Some small gains for my son today.
#1. He ate a few bites of some Peaches and Cream Oatmeal.
#2. He used his AAC device to say he needed medicine!! (Ok, that one is HUGE!)
We also had an unprompted conversation of sorts with it. He explored topics and pushed buttons, and then I responded back to him accordingly. After a few minutes of that, we got back to the topic of him wanting medicine...lol. After I gave him the medicine, I was asking him what he wanted it for. We went over a few of the typical culprits...Headache, ear, throat, or mouth. Well, wouldn't ya know, the kid pushed "mouth". Made sense, because he has bit the inside of his cheeks all up during his tic attacks and eating has been more painful. THIS is communication Maassives. THIS is what you also need to be teaching her. MORE than just food. And this is stuff that we go over every single time his behavior starts to ramp up, because usually pain is a big contributor.
I give him the medicine, and we usually DO see an almost immediate change in his behaviors. I know it's not the actual med yet, but maybe either a placebo effect, or the fact that he truly feels heard and knows the med will kick in? He doesn't ask for pain relief much, and he also did say his mouth hurt. My guess is that it's just that he feels like he was listened to, and knows it will be feeling better soon, so he's happier.