Changes, On The Mending Side Of catatonia

10 days ago
22

Once Brian had developed catatonia, i was told that it would be chronic for the rest of his life. that it could come back with or via different drivers. that Catatonia always had a secondary driver and the next time it came back -it might not be through medication but perhaps depression. Depression is the most common driver of catatonia. Or via another driver. The thing is though, catatonia becomes dangerous. you can't just let it be. you have to treat it to stop it. If you can.
Whenever the catatonia was well enough, present but not too intense -he would respond to specific sensory potentials by cooperating without self harm, classic protest moves or any other negative behaviors. This would not be possible if the Catatonia was too bad. Only when he was coming out of it. This was a big help to get him all the way out of Catatonia. A great blessing. you will see that in this video. Brian has always loved the sensory input of the vehicle running. When catatonia is present he will not get out of the car willingly. Where we are in this picture it gets too hot for that, dangerous. If catatonia is present he could wind up kicking the window out if the car won't get moving. That is a perseveration (comfort zone, stim) in autism amped way up because catatonia is present. Only when catatonia is present does he -refuse to get out of the vehicle and have potential to kick out the window if the car won't move. It is a mental health issue specific to Catatonia that he can not help. So, he does not want me to touch his skin with the texture of the inside of the banana. It is a specific texture that corrals him. it has helped us get moving many times, which was such a blessing because Catatonia greatly destroys movement. Now the whole banana thing, sensory stuff -I've no checklist for. it's pretty specific to Brian, but in the way i described. Like it is just the way certain issues manifest for him personally. One final thought, Brian is signing "I" many times in this video. He communicated through a few different ways. he only did signs if they were tangible, literal enough due to his severe autism, in mom's opinion. he would only do signs that ended with literal impact, touch. You see he signs it pretty hard too. He doesn't mind me talking about him (health documentary, for the hope of good health -he knows), as long as we can sit in the jeep together. <3

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