On Sunday, Lizze and I moved Elliott and Emmett into what was Gavin's room. If and when Gavin returns home, he'll be in what was Elliott's room. We had to sanitize the room prior to moving furniture in.  You would not believe the stuff we found on Gavin's walls.  It's like he left us little presents, smeared all over the friggin place. Apparently, he had been spitting on his windows and walls. The rest of it I'll leave to your imagination. Let's just say, it was very unpleasant. We still have to repair the damage to his walls but it'll be alright for now.  The boys are pretty excited but also stressed out by the change, especially Elliott.  He essentially had to give up his own room and start sharing…

In the morning, we have to take Elliott to see Dr. Reynolds and discuss his medications. This is going to be a serious discussion because we have some serious concerns about the anti-anxiety medication. Elliott has become rather aggressive while on the Tenex.  He has been self-injuring and losing his temper quite a bit and this is very much out of character for him. Instead of addressing the anxiety, it seems to be making things worse. What's the point of him taking it if it isn't going to help?  The answer of course is, there is no point. I'm thinking that it might be best to pull him off of anti-anxiety medications altogether because he keeps having adverse reactions. Hopefully we will get some answers and options in the morning.

Please keep Lizze's Grandfather Hank, in your prayers.  He passed away a few minutes ago.  Please keep Lizze and her family in your thoughts and prayers as well. This is a very difficult time for everyone. 

There is a HUGE stigma attached to things like Medicaid and food stamps. Part of the reason for that is that these services are commonly abused. There's not enough oversight and people who probably shouldn't be getting services get services. People are upset about this and rightfully so. I see things on Facebook all the time about this. People say things like "Wish I could call off of work today but I can't cause to many people on welfare relying on me". I've even seen things like "I'm off to work because someone has to support your family". These are said by people I know. People I have considered friends. It makes me feel sick inside to know that's how they really feel. What if one of these "friends" ever…

Something happened today that has never happened before, at least that I can remember.  Elliott took a 4 hour nap yesterday afternoon.  He's never been relaxed enough to really do something like that. He was snuggled up with his kitten, Dean, and sleeping away like a baby. I was actually quite amazed. Normally, if you even bring up the idea of a nap, Elliott will freak out.  However, with Dean snuggled up with him on his bed purring, Elliott was just out like a light.  I'm really hoping that Dean with have a positive impact on him. If yesterday was any indication, this could indeed be very positive. I also don't mean this in the sense that it's Dean's job to make Elliott feel better.  However, much like Bella helped…

As you know, Elliott has been wanting a kitten in the worst way imaginable.  He used to have a cat and few years ago named Ducky.  We had to say goodbye to Ducky because he was very aggressive and Elliott was getting hurt.  As much as he loved Ducky, he was equally scared of him as well. When the whole idea of another cat came up, Lizze and I were both like oh hell no. However, after my near death experience with mouse in my bathroom last week, I had a change of heart. Anyway,  for most of our lives together, Lizze and I have always had 3 cats and 1 or 2 dogs.  Cleo has been an only cat for a few years and isn't exactly the best moucer. …

Today is the day we put up our sensory friendly Christmas tree. We use an artificial tree that doesn't have the smell of pine, which I happen to really like,  but the rest of my family doesn't.  We have also moved to plane white lights.  Gone are the flashing, chasing or strobe lights.  Bright, Shiney, and noisy ornaments have gone extinct in our house as well.  Homemade paper ornaments are all you'll find on our Christmas tree. While it may not be as bright and festive as most others, it's also not going to push my kids and wife over the edge and into an overstimulated free fall. As far as decorating around the house, we keep things very simple. In a family with 4 people on the #Autism spectrum,…