Support Josiah

Self-Injury and Exhaustion 

Isn't this picture precious! These sweet babies of ours asleep. What you can't see is what happened just a few minutes before Josiah finally snuggled down next to his baby brother. In the throws of upset and then hyperactive agitation, he smacked himself in the face repeatedly. And then he laid down on the floor and beat the back of his head over and over again until I was able to muscle him up and restrain him. It is an excruciating experience! For him and for us.

My body is reminding me tonight of how hard this past weekend was. I ache all over from wrestling Josiah again and again trying to stop him from hurting himself. Our final count on Saturday was 18 episodes of self-injury. You may be wondering what constitutes an episode. An episode is a "meltdown" from start to finish that involves self-injury. It counts as one episode no matter if it lasts seconds or several minutes. In the best case scenario, it only involves very hard open hand smacking of the face. In the worst case, it involves beating the back of his head against the floor or putting the back of his head through windows and walls.

We are SO thankful for the support of my parents and our care staff. Without their help, the hardest days would be unbearable.

Please pray for us as we try to finish our petition for further home modifications through Josiah's waiver. These modifications are in addition to what we are fundraising for. We are so close to having all of the paperwork completed, but there is still one major hurdle we are trying to work through. Some of the things we are petitioning for are shatter proof windows, padded walls, and padded flooring. These things will help us maintain Josiah's safety during meltdowns. We are also asking the waiver to fund a bathroom for Josiah's therapy room so that we can manage his sensory needs at night with the shower and so that we can manage his incontinence. As I have explained to many people, Josiah's medical and behavioral issues work like a big circle of dysfunction. There are many catylists for why Josiah is self-injurious. Some are insomnia, communication frustrations from being non-verbal, pain, etc. For example, his Autism and brain damage cause insomnia which worsens his sensory issues which worsens his self-injury and aggression which worsens his insomnia. On and On! We are praying that this room will help us manage ALL of these issues. And we pray that, once these issues are better controlled, we will see improvements in all areas of his life at home. school, and in the community. We know this therapy room isn't a "cure" for Josiah's severe needs, but we believe it will help tremendously! Your prayers are so appreciated!

Would you consider partnering with us to build this therapy room and therapy pool for Josiah? We have come so far in terms of our funding, but we still have a good way to go. People are always asking us what they can do to help. This is it! It doesn't matter how much you have to offer. Every dollar counts, and we are grateful for every donation no matter how large or small!

On the darkest days when we are struggling to hold on, we still KNOW that God is in control! He has a plan! He is faithful!

Because of His Amazing Grace,
Christy