Emmett woke up in a really, really, really bad mood. I can't even talk to him without being screamed at. As a result of finding myself overwhelmed already, I've put myself in a brief timeout and I'm trying not to let all of this unpleasantness, set the tone for the day. I love waking up after not getting enough sleep and getting screamed at all morning by my youngest for reasons that known only to him. 😔
So I've mentioned that I'm going through some things at the moment but never got around to saying exactly what those things were. This is the post I promised a few days ago. I'm sorry it took so long but it's not as easy for me to write lately. By nature I'm a positive person. I've got a wicked sense of humor and I enjoy laughing. Frankly, if we're being honest, it's that sense of humor that's mostly kept me from losing my mind on many occasions. For instance, I refer to Gavin's schizophrenic hallucinations in a manner that some may deem disrespectful but it's simply how I cope with all of this and the name is actually very appropriate. I've dubbed the friends in Gavin's world, his visibly challenged…
I want to take a second and give some recognition to Mr. Elliott. The middle of three, Elliott has traditionally struggled with homework, not because he couldn't do it but for reasons tied to rather extreme anxiety. Anyway, so far this school year, Elliott's been doing awesome with his homework. He now does his homework with little or no complaints. Rather than give him a set amount of time to work on his homework, we now define a set amount of work he needs to do per night. This has taken much of the anxiety inducing nonsense out of the picture. Elliott doesn't do well with anything related to being timed or time limits. Rather than continue pushing that concept, we have instead found a way that works better…
This is one of those things that I don't expect everyone to understand but if you've had a child experiencing psychosis or an episode of mania, you're probably all too familiar with what I'm about to share. There's such a mishmash of feelings that one experiences when parenting a child with special needs. Aside from loving your child unconditionally, one of the most common emotions experienced is very likely to be guilt. In most cases, this is what I refer to as irrational guilt, meaning a parent feels intense amounts of guilt for things outside of their control but nonetheless impact their child in a potentially negative way. I'm no stranger to this form of guilt and today is one of those days where I'm facing it again. Gavin always…
The boys got off to school alright this morning. No major issue aside from Elliott getting up at 4am and wouldn't go back to bed. The boys were sorta crazy but we left for school on time so it couldn't have been that bad. On the way home, Gavin and I hit the track and did our thirty minute walk before heading back home. I'm really tired this morning but I'm in a pretty decent place. All things considered, this wasn't too bad of a way to start a Monday morning.
For the final time, Gavin will have his Clozapine dose bumped up today. He will once again be at 800mg a day and this will be the last time it will ever be increased. So far, we haven't seen any improvements but hopefully, this next increase will make a difference. Unfortunately, while there hasn't been any improvement, there has been a worsening of the side effects he's already been experiencing. With this next bump, it's a pretty safe bet that things are only going to get worse. I'm actually really nervous about making this change because there's no going back. Some of these side effects are permanent and will be a part of him for the rest of his life. :( This is such a shitty feeling because making…
When Lizze and I went to bed tonight, this is what greeted us. 💙 I knew Emmett was there already because I sang him to sleep, after he tried for almost two hours to go to sleep on his own. When he came down stairs, we were surprised because he'd been up there for a couple hours and we figured he'd fallen asleep because we hadn't heard from him. I walked him back upstairs and he curled up next to me in our bed. We played some music and I sang poorly to him. He was asleep within a few minutes. I wish I knew what was going on with him but he's just having the hardest time falling asleep in his bed. On the positive side,…
One of the big things that parents of kids with Autism have to deal with in regards to school, is this little thing called an IEP. An IEP is vital for our kids education but they're also extremely confusing. There's also something called a 504 and while it's similar in nature to an IEP, there are some major differences. I wanted to share some information that I learned during my recent IEP and 504 meeting for my two youngest in grade school. I hope this helps to answer your questions and decide which is best for your child. [embeddoc url="https://www.theautismdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/IEP-v-504-1.pdf" download="all"] Brought to you by understood.org