No matter what, we never give up on our kids, Gavin’s no exception. Even if it takes a million attempts to help Gavin remember how to perform every day tasks, we’re going to try it a million times.
Today I took Gavin with me to fill the water jugs. This isn’t uncommon and I’ve shared this a few times before.
My goal with bringing him along, is that one day, he’ll be able to do this by himself. My hope is that a day will come when I can bring Gavin to Clearwater and he can buy the water tokens, as well as fill up the jugs.
This may seem like a really weird goal, and I suppose it is. However, peel back the surface and this is about Gavin gaining independence.
So what if it just means he can fill the water jugs. That would be a major accomplishment and something we could all be proud of.
Today’s trip to Clearwater had me buying the tokens and Gavin setting up the water jugs, putting the tokens in the dispenser, filling the jugs and capping them off. He did really well and even put the caps on all by himself.
He struggles a bit with the timing part. Basically, he let’s the jugs overflow and then sorta panics a bit. This is something we are just going to have to keep practicing. 🙂
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Surprised you don’t do the spring. A lot of people think it is “city water” but it isn’t. It has to be tested for bacteria as a public water source under the rules for wells and springs. If it were treated water from the water supply the city would be losing too much money letting it run all the time. It does come from the same aquafier though.
Gaining any type of independence is a HUGE accomplishment …. Well done to both you and Gavin 🙂
Great job Gavin. Getting him to help with the chores helps teach him important life skills and he probably feels great when he is able to help out. Kuddos Rob for teaching your kids important tasks as simple as filling the water jugs.
Ok, so this is related to Gavin but, not the topic above. I have been thinking about him a bit after reading 2 different articles in the last few weeks. I hesitated a little because I didn’t want you to think I was trying to insert myself or was one of those people who think they know your or your kids just because I read your blog or have a kid with autism. I also wouldn’t ever want you to think I was judging. It also seems, from reading, that you seem to have really great doctors and medical facilities but, sometimes things that are not well know can be missed. A few weeks ago, I read an article about a teenager with autism and some medication problems. Then a little later a link showed up on the top of your page to an article that was once done about your family in a local paper that listed the number of pills he was taking. I also have an adult friend, with mental health issues that has some complicated medicinal issues.
So basically, the teenager started on some antidepressents and then started to have worse other symptoms that were diagnosed as other mental health issues. He became physically and mentally worse but doctors gave new medications and tried changing. When the parents stopped once the doctors chastised them. He became less independent and more distant. Now, he is not as complicated as Gavin so I am not comparing but, I thought the point was interesting. The parents ended up at Mayo clinic (I can’t remember how exactly) because Mayo was familiar with something about the medications and autism. They said they would need to detox him from the medications and that most doctors didn’t really know about some of the issues with the drugs and autism. They were told the total detox would take 30 days. After stopping the meds it didn’t take long before who he was started to return, he told his parents that he had missed them. I believe he had been medicated for over a year.
My friend, who has been working on detoxing her body from meds, both physical and psychological, said she no longer really knew who she was at baseline. The medicating started over 20 years ago and things got added and changed and then with the physical issues some serious pain meds came into play. She was no longer sure that increasing and changing symptoms were really her or med side effects in addition to her own issues. She isn’t doing this on her own, the doctors agree and she is being slowly removed or reduced from meds. It has been a long process.
I am not suggesting this for Gavin. I don’t doubt his PTSD, Reactive Attchment Disorder, etc. And, I am not trying to insult the doctors you see. They may already be on top of this. What I am suggesting is that if the doctors have not explored that some of his symptoms, physical and mental, that have worsened over the years could have come from some combination of medication side effect – then they should do that.
Anyway, I am sure you will take this in the manner it was given. You seem pretty gracious. It wasn’t meant to cause you stress, but, I couldn’t seem to let it go of the what if…..