Who knew it would come to encompass Willie's struggles to a tee? You see, Willie cannot and will not turn off his computer at night and thus is not sleeping. Because individual rights are a priority at Soltane, Willie is not losing his rights to his computer. Recently, after a team meeting, the folks at Soltane decided to turn off the House internet connection at 10 PM. I thought that was brilliant and am not sure how Willie has made sense of this. He still is super tired, indicating he still is resisting consistent sleep.
My husband and myself have almost decided that after Willie visits next weekend, we will keep his computer at home for a while. I don't want to do this as I would prefer Willie really gain enough self-regulation to give his body the sleep it needs. But I worry too much about Willie's overall well-being to wait him out. If he doesn't sleep enough, his mood is particularly impaired. If Willie is too tired, he will be more susceptible to getting sick. And of course, Willie tends to have seizures when he is sick.
This computer issue holds much meaning. Will Willie ever be able to regulate his basic need for sleep with his very real rights and desires for other activities? As Willie transitions to an adult community whose main emphasis is on teaching self-advocacy skills, the computer gains even more significance. I don't want to treat Willie like a child and take his things away. I can tell I will learn much from Soltane about Willie's emergence as a young adult. But for now, I just want my son to sleep.
After all it's just a computer! But I know it's one of many future struggles we will face as Willie moves closer to true adulthood.
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