Fun Times!

Have you ever had one of those days where the whole world seems like it is against you?  Nothing works correctly.  No one has the answers.  And, best of all, there’s a bunch of hand-wringing and sorrowful faces or worse – ambivalent shrugs from people who’ve been let off the hook by procedure, policy, laws or what-not.

Raising a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder puts parents in that position every single day.  I can’t remember the last time our family enjoyed a truly good, relaxing – dare I say it? – fun day as a family.  Our RADKid has been grounded since his Breaking and Entering attempt Labor Day weekend.  He earned an extension when my darling husband found and confiscated stolen property in his bedroom.  He’ll get a third, indefinite, extension because he’s failing Algebra (a course he’s taking for the second time) and earning a D in Spanish because he’s simply not doing his homework.  He chooses not to.  Of course, he bitches incessantly in his own passive-aggressive way about how being grounded sucks but he won’t modify his behavior so our hands are really tied.

So what would you do as a parent?  Go to the school for help?  Special Education resources maybe?  Individualized Education Plan, perhaps?  Those all sound like great ideas except for one thing.  Here in the State of Washington, our RAD Kid is above the age of consent.  He is 15.  At 13, he must consent to treatment of any kind, sign releases for his therapist and the school district to exchange information for the purposes of developing a 504 plan or an IEP.  He must consent / can refuse consent to implement the IEP.  He is refusing to sign a consent at this point.  As his parents, legally, we can do nothing. Certainly coercion is an option but that’s hardly healthy for the parent-child relationship, right?

Put yourself in my shoes, readers.  Suggestions?

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