We had our appointment with the headache doctor this morning.  Much like driving through a small town, I blinked and it was over.  Our appointment was literally only 10 minutes long and the round trip drive was at least 2.5 hours. Lizze wanted them to take over her migraine care until she could get into the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program. However, they said that there was literally nothing they could do.  She needs multifaceted care and that was simply not possible until she entered the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program. Once there, they would take everything over.  Unfortunately, we don't know when that is. The problem is that much the same as our lives in general, Lizze is way to complex to make medication changes at this point.  The doctor stressed…

I'm writing this from timeout.  That's right, timeout. At this very moment, I'm in a really bad place and so I've placed myself in timeout while Lizze sits with the boys and puts them bed. Elliott and Emmett have been fighting all evening.  To be honest with you,  I just can't take anymore right now.  There is so much screaming in this house that it's maddening.  I don't even know why they are fighting in the first place.  I'm sure it has something to do with the Gavin Effect, at least in part.  The Gavin Effect is the issues that stem from Gavin being present in the house.  The stress and tension that is produced by his behaviors, even when he's making good choices, could be cut with a knife. …

This week begins our return to the Cleveland Clinic.  Lizze has moved all her specialized care from Canton to Cleveland.  This was done because she was receiving inadequate care locally.  We will begin a sting of about half a dozen appointments in the morning with a return to the Cleveland Clinic's Headache Clinic. We are still waiting for insurance approval in order her to get into the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program.  Currently, she's on the waiting list and we don't expect her to gain entrance for at least another month, even if it's approved by insurance. Tomorrow's appointment will be a medication check and removal.  She needs to be off all her preventatives  because they are what is likely causing the migraine cycle.  We need to know now to safely…

I'm generally a happy person but sometimes I really hate the holidays.  Those sometimes tend to be when we begin experiencing all the fallout from all the overstimulation and excitement. I mean, it never fails.  No matter how hard we try to avoid this, not only for our sakes but for the sakes of the kids as well, it seems an inevitable fate. Right now, Elliott and Emmett but especially Elliott, are tippy toe dancing on my last nerve.  I love them but how crap are they driving me crazy right now.  Elliott is literally whining about everything and refusing to eat.  He's also super clingy right now as well.  Emmett is very easily frustrated and also seems to relish pushing Elliott's self-destruct button. Lizze is just physically so far…

Chloe is a very good friend of mine, who just happens to be living with Autism. Chloe has provided me with a great deal of invaluable insight that has helped me to better understand my own kids. I value her opinion greatly and I very much support the message she is delivering in the following post. :-)   My name is Chloe Rothschild. I am a young adult who has Autism. I write for www.special-ism.com. I advocate for Autism. I want to help people understand Autism better. Rob asked me if I wanted to write a guest post and of course I said I would be happy to. J   The shooting in Connecticut was shocking, heart breaking, awful, horrible, tragic and so much more. When I first heard about the…