Zola In Recovery

She’s all, “Excuse me, I’m vibin to my favorite song.” 😂💜
She’s loved this song for well over a decade and I doubt it will ever change.

Here’s a cute convo I had with Taryn on our walk today. She is so funny.
After her incident at the theatre where she attacked a three year old little girl for chewing too loud, then proceeded to punch me in the face and give me a black eye, I was talking to the jail staff about what would have happened if the parents wanted to press charges. They would have arrested her and put her in a holding cell until she could see a judge, and then likely would have been sent to an institution before being found unfit to proceed in court, and eventually given back to me. She has been formerly diagnosed with OCD and Schizo-active disorder, on top of her severe autism. She had never been on meds before, but after talking to her care team and multiple specialists, we decided to try it. She is on a low dose of fluoxetine in the morning, and a low dose of Risperadone at bed time. If I had to put it in percentages, she is biting and hitting herself around 70% less, picking at herself about 50% less, and having screaming meltdowns roughly 75% less overall. She hasn’t hit herself or another person in a month.
She is able to slow down and think things through better. She’s talking more, using words I’ve never heard her use before, and communicating more clearly with complete sentences. She’s even greeting people unprompted.

She is isolating much less, coming downstairs to spend time with us more often, engaging with people, and asking to go places.
Her struggles with going through doorways are nearly gone (common OCD symptom). Most importantly, she is still completely herself- bright, funny, loving, opinionated, sassy, and stubborn as ever. If anything, those parts of her shine more now because she isn’t constantly overwhelmed or stuck in a sensory nightmare. She talks to things that aren’t there less, is less overwhelmed by light, and is using her coping skills more effectively because she can slow down enough to access them.
She is sleeping on a regular schedule and waking up happy and rested. She laughs constantly, gives hugs, and is genuinely doing well.

Even her big sister was amazed at how much more she’s willing to compromise and not having screaming meltdowns when told no.

I am a firm believer that medications should be the last resort, only after all other options have been exhausted. And I know for a fact that all other options have been exhausted - her grandmother made sure of that and I’ll forever be grateful. But when it comes down to it, if exercise, prayer, and discipline alone worked for her, it would have worked by now.
But the cool thing is, those tools are now working extremely well.
Taryn has had issues with violence for awhile now, and I couldn’t just let her continue to harm herself and others. I also couldn’t let her isolate and cut off from society, which was the other alternative.
I’m so extremely proud of the progress she’s made since starting her meds. I’m so excited to see how far she will continue to go now that she’s enrolled in therapy to learn and practice coping skills and getting set up with professionals to take her out in the community. I’m even getting her enrolled in special Olympics!
I’m honestly thinking about switching to part time work and just being her caregiver. I miss her too much when I’m gone, and she just calls me all day and asks me to come home.
She has big plans to take Biggest Picture to Alaska, California, Florida, and Hawaii in the next couple of years now, and I’m happy to help her make that dream a reality. She even quit adding to him for awhile so he will fit in her suitcase, but she’s thinking about starting another one to keep at home.

I know meds aren’t for everyone, but the progress she’s made is undeniable. We will continue to monitor for side effects, although we doubt there will be any. (Gene Site Testing is a miracle)

I firmly believe that God gave us science for a reason, and I’m grateful he did because it’s helping her so much.

Randomly in Denver