The boys have this habit of leaving the kitchen cabinets open when they’re done rummaging through them. It sorta drives me crazy but it just isn’t a battle I choose to focus on.
You know, bigger fish and whatnot…
Anyway, yesterday (Friday) afternoon, Gavin was feeding Maggie and Maggie’s food and water bowls are in the kitchen. Specifically, they are below one of our main cabinets that the boys don’t shut.
Gavin bent down to pour the food in Maggie’s bowl and stood up quickly.
Unfortunately, that cabinet door was open and I couldn’t stop him in time and he absolutely cracked his head on the bottom of the door.
As far as head trauma goes, it wasn’t that bad. That said, I’m pretty sure it hurt like bitch.
Gavin was freaking out for a little while but he settled down and we iced it. Luckily he’s fine and he didn’t cut his scalp open, which actually was my main concern.
Anyway, the paramedic in me came out and was trying to assess him signs of head trauma, like a concussion.
I’m asking Gavin some questions and just sorta watching him for weird behavior but then something occurred to me.
What exactly qualifies as weird behavior for Gavin?
I love Gavin. I’ve raised him as my own since he was about a year old and later adopted him. I say this because I know how bad what I’m about to say is going to sound if taken out of context and I mean no disrespect to Gavin.
That being said, everything that Gavin says or does is weird. There isn’t a normal bone in his body and that’s not necessarily a bad thing but when it comes to looking for sort of erratic or confused behavior after hitting his head, this a problem.
Typically, when someone hits their head, I would be looking for signs of confusion. I would ask a series of questions to help establish whether or not they’re alert and oriented.
On a good day, Mr. Gavin lives in a state or perpetual confusion. He’s got him moments of lucidity but more often than not, he’s behaving and or speaking weirdly. He falls all the time and walking into things constantly.
As far as yesterday went, Gavin’s fine but it did sort of get me thinking about establishing some sort of process to help detect unusual, confused or concerning behavior in someone who’s status quo is unusual, confused and concerning….
This is something that I believe we all need to really think about because in the event of serious injury, EMS or ER staff will need some kind of guidance as to what normal for your child is..
Would you know what to say?
Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Has your special needs child ever had to go to the ER for injury or illness and the doctors want to know if anything is out of the ordinary? This is especially challenging for those with nonverbal children…
Please share your stories below and let’s get a discussion going..
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