About a week ago I started to discipline Jordan a little more. I was hoping that he would link his bad behaviors to sitting in the living room with me the entire afternoons and evenings. When I first decided to be a little more strict about punishments, it seemed to have worked. The first day after a bad note home he sat in the living room with no access to the Chipmunks or any other thing he loves to do after coming home. The next day at school was a better day. I allowed Jordan to have TV time until he decided to get upset after not being allowed to eat chips after I gave him a medication that needed him to wait 1/2 hour before eating again. He turned on the oven and put the temperature on 888 degrees. So the rest of that evening he had to sit as well. The next day, and even better day. So that day he was able to watch TV, play in his room and just have free roam of the house. But the next day, he had issues again. I began to wonder if it was something more than just being punished.
Even though Jordan sits in the den when watching his shows, I thought maybe it's not about being punished, but actually having time to unwind. He can get up from the couch as often as he likes and make his way to the basement or jump around in the kitchen. But for the most part he just sits. That seems like relaxing to me, but for a child with Autism, it may not be the case. So I came up with a plan to give him time to watch his show, because I don't want him to have absolutely nothing, but at around 7:30 have him come in the room to unwind. I did so on Sunday and he was well behaved on Monday. Great. Since things seemed to be working out well with this schedule I was going to continue on with it. Monday evening he came in the living room about 8. I had to pick my truck up from the shop and when I got home he had to eat dinner so it was a little off. Since we were sitting I decided to complete Jordan's homework instead of waiting until the morning, which is a bad habit of mine when it comes to him. When he went over to the area where he sits, he covered up and watched a little of the basketball game. But Jordan fell asleep sometime after 9.
With him falling asleep so early it entered my mind that maybe it isn't sitting that calms him and carries on to the next day at school. Maybe it's because his body has a chance to ease up a lot sooner than normal and therefore he falls asleep earlier. I researched this morning while he was getting ready for school and what I found was sleep is a critical component of health. It is essential to grow, to restore our bodies and immune systems. I also found that children that have ASD, their daytime behaviors are affected and their challenging behaviors are worsened if they don't get sufficient amounts of sleep. I must admit Jordan has never had a bedtime. It wasn't something that I planned or was against but Jordan was Jordan. I was always so lenient on him because of his disability but he was never one to stay up late anyway. He used to wake up in the middle of the night but after completely removing gluten from him he started sleeping through the night. I didn't think that a bedtime was necessary for him. Last year he woke up for school earlier than this year. But I don't think the issue is how early he gets up, it's more so that he stays up late some nights because of the amount of supplements he gets. Sometimes I am so off with giving them to him that he can be up late sometimes. I think I've come up with a schedule that can work. I just have to actually follow through with it.
Since me and my prayer partner have been praying with one another every Monday and Wednesday amazing things have been happening. One of the issues I had been praying about was for God to reveal to me the reasons behind the behaviors. First I thought it was a lack of fiber. Then high levels of lead. Others were too much sugar and starch, lack of omega 3's and other supplements. All of these things I researched. But what I just found out had no research involved.
1 Corinthians 2:10 says "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." It's good to research things to get to the bottom of some things. But it's always good to allow the Holy Spirit to speak. 10 times out of 10 He's right.
Even though Jordan sits in the den when watching his shows, I thought maybe it's not about being punished, but actually having time to unwind. He can get up from the couch as often as he likes and make his way to the basement or jump around in the kitchen. But for the most part he just sits. That seems like relaxing to me, but for a child with Autism, it may not be the case. So I came up with a plan to give him time to watch his show, because I don't want him to have absolutely nothing, but at around 7:30 have him come in the room to unwind. I did so on Sunday and he was well behaved on Monday. Great. Since things seemed to be working out well with this schedule I was going to continue on with it. Monday evening he came in the living room about 8. I had to pick my truck up from the shop and when I got home he had to eat dinner so it was a little off. Since we were sitting I decided to complete Jordan's homework instead of waiting until the morning, which is a bad habit of mine when it comes to him. When he went over to the area where he sits, he covered up and watched a little of the basketball game. But Jordan fell asleep sometime after 9. 
With him falling asleep so early it entered my mind that maybe it isn't sitting that calms him and carries on to the next day at school. Maybe it's because his body has a chance to ease up a lot sooner than normal and therefore he falls asleep earlier. I researched this morning while he was getting ready for school and what I found was sleep is a critical component of health. It is essential to grow, to restore our bodies and immune systems. I also found that children that have ASD, their daytime behaviors are affected and their challenging behaviors are worsened if they don't get sufficient amounts of sleep. I must admit Jordan has never had a bedtime. It wasn't something that I planned or was against but Jordan was Jordan. I was always so lenient on him because of his disability but he was never one to stay up late anyway. He used to wake up in the middle of the night but after completely removing gluten from him he started sleeping through the night. I didn't think that a bedtime was necessary for him. Last year he woke up for school earlier than this year. But I don't think the issue is how early he gets up, it's more so that he stays up late some nights because of the amount of supplements he gets. Sometimes I am so off with giving them to him that he can be up late sometimes. I think I've come up with a schedule that can work. I just have to actually follow through with it. 
