New family

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Alice: we're here
We got my bags and box. We walked to the door and some boy answered it. He looked a little older than me.
??: hi I'm Liam. Come in
Liam: mum! dad!
We walked in
???: hi you must be James. I'm David and this is Sheryl. You've met Liam seat and there's Lila but she's in bed.
David: can I help you with your stuff?
James: er sure thanks
We took my stuff upstairs into my new room.
David: we can change your room however you want. Get new stuff in. Just think about it and let me know
James: thank you.
David: you must be tired so why don't you get some rest. We'll get to introductions and stuff tomorrow. Night
James: night

David pov
I went back downstairs.
David: James is passed out in bed
Sheryl: I'm not surprised
David: Liam bed
Liam: dad seriously please
David: bed
Liam: fine night
David: night bud
Liam: night mum
Sheryl: night darling
Liam went to bed
Alice gave me a couple boxes of medication
Alice: the ones on top are for epilepsy. He takes these twice a day. 7am and 7pm. the bottom are his ADHD ones. these are to be taken every 3-4 yours
Sheryl: so what's he like?
Alice: I assume you read his file and know about his ADHD, dyslexia and epilepsy
Sheryl: yeah. I can't imagine how hard it is for him.
David: with his epilepsy what type of seizures does he have?
Alice: from what his brothers told me predominately grand mal seizure and absence seizures
David: how can we help him?
Alice: just make sure he's safe. Make sure nothings restricting him. If it lasts longer than 5 minutes, he has them back to back or he's hurt himself then call 999. You can get trained to administer his rescue medication which can be used in emergencies like prolonged seizures.
Sheryl: what about his dyslexia?
Alice: his reading age is severely below the expected. According to his school records, he's currently reading at the level of year 3s. His spelling is at the level of year 2 and 3. And according to his school reports his writing isn't much better.
David: and the ADHD?
Alice: that will probably be what will be the biggest challenge. He'll be easier to manage on his medication. Without he is more hyper, impulsive and he'll have the concentration of a little kid in a room of toys. He also has difficulty with recognising and controlling emotions. He'll have good days and bad days. Meltdowns and outbursts. Sensory overload and break downs
Sheryl: that's a lot
Alice: I know. but he's a good kid at heart. He tries his best. He's caring, protective and loving. He hasn't had the best life so far so just go easy on him. He has major trust issues with adults due to the abuse he endured from his father. He'll try and test you at first to see if you'd lose your temper. My advise would be to not give him a reason to not trust yous
Sheryl: okay thank you
Alice: I should get going. I'll be around at some point to check in
Sheryl: okay have a nice night
Alice: you too. I'll see myself out
Alice left

Sheryl: do you think we can handle this?
David: yeah. He may need extra help and support but it will be no different to how we treat Liam and Lila. We'll make sure he feels safe with us and trusts us. We can do this. We can be the family he needs.
Sheryl: your right
David: we'll talk to him tomorrow. See how we can help him
Sheryl: sure
David: let's go to bed it's been a long night

Next morning
James pov
I woke up, had a shower and got ready. I went downstairs and everyone was there already.
James: morning
All: morning
David: James we'll need to talk later okay
James: okay
Sheryl: meds
I took my meds and had my breakfast then put my plate in the dishwasher
??: can I give you a house tour?
James: you must be Lila
Lila: yep
James: nice to meet you
Lila: house tour?
James: yeah sure
She grabbed my hand and pulled me out the room.
Lila: this is the living room, some random room filled with rubbish
We went upstairs. I was dragged into every room of the house
Lila: toilet, bathroom, mom and dads room, my room, storage cupboard
We walked up to the next floor
Lila: your room, Liams room, toilet, bathroom, loft is up there
James: very good tour Lila thank you. How old are you?
Lila: 9
James: cool
David: James! Lila!
James: I'll race ya
We ran down the stairs. As we were reaching the bottom I jumped down them.
James: I win
Lila: not fair you cheated
David: calm down
James: sorry
Sheryl: James can we speak to you?
James: sure
David: Liam could you take Lila to another room?
Liam: yeah
They left leaving us in the living room
Sheryl: how you finding it so far?
James: it's nice. It's different to home tho. It's more quiet here
David: Alice told us about your ADHD, dyslexia and epilepsy
James: does that mean your gonna send me back?
Sheryl: No course not.
David: I'm afraid you're stuck with us kid
Sheryl: she mentioned that you have meltdowns and outbursts. So we were just wondering what we could do to help.
James: it depends on how bad it is and how far into it I am. For the meltdowns i prefer to be alone so I can just wait it out. Sometimes someone talking to me helps but it depends on what triggers it. The outbursts are when I'm angry or frustrated. How bad it is depends on a lot of things like what the reason is, how my days gone and whether I've taken my medication. My brothers used to restrain me or wrap their arms around me applying pressure so I have no way in letting my anger out so I break down instead. Sometimes when I'm really angry, it triggers a seizure.
David: how would you feel about having like a calm down room? A place you could go when your feeling overwhelmed and stuff
James: really you'd do that?
Sheryl: yeah we just want to make this as easy for you as we can
James: erm sure thank you
David: No worries
Sheryl: you got any questions?
James: can I finish the year at ackley?
David: you'd have to take the train
James: that's fine
Sheryl: okay sure. We'll see how it goes.
James: thank you. What do you do for work?
Sheryl: I'm a doctor and David's a teacher.
James: What do you teach?
David: English.
James: that is the worst subject ever
David: it's not that bad
James: that's my nightmare

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