The question of the day, is Elliott getting better? The answer is both yes and no. He's not coughing as much all time but his fever came last night. :-( This is really kicking his butt. This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsungs 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
Well our precious break is now officially shot to hell. Gavin didn't go to the grandparents for obvious reasons and Emmett decided that he wanted to come home. Oh well. Whatcha gona do? As much as we need the break, especially after a day like yesterday with Gavin, our boys are always, always allowed to come home. Emmett was so cute. As soon as he got home, he just kept snuggling with Lizze or myself. He was so happy to be home and honestly, I was happy as well. :-) Tonight, he's sleeping in his own bed and I got to tuck him in. :-) This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsungs Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct…
Before you even watch the following video, we must be clear on a few things. You should read Behavioral Crisis: Here’s what happened first for background. A few things to keep in mind: 1) This is not an #Autism related meltdown. It's a RAD related tantrum. Big difference and must be handled differently. 2) Gavin has complete control over this behavior. You don't have to like it, but it's a fact. 3) The self-injurious behavior is meant to manipulate us into removing the consequence he's facing for his previous actions. We cannot intervene. 4) This is not easy or pleasant to watch. Turn your volume down and don't let young children view, until you have seen the whole video. 5) I'm not without compassion for Gavin, however, this has to be handled in a…
Today has been a weighted vest kinda day. Elliott and Emmett were both on sensory overload today as a result of Gavin's house shaking tantrum. I had a rough time getting them to relax, even after Gavin was at the hospital. Until you're in the middle of oe of these tantrums, I don't think you can fully appreciate how traumatizing they are, especially for the E's. Anyway, I thought I would break out the weighted vests and see if the weight and compression would help calm them down. It worked, for the most part anyway. They were really worked up though and I think the vests could only help out so much. Having said that, things eventually settled down and we all watched Ice Age and relaxed on the couch. …
Lizze has arrived home with Gavin in tow. The social worker at Akron Children's Hospital called Gavin out on everything. She said that this is very typical behavior of a child with reactive attachment disorder. The disorder itself in not very common but she said she sees this same type of behavioral issues in the RAD kids when they do cross paths. She was very supportive and understanding. Gavin was being rude and from what Lizze says, she handled it well. Ultimately though, he wasn't admitted. The reason for that was because they don't handle chronic problems and Gavin is the poster child for chronic mental health issues. They did however, rule out a neck injury from banging his head into the floor so hard. There recommendation is long term…
As a special needs family, we have learned to celebrate the little and even kinda weird victories. This helps us to stay positive and not always focus on the rest of our overwhelming life. A prime example of this is Mr. Emmett John. He's sporting a pair of shorts, flip flops, red compression vest and an Angry Birds hat. I'm not sure where he gets his sense of style from but he's made it his own. There are two victories we celebrated with this. The first is well, actually wearing clothes and the second was putting on this ensemble, all by himself in the first place. :-) Life is all about perspective.... This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsungs Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I…
Before I go any further, I want to provide a little bit of background. It's necessary to fully understand what led up to today's events. Emmett is extremely, how shall I put this....picky, about everything. There is a specific chair at the dinner table that Emmett has claimed as his own. It's the only one he will use and we don't take issue with that because, well, it's a bigger picture type thing. Anyway, every night before we sit down to dinner there is drama because Elliott has Emmett's chair. Some of the time Elliott will give the chair back and other times it becomes a blow out. Basically, this has been creating resentment between the to E's and makes for an unpleasant evening for everyone........or so we thought. We…
Gavin is having a behavioral crisis and will be on his way for a psych evaluation and God willing, a psych hold. He had probably one of the worst, self-injurious tantrums to date. I'll explain in more detail what lead up to this later. Right now, Lizze's Mom is going to drive them up to Akron Children's Hospital. He will be run through the behavioral heath side of the ER and evaluated for admittance. The bad news, aside from all of this, is that nothing is going to change by taking him. The good news is that this will get him out of the house and into a safer environment. This is best for everyone, especially those most traumatized by his behavior, Elliott and Emmett. I ask that you please…