Thursday, 17 February 2011

• Caring For A Sick Autistic Child

   

  

  I spent my weekend taking care of a sick autistic child.  It’s been awhile since my son has been as sick as he was this weekend.  Since he is nonverbal, and has difficulty communicating how he is feeling, I have to look for nonverbal cues.  The big one is not eating or drinking.  With my son, this usually means that his stomach is upset.

   

  My daughter and I had just gotten over a stomach bug, so I was sure that my autistic son had finally come down with it.  Having him refuse to eat for a couple of days is fine.  Having him refuse to drink isn’t ok.  He also didn’t want to get out of bed.  It didn’t take long for me to start seeing the early signs of dehydration.  I kept taking drinks to him, and was happy to see him drink, but he never came out of his room looking for something to drink.

  I was reminded of the days when my son was younger, and I had to use a medicine syringe to give him liquids.  When he was a toddler, he would get dehydrated quickly.  By Sunday evening, he started looking a lot better, and he even started eating again.  I knew if I could keep him hydrated, he would be fine.

  It’s so hard to sit back and watch my son be sick.  In the early years, I would have taken him to the emergency room.  Now, with years of experience behind me, I knew what warning signs to keep an eye out for.  I knew I was doing all I could, and that medicine wouldn’t help.  He was close to getting dehydrated, but water and Gatorade kept that from happening.  When he finally came out of his room Sunday evening, looking for food and drink, I knew he was going to be fine.  He is at school today.  I am hoping that I made the right decision in letting him go.  He looked a lot better, no temperature, and was eating and drinking were no longer a problem.

  He’s coming down with a cold, too.  I’ll be staying home today, in case I get a phone call from his school.  He seemed to be doing good when I put him on the bus, except for a runny nose.  Over the years, I have also learned that my son’s health status can change quickly.  So, I’ll stick close to the phone, pray for the best, and be ready for the worse.

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