monthly, Weekly, Daily, or Hourly. And if my answer is anything but “Never,” I’m supposed to name Mild Severity, Moderate Severity, or Extreme Severity. I take this to indicate something about how easy it is for me to re-direct him, or how bothersome the behavior is for him and others. Anyway this survey goes a LITTLE something like this:
Self-Injurious Behavior
1 Self-Biting (so hard that a tooth print can be seen for some time; bloodshot or breaking of skin may occur) Never
2 Hitting head with hand or other body part (e.g. face slapping, knee against forehead) or with/against objects (e.g. slamming against a wall, knocking head with a toy) Monthly Mild Severity
3 Hitting body (except for the head) with own hand or with any other body part (e.g. kicking self, slapping arms or thighs) or with/against objects (e.g. hitting legs with a stick, boxing the wall) Monthly Mild Severity
4 Self-scratching (so hard that reddening of the skin becomes visible; breaking of the skin may also occur) Never
5 Vomiting and rumination (deliberate regurgitation of swallowed food with rumination) Never
6 Self-pinching (so hard that reddening of the skin becomes visible; breaking of the skin may occur) Never
7 Pica: Mouthing or swallowing of objects which should not be mouthed or swallowed for health or hygiene reasons (non-food items such as feces, grass, paper, garbage, hair) Monthly Mild Severity
8 Inserting objects in body openings (in nose, ears, or anus, etc.) Never
9 Pulling finger or toe nails Never
10 Inserting fingers in body openings (e.g. eye poking, finger in anus, etc.) Never
11 Air swallowing resulting in extended abdomen Never
12 Hair pulling (tearing out patches of hair) Never
13 Extreme drinking (e.g. more than 3 liters per day) Never
14 Teeth grinding (evidence of ground teeth) Never
15 Other: _______
Stereotyped Behavior
16 Rocking back and forth Never
17 Sniffing objects Never
18 Spinning own body Monthly Mild Severity
19 Waving or shaking arms Never
20 Rolling head Never
21 Whirling, turning around on spot Never
22 Engaging in repetitive body movements Daily Moderate Severity
23 Pacing Daily Moderate Severity
24 Twirling things Never
25 Having repetitive hand movements Daily Mild Severity
26 Yelling and screaming Daily Moderate Severity
27 Sniffing own body Never
28 Bouncing around Never
29 Spinning objects Never
30 Having bursts of running around Hourly Mild Severity
31 Engaging in complex hand and finger movements Never
32 Manipulating objects repeatedly Hourly Mild Severity
33 Exhibiting sustained finger movements Never
34 Rubbing self Never
35 Gazing at hands or objects Hourly Moderate severity
36 Maintaining bizarre body postures Daily Mild Severity
37 Clapping hands Never
38 Grimacing Daily Mild Severity
39 Waving hands Never
40 Other: _______
Aggressive/Destructive Behavior
41 Hitting others Never
42 Kicking others Never
43 Pushing others Never
44 Biting others Never
45 Grabbing and pulling others Never
46 Scratching others Never
47 Pinching others Never
48 Spitting on others Never
49 Being verbally abusive with others Never
50 Destroying things (e.g. rips clothes, throws chairs, smashes tables) Never
51 Being mean or cruel (e.g. grabbing toys or food from others, bullying others) Never
52 Other: ______
(Thank God about this last section. Who knows how long that’ll last.)
