Brian...........

Brian Lamont.  He is so hard, and I will admit, this could be a very depressing post, because I am struggling with him at this point.

When we were approached about adopting Brian, and his sisters, we were told he had mild CP.  I do believe this is true, however, anyone who has spent 30 minutes with him can tell you this is the least of his issues.  Brian has autism, significant cognitive delays, anger issues, lying issues, post traumatic-stress disorder, ADHD and the list goes on.  He was also abused, neglected, and kept stuffed away in his bedroom for most of his life, before he came to us.  There are very clear reasons for many of his behaviors.  His former caregivers were cruel to him, and blind to his needs.  So, we were basically handed this child, whom we had no idea how to deal with.  Brian's issues were things I had never been exposed to before.  But we knew we were his family, and we moved forward.

Brian can be so incredibly sweet.  He tells me he loves me.  He likes to have his back rubbed.  He makes me pictures at school, and appreciates simple things I do for him.  But he also punches and kicks the younger children.  He pinches them so hard he leaves welts and bruises.  He lies continually.  I can never believe a word he says.  When confronted, his entire demeanor changes, and he gets an eery look on his face, and is completely non-responsive to anything you say or do.  It is a wee bit frightening.
Simply asking him to take a shower can be a war somedays, but then others, it is no issue at all.

I am noticing a pattern to his behaviors, and I am seriously wondering about the possibility of him being bi-polar.  He will goes several weeks with excellent behavior.  And then we will have "hell week".  Right now, we are having a bad time.  But hoping we are almost done.  He is currently in his room, after punching Toby in the back, and pinching him so hard on the leg that Toby has a bruise already.  And then of course, he lied, and said that he was simply "pushing Toby off of him".

Please keep us in prayers.  I try SO hard to see Brian through God's eyes.  But it is a daily struggle.  I feel like I am constantly on guard with him, making sure he does not seriously hurt anyone.  He is a child of God's and I am privileged to be his new momma.  But this momma needs some prayer warriors to hold her up right now!

Bless you all.   And my hats off to you mommas who have autistic children.  You having been given a pretty big task.....God must think you are pretty special and capable!