As befalls every family at some point – the Monster’s gotten sick.

He’s been coughing for a few days, but hasn’t seemed all the worse for wear until the last few days when he started to show that he was genuinely not doing well.  It was the little things at first, like wanting to go to bed earlier, but over the last day or so, he’s started to want to eat less and less.

So obviously, we did what good parents are supposed to do – we took his temperature, determined he had a fever, and kept him home today from school.

The doctor’s fairly certain that what we’re dealing with is just a cold, without an ear infection, strep or any of those annoying things that start to creep into your mind at this time of year.  The real problem and complication is that he can’t tell us what’s bothering him, since he doesn’t have the words.  Plus, we’re not sure that he’s actually feeling all that bad (as other parents of children with Autism have mentioned in their blogs, their children frequently seem to have higher tolerances for feeling unwell).

A perfect example, though, of where the Autism starts to cause problems is trying to medicate him.  He will only eat those things that he likes, so trying to give him a dose of Children’s Advil is a no – it’s unfamiliar and blue to boot.  He is getting a little tired of the Tylenol that’s slipped into his juices, since they’re also funny-tasting when he has them.  He won’t use a dissolving strip on his tongue, and getting a fever-reduction strip onto his forehead was a struggle.

Hopefully, this will pass in a day or so, but in the meantime… hang on for the ride.