One of my readers asked how I was able to get LuLu (queen of OCD with a capital O) to skip test questions and move on to the next one when she immediately didn’t know the answer. I’m not sure how much my actions are the direct cause of her new-found ability to do this. But here’s what I did toward that goal.

LuLu has been home with me (out of her brick & mortar public school) for a little over two years now. When she first came home, I was reeling from the shock that I was now totally responsible for my child’s education (and was mounting a due process case against... more

Today’s agenda included our monthly trip to the psychiatrist. Even though LuLu loves our psychiatrist, she hates the appointments, as she really hates rehashing all the things that have happened over the month and talking about the “why” behind her behaviors (like any of us really know what the “why” is).

However, today she did better than usual at that appointment and then came home and did all the helpful things I blogged about earlier.

So, it felt... more

I have a friend who refers to raising children as “being pecked to death slowly by chickens”. Now I suppose that analogy is more apt for a mom of several children, especially several small children all needing lots of individual attention. But for me, most days LuLu is enough.

Yesterday was a rough day for poor LuLu. She hadn’t slept much (about 3 hours), and was having rather severe GI discomfort. Because she was wide awake at 2 am and still at 5 am, we started school then (her idea). She did remarkably well and then crashed for a nap. Surprisingly she didn’t nap again in the afternoon.... more

Help me Obi wan! LuLu’s OCD has manifested itself in the last 6-12 months in a very troublesome new way: food obsessions.

She will literally get “stuck” on a new food and negatively obsess on all the foods she can’t have (dairy). Then will insist that she can only eat the one food that she’s stuck on. This week it’s hummus.

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with hummus. It’s just that serving it for every meal seems a bit problematic. And, ultimately what happens, is that she burns herself out on the obsessed food, refusing... more

Obsessions are a wonderful thing. Or at least they are very interesting. LuLu has been “Mufasa” for quite some time now, obsessed on everything Lion King. This particular obsession lasted a long time (6+ months). Long enough that LuLu was lobbying very hard to have her actual birth certificate changed to reflect Mufasa as her “real” name.

But just as quickly as it came, this obsession was overridden by Mighty... more

Do you have a special needs child that is obsessed with personal possessions, even if they belong to someone else? Does your child actually cry if you throw something away that hasn’t been touched or brought out of the toy box in a year? Do you have to purchase certain toys or movies again if they become broken to keep your sanity?

According to Wikipedia “

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder most... more

LuLu carries both Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder in her alphabet soup of labels. Some doctors label the ODD more as Intermittent Explosive Disorder, but regardless of what you call it, the combination is deadly.

LuLu gets stuck, so stuck that if you try to dissuade her she becomes increasingly agitated until she explodes. Or if you try to ignore her she persists on with incredible defiance. If you try to reason with her…well she usually ends up raging then too, or engaging you in an endless game of “Let’s Make a... more

One of the most apparent, most chronic, and sometimes most frustrating symptoms that LuLu exhibits is “getting stuck”. She is always stuck on something. Oddly enough, most of the things change periodically. Although her obsession with all things medical and with bugs have been life-long.

Her latest obsession is Lion King. And a major part of the obsession is Mufasa (Simba’s father). She wants everyone to call her Mufasa. This has become a bone of contention, mostly for Super Dad. At first I tried to discourage... more