Today is a day that I wish I could forget but I know I never will.  How many times can you lose the same person? That's the question I have been asking myself over and over today. It's weird,  I don't know if I was expecting to hear the answer or maybe I thought, on some subconscious level that it would make me feel better. You all know how things have been going with Gavin.  Not good.  However, today at OT,  Gavin was talking to his therapist and began bragging about how he enjoys torturing one of his classmates.  That was his word, not mine.  The way he said it was cold and caused the dad sitting across from me to gasp. The therapist asked Gavin what he meant.  Gavin…

I can't go into much detail at the moment but things got very, very bad this afternoon with Gavin. He had a tantrum in the car today today.  It got ugly and it continued long after we arrived home. We are looking at emergency placement. We see Dr.  Patti tonight and Dr.  Reynolds in the morning.  Gavin can no longer stay in our home.  He has to go.  We have a tentative plan and I'll explain more later.  If you could please keep my family and especially Elliott and Emmett who were traumatized by today's events, in your thoughts and prayers.... I would be in your debt.  In the picture below, you can see what happens when you beat yourself in the head with your own shoe.  :-(

Elliott has been on his #ADHD medications for exactly 4 days now.  Even at the low dose, he's benefiting from it. Obviously, he's not really any less anxious but he's more relaxed, at least physically. He's not bouncing off the walls until after the meds ware off, in the late afternoon.  He does seem to be happier and that feels good, not only for him but for me as his father. The next step is to discuss possibly adding a maintenance dose.  So instead of taking one dose, we split it up, morning and afternoon.  We still have to attack the anxiety but progress is progress and I'm so incredibly thankful that this is helping him.  As I mentioned before, I try to avoid the names of the medications simply…

Let's focus today on something that I find myself extremely frustrated with. It's almost become an evil word I my house.  That word is of course, insurance. Having read my earlier post you may already know that Emmett was denied OT for the second time this year because even though he's making great progress, he's not progressed to normal and so they have essentially written him off. To say that I'm angry and hurt is an understatement. I'm furious. I know that so many of you experience the exact same or even similar issues in your life. I was thinking that we should talk about it and perhaps share so tips and tricks we've learned to beat the system at its own game. Feel free to vent, bitch, complain about…

Elliott is easily our most sensitive child of the mix.  He hasn't felt completely safe in quite some time. However, he feels much better when Maggie or Bella cram themselves onto his twin bed. I'm glad this helps him, even if it's only at night.  I would think that night time would tend to among the scariest times of day for him.  If only she didn't hog the blanket.  :-)

Are you friggin kidding me? I'm a firm believer in there's no such thing as a stupid question however, that is a stupid question. Of course kids with #Autism benefit from a variety of therapies. You may be detecting that I'm a little fired up right now. Well, you're right.  We received a nice letter from the insurance company telling us that Emmett will no longer receive occupational therapy. This is the second such letter this year.  I raised holy hell over the last one and got the denial overturned but it seems like they just never learn. They think that because Emmett hasn't progressed to a normal level  that he will never progress.  Pardon my french but that is bullshit. Don't tell me anything about budgets and cost, I…

I love my wife,  but sometimes she can frustrate me.  She's such an amazingly selfless person and continues to push herself beyond her physical limits. Yes, it's true that I do really need more help but I know that she's doing everything she can do and the some. I'm guilty of allowing her to see my frustration at times,  which prompts her to try even harder.  I don't mean to show my frustration but I suppose I'm only human and I am quite adept at making mistakes. It must me a Mom thing.  Growing up, my mother was the same way.  In fact, she still does the same thing now, even though she has health issues to worry about.  She doesn't let that stop her. Lizze's Mom is the same…