UPDATE
HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are looking forward to 2013 with hope of seeing some real transformation take place. A metamorphosis.
In December, we transitioned Dakota from wilderness to his treatment center in northern Utah. For the first time, Dakota felt he was successful and very proud of himself for the progress made at wilderness.
We are blessed to have the Clinical Director as Dakota's therapist as he only takes on one or two patients at a time and requested to work with D. He has been great to work with on our weekly sessions and not only shows concern for Dakota, but what is happening in our lives at home as well. He is very responsive to all of our concerns & needs.
Dakota is settled into his new surroundings and the honeymoon period (which lasted longer than normal) is wearing off. What that looks like is an increasing amount of aggression. It takes a lot of work for Dakota to control himself as he has zero tolerance for frustration, the more comfortable he is, the more he acts out. They do not tolerate too much aggression at the RTC, therefore it is worrisome to see this behavior increasing.
We were so relieved to have an accurate diagnosis and with that, I thought many of the other "labels" would go away. It was sad to learn otherwise. Along with the ASD, he still has a laundry list of mental health diagnoses/issues. The treatment plan is long, but the therapist has hope and confidence they can work through it. Sometimes, I have to remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. I'm so tired of D's suffering and wish we could take it away. He does not want to live this way, nor do we want him/us to have to live this way.
So, we made it through another Christmas with out him, but hoping he will be home by next Christmas.
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