Alexander

November 2011
Alex is doing well. Alex's mental health issues seem to be under control for the moment with a combination of medication and personal support. This year, Alex is excited about the holidays and has already given me several Christmas wish lists. I keep telling him I need to get through Thanksgiving before I start thinking about Christmas! Generally the holidays can invoke some mental health issues with Alex but I am hopeful that this year may go more smoothly.

Alex continues to attend high school in a special day class. He does well with all of the academic and behavioral support he receives in that program. Alex does participate in a regular education PE class and a cooking class with the support of an instructional assistant. This year Alex has even attended some of the high school dances and sporting events. Its great to see Alex participating successfully in school activities.

May 2011
Alex has been attending high school this year. He is in a special day class with two classes in regular education. He has done much better in this setting than in the local middle school program. Alex's teacher are a lot more sensitive to Alex's disabilities and mental health issues. He is supported well and is thriving educationally. Alex enjoys school a lot but continues to be a lot more immature than most other freshman. Alex's favorite class is ceramics. Alex is artistic and loves to create things with his hands. Alex has done well following class instruction and creating the projects as outlined by the teacher. Previously Alex would have only created projects of his own determination. This summer, Alex has a few camps scheduled and lots of time visiting his cousins, Jerry and Jerry Jr.

August 2010
Alexander's adoption was in late June. What a happy day it was for all of us! It had been a long hard road to finalization. It was quite a relief to finally be able to officially call Alex my son. While I'm not sure that Alex really understands his status change from "foster son" to "son," he was certainly happy that this adoption meant that he could now get his passport and go on out of country vacations with grandma and some of his other brothers! For the past four and a quarter years Alex has been a dependent in the foster care system (thus the lack of updates). For most of that time he was living with us. It was necessary to have social services become involved with Alex's case because of the seriousness of his mental health issues. At the age of 10, when social services stepped in, Alex had had more mental health related hospitalizations than any child I had ever parented. With the support of some excellent social workers and other professionals we were able to stabilize Alex enough so that he was able to live safely with our family. While Alex continues to need the services of mental health providers, and will likely for the rest of his life, I just appreciate every day that Alex is stable.

March 2006
Alexander (10) had a wonderful 10th birthday party at our local roller skating rink. There were very few people at the rink so our family had the whole place almost to ourselves. Alex is a fast skater with plenty of endurance. He can skate lap after lap for hours. After eating a quick dinner at the roller rink, it was time for Alex to open his presents. Alex received plenty of new clothes.

Alex loves to wear new clothes and he especially loves the "layered look." Alex was so happy with the clothes that he almost forgot to open his other presents which included several toys and a new bicycle. Alex thought the best part of the new bicycle was the combination lock. Since his birthday, we have found Alex's new biked locked to all different and creative objects in the house and in the garage! Alexander continues to struggle with serious hyperactivity and impulsivity. He does well at school where the environment is very structured. At house, where the schedule is more relaxed, Alex struggles. We are continuing to provide Alex with active outlets to spend down some of his endless energy. Alex's favorite activities are bike riding and swimming. We look forward to the weather warming-up and being able to sign-up Alex for swimming lessons again.

March 2006
Alexander had a wonderful 10th birthday party at our local roller skating rink. There were very few people at the rink so our family had the whole place almost to ourselves. Alex is a fast skater with plenty of endurance. He can skate lap after lap for hours. After eating a quick dinner at the roller rink, it was time for Alex to open his presents. Alex received plenty of new clothes. Alex loves to wear new clothes and he especially loves the "layered look." Alex was so happy with the clothes that he almost forgot to open his other presents which included several toys and a new bicycle. Alex thought the best part of the new bicycle was the combination lock. Since his birthday, we have found Alex's new biked locked to all different and creative objects in the house and in the garage! Alexander continues to struggle with serious hyperactivity and impulsivity. He does well at school where the environment is very structured. At house, where the schedule is more relaxed, Alex struggles. We are continuing to provide Alex with active outlets to spend down some of his endless energy. Alex's favorite activities are bike riding and swimming. We look forward to the weather warming-up and being able to sign-up Alex for swimming lessons again. p>

January 2006
Alexander started this year in public school this year but within a month it was decided that he might do better in a non-public school setting. Alex now attends Canal Street Elementary School where he is a third grade student. Alex has done well behaviorally in this highly structured setting. With clear rules and expectations as well as consequences Alex seems better able to self-regulate his impulses. Alex continues to be very challenging at home but we are hopeful with improved self-regulation skills at school we will see carry-over at home and in the community. Alex continues to love to ride his bicycle. He takes long bike rides on the weekends with several brothers and a couple of our helpers. Alex is also enjoying roller skating and usually goes to the roller rink at least once a week. Alex has also shown a wonderful aptitude for electronics. He has recently discovered how to modify and rebuild remote control cars to make them go faster. Currently, anything with a motor is free game around here. Alex can almost always be found attempting to take apart any toy that has a motor to discover how the motor works. Once he learns how the motor works, Alex rebuilds the motor and make a completely different toy. The trick for us now is to channel this energy and interest in motor into something beneficial.