A Day in the Life of an Advocate

My teenage son has had some difficult times.  I have been working to get a diagnosis for many years, and I finally did in November.  He was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, so his behaviors and troubles finally make sense.  I had spent the whole day today advocating for him and services to support his success.

I had to take the day off work, unpaid yesterday for court and today to advocate.  I woke up early and got my daughter off to day care to make a trek to Downtown Sacramento.  Normally it would take about 25 minutes to get there, but in rush hour traffic and a big rain storm it took an hour and a half.  I had an appointment with the director of the California State Board of Developmental Disabilities.  He oversees the IEP process at the state level.  He was appalled at the lack of an appropriate evaluation and services to support my child.  He will be a great asset to obtain and enforce services through the IEP process.  He is like the police to agencies to carry through with these services.

As soon as I finished there I headed back home to the psychiatrist for my son's appointment.  We received his blood tests, and his medicine has met a therapeutic level.  He talked to my son about the course of treatment and the things he needed to do to be successful.  He emphasized gaining support in a wraparound program to help support him and our family. 

I had a break for about an hour and half and went home and started a load of laundry.  I Gathered for a bit, ate a sandwich and it was time to go again.  My son had court this afternoon in Auburn, which is 30 minutes away in the opposite direction.  In a manic episode he stole a pair of shoes.  He pleaded guilty, but they are keeping him in juvenile hall, which is fine.  He needs to get stabilized on his meds. 

Twenty minutes later I had another appointment.  We had a Placement Review Team meeting.  This is where a group of representatives from all of the different county agencies sit and talk about my son and my family and decide what would be best for him and make a recommendation to the court.  This has been a horrific experience in the past, but he finally has a proper diagnosis, so they were much more receptive and kind.  They have recommended that my son return home with a wrap around program, which will include a host of services to support our family.  This is great news, because it will give me some support in dealing with life with a bipolar child.  The bad news is that he will not return home until after Christmas.  We need to ensure that these services are in place BEFORE he returns home.

My son is a wonderful kid, but does really stupid things when he hits a manic episode.  He is on track with credits to graduate.  He is well liked.  He has goals and dreams.  He is helpful and fun around the house.  When he goes manic he is like someone else.  I am so glad after over five years of advocating for a diagnosis and medication that he needs to be successful.  I am so tired.  I need to get some rest, because he comes home and the advocating continues.