Can I just have a self-pitying moan about ds2?
I'm trying to look on the bright side and can see how much his language has improved over the last couple of months. His play skills are also improving a little and he is finally starting to become a little more tolerant of wearing clothes. Everything else seems to be going downhill fast though.
He had an IDP meeting recently and I was asked to bring him along. He went into a complete meltdown (a mixture of a change in routine and a sensory overload) and gave a full demonstration of his difficulties. In a way I was quite pleased about this as he'd been quite happy and co-operative during his CDC assessment and I was starting to worry that they might think I was somehow making it up or exaggerating. I think the headbanging was probably the last straw and so we all moved to a different room where there was a sensory area for ds2 to use. He calmed down almost immediately and was giggling in minutes.
The visual timetables have helped with leaving the house minus the screams but when we actually get to where we are going it is a nightmare. Ds2 wants everything to be done in a certain way and wants to always travel via the same route - and I just can't do that every single time. His behaviour is so awful that I now avoid going out with him wherever possible. At weekends dh takes ds1 with him to do the shopping while I stay at home with ds2.
At home he is also a disaster waiting to happen. His fine motor skills are far more advanced than they should be, and combined with his intelligence it is downright dangerous. He can manipulate the window locks, the cupboard locks and the fridge lock. I have to leave the toilet/bathroom door unlocked when ds1 is at home but this means that ds2 can get in there too. He can climb up to about 5ft-6ft off the ground using whatever he can find to get himself up there. The aftermath of a bottle of bubblebath poured down the toilet was like something out of a really bad comedy.
I shouldn't really complain as we do get a lot of help from portage, SALT, OT etc. It just all seems really cr@ppy right now.