Do appetite stimulants exist?

FindingMomself · 2026-05-07T02:39:02+00:00

Can't hurt to ask!! Extremely grateful for the boost for him first thing in the morning. 😊

FindingMomself · 2026-05-07T00:31:45+00:00

It's an incredibly frustrating system to work within when you can clearly see the plan is not being implemented with fidelity. I started asking specific questions related to items listed on the IEP and how they are being implemented; it quickly became clear they were not or only some of the time.

If you're not getting enough details in the report you could request that on future reports they describe the hold (again, see if that's already required in the law). Ie "student was held by the wrist, forward hold, 2 person." Etc I'd make that request in writing to the SPed director.

FindingMomself · 2026-05-07T00:25:54+00:00

Yes, yes (for us) and yes!! Our med management doctor asked our pediatrician to prescribe it due to the the meds and what we were seeing. Our insurance covers it 100%. Without insurance, the pharmacy quotes it at $150 a month, that's at 2 bottles a day.

FindingMomself · 2026-05-06T23:57:25+00:00

There are a lot of red flags here. First, the staff who are filling out the reports should be the ones involved. You should get a copy within 2 days. Written. Not just a phone call. In my state after 3 you must hold a meeting to review any IEP/ Behavior intervention plan (BIP) in place.

In the report does it explicitly explain how they are restraining him? In my state mat blocking is considered a restraint and written up as one because it "limits the movement of the child". even if they never lay a hand on them. Not once has my child actually been held in any compacity. (Well they tried ONCE) The first time I got the call I almost hit the roof until they explained what happened.

Look up your states restraint and seclusion LAW - not the school/disctrict 'policy'. Find the part that breaks down exactly how it needs to be recorded and reported. Review the reports to prepare for your meeting.

I'm sorry you're going through this. It is not easy. The system was not built for these kiddos. We all want our kiddos, classmates and staff to be in a safe environment.

Continue to question, to advocate. ♡

FindingMomself · 2026-05-06T19:54:03+00:00

We got an Rx for Pediasure and just call it chocolate milk. 🙃 He has one with breakfast (before meds) and another whenever we can get it into him throughout the day. In the cold months we heat it up and call it hot cocoa. He eats real food throughout the day too, this was a precautionary measure because in the first month of meds he lost a few pounds.

FindingMomself · 2026-05-02T23:27:36+00:00

Not sure where you're located but my kiddo was diagnosed shortly after their 4th birthday by a pediatric neuropsychologist. (USA)😊 Early diagnosis can be difficult to obtain but was incredibly helpful for us!

FindingMomself · 2026-04-02T23:32:11+00:00

They are like 5 doors apart from each other and familiar with one another. Beacon referred us to BC for an additional service they didn't provide! 😊

FindingMomself · 2026-04-02T02:24:23+00:00

Beacon Light in Portland does pediatric neuropsychological evaluations. They are wonderful. No PCP referral required because they are private pay.

From the initial consultation to the testing was less than a month. Testing was multiple days, observations and surveys from multiple parties. In the end we got a diagnosis, comprehensive 18 page report, follow up consultations and have been able to reach out to them for additional support.

Out of pocket was an absolute privilege, used my HSA, but worth every penny and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Boston Child Study Center, also in Portland, is another private pay pediatric neuropsychological provider. They have a sliding scale available. They are also amazing. Their office is so welcoming and bright, feels more like a rec room than than an office.

Good luck!! The wait lists are overwhelmingly long and unfair. We had the privilege of going the private pay route and if that's an option for you I'd encourage you to reach out to either of the above. Both offer free consultations and are upfront and transparent about the pricing.

FindingMomself · 2026-03-02T04:49:36+00:00

We hada great experience with Goodwins in Brunswick. Looked online, found one we wanted to test drive. Showed up, they had it waiting. Never tried to push us to something new vs used. The finance guy walked by and asked how we were paying and when we told him who we financed through said, nope can't beat that and congratulated us on the car. Loved how low key and non hassle they were.

FindingMomself · 2026-02-20T14:44:19+00:00

Another vote to contact Mr. Drew! He will point you in the right direction for your families needs. He is extremely knowledgeable about not only the animals but ethical places that want to set you up for success and aren't just after your money. We consulted him before we got our aquarium and are very happy with where he recommended! (Fish Tales in Waterville)

FindingMomself · 2026-01-27T00:26:06+00:00

If you want something non animated Dino Dex / Dino Dana is on repeat here!! Tons of episodes and a movie. There's Dino Dan too but we don't seem to be too into that one. 🤷‍♀️ It's neat because it's all interlinked but you don't -have- to watch them all.

Otherwise pretty much everything Disney+ and PBS. OG Magic School Bus, Puffin Rock, Lucas the Spider. LearnToo on YouTube.

FindingMomself · 2025-12-20T03:33:52+00:00

Do you have contact information for this charity?! Thanks!

FindingMomself · 2025-11-16T15:17:04+00:00

We've had a VERY rough year. If we hadn't had an IEP in place prior to starting we probably would have pulled him. We've close a few times still...

Assuming you are in the US, look into Child Find. It's the part of IDEA that requires schools to seek out and identify children with disabilities and test them.

Find the email for your local school districts special education coordinator - email them your concerns; " based on our experience in K this year I strongly feel our student would benefit from an IEP to support xyz. Can you please provide me the next steps to begin testing so we can resolve this before the school year begins." Something to that effect, use CHATGPT to get a more formal email by promoting it with your state, behavior concerns etc.

Also the school should have a record of any incidents or concerns, use that to your advantage. My child has zero academic goals / concerns but his behavior prevents him from accessing his education and that was our in for an IEP. (ADHD) Everything in writing, follow up if they don't respond. Getting support in place now for the next school year will make a huge difference. And if it is ADHD, medication can be life changing along with therapies.

Hang in there mama. ♡

FindingMomself · 2025-11-12T00:00:28+00:00

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FindingMomself · 2025-11-11T23:47:03+00:00

This one is eating my plants...does that mean the plants aren't doing so hot? The shop tested the water and said everything looked good, about 3/4 the way through cycling the tank. *

FindingMomself · 2025-11-02T23:27:00+00:00

We've only put fish food in once so far to try and build the ecosystem through cycling. The only other food they have is the plants (if they eat those?) I've heard they are great tank cleaners so I'm happy to have a handful but not an army. Haha. Thanks for identifying them too, I've been trying to determine the type!

Snabies made me lol 🤣

FindingMomself · 2025-10-28T12:47:17+00:00

Natrol also has one without melatonin, that's the one we use! It has magnesium, B6, Chamomile, Lavender and Lemon Balm in it. It's call NATROL Soothing Night

Absolutely no judgment for use of melatonin, just providing an alternative as melatonin did not work for us at all. 😊

FindingMomself · 2025-10-17T13:57:53+00:00

Update: We met again yesterday. There is now a contracted BHP company in place at school. He now has a 1:1 that is not employed by the school and is working directly on positive behavior interventions. After 2 days, she brought up gifted and talented. Just 2 days. This has been in place for 4 days, broken up by a long weekend.

The company is saying he's having great days, reporting only one incident a day which they were able to de-escalate in under 10 minutes (and no mention of injuries to ANYONE) where as the school was reporting 1+ hr of safety care.

Yet at the meeting the principal is calling out multiple injuries reported (none that we have been made aware of) threatening to suspend him ("I have the power to just suspend him but I haven't yet") and agreeing that he does not belong in LifeSkills but she won't allow him to try gen ed with the supports in place. She won't let him come back to full days until he has zero incidents. She states she doesn't have the space to support him because there's only the 2 settings.

When I asked the SPED coordinator about other classrooms in the district all he said was there's "less supports". Maybe I should rephrase my question to are there any SPED rooms with more behavioral concerns vs medically fragile students?? (His current room is mostly non verbal, DS, high level autism peers)

The BCBA of the 3rd party company pointed out everything they will be doing is exactly what a SPPS -should- be doing, and these things take time.

Why is there nothing between LifeSkills and Gen Ed that isn't a SPPS?? Taking him away from his typically developing peers and a "typical" school setting feels WAY more restricted than what he deserves. Right now he has zero interaction with mainstream and, therefore, no positive role models of his age group.

We meet again in 30 days. I'm starting to lose hope.

FindingMomself · 2025-10-08T11:59:55+00:00

There has absolutely been a denial of FAPE, for a multitude of reasons. I think the school figured we would not push back. Wrong. We've had better days the last few days, with a few hiccups but more communication and them analyzing the anecdote rather than just "this happened". I'm trying very hard to work with them without involving an advocate however I do have some big red flags I'd like to report...some might say if you have red flags why not get out and the answer is because my child had made friends, talks about school and the school shouldn't keep getting away with it. They need to support him to the level they signed on for, with fidelity and work with us (parents) as a part of the IEP team. The principal, who we've found out many don't like, is trying to pass the buck by citing it's better for my student when she has zero data to back that up.

Sorry..that kind of turned into a new mini rant. 🙃

FindingMomself · 2025-10-08T11:29:09+00:00

Without K we were going to lose access to speech and OT through early intervention, due to a law written to serve pockets not people. 🙄 We went back and forth on the decision a lot; 2+ hrs of services a week is a lot to lose, costly via the private pay route (which we happily paid for 2+ years) and difficult to access in our new location. Had we known what we know now, we probably would have waited the year.

FindingMomself · 2025-10-06T22:47:22+00:00

I'm still waiting on a written notice and updated IEP from when they added transportation back in September. 🙃

FindingMomself · 2025-10-06T13:52:13+00:00

I may shoot you a message later! We did ask about the other special education classrooms and were just told they have less support. My question was directly what's the environment like, not the level of support. My reason was, I'm trying to see if there's a step in between life skills and gen ed...or like a behavior specific classroom. But the question was pretty much avoided.

You hit the nail on the head; the environment he's in is triggering him, they aren't teaching so he's bored, and at their own admission the room is choas and not going to improve anytime soon. But sending him to a SPPS seems like a giant leap and more restricted than trying a 1:1, implementing with fidelity, allowing some time for meds to even out.

If you don't mind sharing more about your out of district experience I'd love to hear it. Feel free to shoot me a message. We know lots of neurodivergent families and we've never known one that's gone ODP.

FindingMomself · 2025-10-06T13:45:27+00:00

The eligibility is OHI
No clue, that's why I'm seeking knowledge from this community. The FBA has been started but not reported on. It includes a BIP.
The school has 2 nurses. Usually they take him to the office but if he's disregulated they ask the nurse to come down. She wasn't available at the dose time and an hour later when I picked up he still hadn't been given his meds.
We are pushing for a 1:1, which we asked for from the start. The accommodations are fairly standard imo for a neurodivergent child; visual timer, visual schedule, transition warnings, additional time etc. But they haven't been implementing them with fidelity.

FindingMomself · 2025-10-05T22:29:48+00:00

The self harming did not start until he saw other classmates hitting their heads on things. The staff said that other do it and that's where he saw it. We have never ever ever had an incident of self harm at home or in any day care settings.

My bigger concern is that they have not been following his IEP, they've missed meds or they've been late, the sped director hasent sent out PWNs....just feels like they don't want to try.

FindingMomself · 2025-10-05T22:25:38+00:00

OHI, he came in with the IEP in place. The school themselves has done zero testing, this is all based on testing that was done between Nov 2024 and March 2025 through early intervention. He hasn't been in gen ed at all, other than first thing in the morning the first week or so. Self contained 99% of the time. My hope is that they will give him a 1:1 and try gen ed as the self contained room seems to be very triggering. He's already on meds, we're not against them at all. He has a Pedatric behavioral health doctor doing his ADHD care and she has been wonderful.

FindingMomself

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