I want to talk about stress.  I would be really surprised if anyone doesn't know what the heck stress is.  In fact,  I'd bet a dollar that most, if not all of you are way too familiar with stress. As a special needs parent, stress has become my worst enemy, and I long for a way to banish it from my life forever. Not all stress is bad because sometimes it can motivate us to keep going. However, the kind of stress that I constantly feel as a special needs parent is indescribable and not at all good.  If you want proof,  just ask my hair, rather what's left of it. Stress can and will destroy your body from the inside out if chronic and left unchecked. I thought we…

Emmett had a rough morning and spent much of it screaming.  He was used to Elliott being home and now all of a sudden, he wasn't.  This is a good example of not handling transitions very well.  This is really common for Emmett because he's autistic.  That's why we typically try to ease into change. Unfortunately, that can't always happen. :-( In order to go for nap,  I had to physically lay down with him,  in his twin bed.  Not very comfortable but at least he slept. When we got up a few hours later, he was in a much better mood.  He got himself dressed and we took the dogs out.  He broke out his trusty sidewalk chalk and laid down on the porch and drew some pictures on…

Elliott returned to school this morning.  We weren't sure if that was going to actually happen, but it did.  :-) I just dropped Gavin and Elliott off at school.  I love Elliott to death but he's been home for about 10 days now.  Most of that time was spent fighting with Emmett.  The two of them are at each others throats anymore and I couldn't take it any longer. Hopefully, his return will go well.  This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me. Please join our Autism Help Forums Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

Lizze and I have noticed something about Gavin today that we hadn't noticed prior.  He seems to start complaining about his health problems, of which there are many, whenever he has to do something he doesn't want to be doing. Gavin does have several, very serious health problems.  He has an autonomic disorder, immunodeficiency, mitochondrial disease (most likely) and some type of degenerative neurological disease as well.  The autonomic disorder is the most frequent problem for him as his heart rate and blood pressure become unstable and he has to be hospitalized.  He experiences various symptoms,  from chest pain, numbness, nausea to blurry vision.  These are all very real symptoms and can mean an impending autonomic crisis and very likely several days in the hospital.  Having said that, there seems…

I wanted to have a discussion about special needs parenting.  Anything related to special needs parenting. Is there something you would want people to know about your special needs family? Let's talk about it.  This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me. Please join our Autism Help Forums Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

I wanted to take a few minutes and talk about the fallout from yesterday's RAD tantrum. Elliott was probably the most visibly affected by the events of yesterday. He doesn't want to be in his room alone. When there,  he breaks down in tears. Elliott is so anxious to start with that these tantrums push him over the edge. It can take days for him to relax and come down from his anxiety high. On the other hand we have Emmett.  Emmett tends to become more easily frustrated and therefore more aggressive. This also makes him much less cooperative. Lizze is barely able to move today as she in a fibro flare.  There's no doubt that the stress from yesterday has exacerbated her symptoms. Stress is a fibro sufferers worst…