Vincent and I went to see his brand-new psychiatrist over in Jeffersonville Tuesday. The main purpose was to get a longer refill of his prescription for medication that he started when he was in treatment in Indiana. She did a full-blown initial visit, asking him/us a series of questions. Vincent said he did not think he needed the medication and planned to get off of it as soon as he was allowed to (it wasn’t 100 percent clear to me what he meant by allowed to). Vincent also said he didn’t think they really did anything when he was in Indiana. He described his experience in Denmark etc. as getting a taste of freedom, then being expected to come back home and still be treated as a child. He said more – which unfortunately I don’t really remember – about his mystery concussion in Georgia back when he was 10 or so.
(Later Vincent also mused about going to Indiana University Southeast starting spring semester next year, then transferring to an out-of-town school like Western Kentucky after two years of college. He hasn’t said much about this sort of thing for a while. He’s going to be acquiring a few college credits by taking some high school/college dual enrollment courses on-line – if he finishes them. Vincent also said he’s lost complete touch with his friends, because they’re treating him as a persona non grata (my words). I think he’s exaggerating this, and – to the extent to which it’s true – there are probably a number of causes, not just the one he’s mentioned: he had already shifted/ditched many of his friends in connection with the whole Danish exchange experience last year (both in Denmark and while the Danes were here), he shifted/ditched his friends even more thanks to hanging out with his friend all of the time, just by not being in school and then being under house arrest he’s lost more touch with his friends, and the persona non grata thing may be mutual: he may feel sheepish about contacting them too. Plus one more thing: Some of this is just three months early what might have happened anyway – to an extent – after graduation when he wasn’t seeing people daily anyway.)
(I also said it appeared to us that the medication was working, but with a couple of caveats. Vincent is getting along with people better and not repeating incidents like back in February, although he’s not making quite as much progress completing school work and getting a job as we’d like. Also, so many things in his life have changed – undergoing a week of treatment in Indiana, exiting his school and shifting to on-line school at home, going to weekly counseling, being under house arrest for the last three weeks, and taking medication – that it’s hard to know what’s responsible for what.)
Vincent also talked about some side effects: drowsiness (which unfortunately is a common side effect) and blurred vision right after he takes the medication.
The doctor gave us another prescription and said this was probably not a good time to make any big change (with court coming up April 21). (Shifting medications takes some time to get one out and then the other into the system, and then experimenting and adjusting dosages and medications.) But she did say Vincent could experiment with taking three pills at night instead of one in the morning and two at night. When I pressed her about the long-term side effects we had read about on the Web, she said this medication was not a good long-term solution (since she wouldn’t prescribe it much more than six months).
We scheduled a new appointment for four weeks from now.
(Later Vincent also mused about going to Indiana University Southeast starting spring semester next year, then transferring to an out-of-town school like Western Kentucky after two years of college. He hasn’t said much about this sort of thing for a while. He’s going to be acquiring a few college credits by taking some high school/college dual enrollment courses on-line – if he finishes them. Vincent also said he’s lost complete touch with his friends, because they’re treating him as a persona non grata (my words). I think he’s exaggerating this, and – to the extent to which it’s true – there are probably a number of causes, not just the one he’s mentioned: he had already shifted/ditched many of his friends in connection with the whole Danish exchange experience last year (both in Denmark and while the Danes were here), he shifted/ditched his friends even more thanks to hanging out with his friend all of the time, just by not being in school and then being under house arrest he’s lost more touch with his friends, and the persona non grata thing may be mutual: he may feel sheepish about contacting them too. Plus one more thing: Some of this is just three months early what might have happened anyway – to an extent – after graduation when he wasn’t seeing people daily anyway.)
(I also said it appeared to us that the medication was working, but with a couple of caveats. Vincent is getting along with people better and not repeating incidents like back in February, although he’s not making quite as much progress completing school work and getting a job as we’d like. Also, so many things in his life have changed – undergoing a week of treatment in Indiana, exiting his school and shifting to on-line school at home, going to weekly counseling, being under house arrest for the last three weeks, and taking medication – that it’s hard to know what’s responsible for what.)
Vincent also talked about some side effects: drowsiness (which unfortunately is a common side effect) and blurred vision right after he takes the medication.
The doctor gave us another prescription and said this was probably not a good time to make any big change (with court coming up April 21). (Shifting medications takes some time to get one out and then the other into the system, and then experimenting and adjusting dosages and medications.) But she did say Vincent could experiment with taking three pills at night instead of one in the morning and two at night. When I pressed her about the long-term side effects we had read about on the Web, she said this medication was not a good long-term solution (since she wouldn’t prescribe it much more than six months).
We scheduled a new appointment for four weeks from now.
(Vincent got a hair cut and we had lunch in Jeffersonville (restaurant pictured above)on the way home.)
Other news: The superintendent of Stephanie’s school district, who is a fan of her program, is stepping down to take a job when a former deputy of his in the IN state education department. It’s remotely possible that another friend of her program might become the new superintendent. There are some three or four superintendent vacancies in Southern IN school districts. Two elementary schools other than Stephanie’s in her school district are possibly on the chopping block through closure. Stephanie’s school is not on the list partly because her program has boosted the school's enrollment. If one or both of the schools is closed, it will help boost enrollment at her school more. That could be good, because they’ll get more teachers. But it also could be bad, since overcrowding could force Stephanie to share a room with her other English as a new language colleague (which she had to do in two long-term substitute ESL teaching jobs in MN).
My newest colleague, Gail, passed her three-month probationary period Tuesday. Focus groups I’ve been running with colleague Joelle – including two scheduled at night this week – have been going OK, although not necessarily completely as the World Mission clients we’re doing them for want them to. Also, I’m having some hardware problems with my work dockable laptop computer, which I’m a little worried about.
Other news: The superintendent of Stephanie’s school district, who is a fan of her program, is stepping down to take a job when a former deputy of his in the IN state education department. It’s remotely possible that another friend of her program might become the new superintendent. There are some three or four superintendent vacancies in Southern IN school districts. Two elementary schools other than Stephanie’s in her school district are possibly on the chopping block through closure. Stephanie’s school is not on the list partly because her program has boosted the school's enrollment. If one or both of the schools is closed, it will help boost enrollment at her school more. That could be good, because they’ll get more teachers. But it also could be bad, since overcrowding could force Stephanie to share a room with her other English as a new language colleague (which she had to do in two long-term substitute ESL teaching jobs in MN).
My newest colleague, Gail, passed her three-month probationary period Tuesday. Focus groups I’ve been running with colleague Joelle – including two scheduled at night this week – have been going OK, although not necessarily completely as the World Mission clients we’re doing them for want them to. Also, I’m having some hardware problems with my work dockable laptop computer, which I’m a little worried about.
-- Perry
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