Read more about the article This is what #Autism Parenting is like for me today and it’s not fun
Autism Parenting Insight / Autism Parenting Woes / Gavin

This is what #Autism Parenting is like for me today and it’s not fun

Tensions seem pretty high right now because people are sick and we're trapped in the house. Lizze and I are both extremely stressed out today and that makes for a fun afternoon.  When my resources are as low as they are at the moment, I'm far less tolerant of everything Gavin does.  Normally, I doing well with the amount of patience I seem to have. I don't know of where it comes from but it always seems to be there. Today however, I'm running on fumes and things are getting to me that normally wouldn't.  Gavin's level of functionality is probably the lowest it's ever been, and as a result, I'm essentially having to micromanage his life at this point and it's absolutely exhausting. I know it's not his fault…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article Today’s Victory: He ate it
Emmett John / Today's Victory

Today’s Victory: He ate it

I'm pulling the trigger on this one a bit early but it's totally worth it.  In my last entry, I was talking about how Emmett would it longer eat corn dogs, one of the last goto foods he will still eat. I bought a big box while shopping because we are on a very meager budget this month and it's something Emmett always eats.  Unfortunately, the first couple of corn dogs he tried, tasted funny.  Generally speaking, if something tastes funny once, in Emmett's mind, it will never taste right again.  That being said, he wanted to try corn dogs for lunch today and while I didn't want to waste food again, if he wanted to try, I was all for it.  At first he ate one and then he…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article He won’t even eat corn dogs anymore 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

He won’t even eat corn dogs anymore 

The continuing saga of Emmett no longer eating the things he historically has, keeps getting worse. In this latest chapter, he no longer eats his most favorite food of all time.  There have been two goto foods that Emmett has always been able to eat, should all else fail. One is Little Caesars pizza, and second is corn dogs.  Little Caesars pizza has become sorta hit or miss lately but he will still eat it warm. Unfortunately, corn dogs are no longer an option. We went through several the other day and none tasted right.  Emmett's become very difficult to feed because nothing he eats tastes right to him anymore. He only regularly ate a handful of different foods and so losing anything is a major issue.  It's really frustrating…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article It’s like the whole house woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning 
My thoughts

It’s like the whole house woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning 

I'm waking up this morning to everyone being in a horrible mood. Emmett's screaming, Elliott's stressed out, and Gavin's forgetting everything, only to hit himself when he's reminded  This is one of those days where it's going to take everything I have to simply survive.  Elliott and Emmett are sick, which explains their current demeanor. Going to the park is out of the question because both are running fevers, and I'm not looking to make anything worse.  I'm really, really trying not to get sucked into this negative mood that's imprisoned the rest of my family this morning, but at the moment it's a losing battle.  My goal for the first half of the day is to find a way to change the crash course we're currently on. I'm not…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article The animals in our life 
Family Pets / My thoughts

The animals in our life 

Let's focus in some positive things in this entry. Most of you know that animals play a big roll in our lives. Our pets are family and have had such a positive impact on the boys. Many families find that animals have a positive impact on their kids with Autism.  In my experience, it's like our animals sense something different about our kids and demonstrate higher tolerances to being loved by the boys. They also seem to know when the kids are upset or stressed out and quite literally will seek that child out to snuggle.  It's truly been a blessing for us.  I thought I would share some recent pictures of the animals that we share our lives with, and ask you about the animals in your life... Is…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article Our Easter was derailed but we made the best of it
My thoughts

Our Easter was derailed but we made the best of it

As I'm writing this entry, we have two kids who've come down with a respiratory bug. Elliott and Emmett are both not feeling well. Elliott was running a relatively high fever of 102.2°F. Emmett is showing the same symptoms as his older brother, but with added unpleasantness of still being inside of a fever cycle.  Both boys have been moody, which is understandable, but it makes all the every day struggles that much more challenging. Thankfully, both Elliott and Emmett are asleep in their own beds, meaning I get to sleep in mine tonight. ☺  As a result of having two sickies in the house, we ended up canceling our plans for Easter.  We could have split up, leaving Lizze and the boys at home, while Gavin and I went…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article Holiday’s can be really tough for #Autism Parents and here’s why
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

Holiday’s can be really tough for #Autism Parents and here’s why

Easter, as with pretty much any freaking holiday that we celebrate, puts my wife and I into a position where we need to decide whether we go to see family or stay at home.  At its most basic level, this is the choice between dealing with major fallout, or limiting the amount of fallout we have to deal with.  When we go to holiday functions with family, we all have a good time while we're there. The problem arises when the boys become overstimulated and right about the time we get home, the meltdowns begin. I'm not sure there's ever been a holiday for us, where this wasn't an issue,  As for this Easter, we will be going to celebrate with my family. The boys will have an Easter Egg…

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April 16, 2017