Today's #Autism Victory goes to both Elliott and Emmett,  who brushed their teeth without a problem tonight. Tooth brushing was a nightmare for so long.  Every morning and night we battled to do at least a decent job of cleaning the teeth.  Then we discovered the Phillips Sonic Care toothbrush and everything changed.  Long story short,  the boys are much more willing to brush their teeth now and actually seem to enjoy it. If you would like more information,  send me an email and I'll get back to you. Please note that this is not a plug or paid advertisement.  I've written about this before and I wanted to recognize my boys for the fine job they are doing.  :-) This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s…

Today marks 9 years since Lizze and I exchanged vows. Wow, 9 years is a long time,  especially in today's society. I'm really proud of that and I know that Lizze is as well.  So much has happened in the last 9 years alone,  that I wouldn't even know where to begin if I were to try and recount it.  Despite all the heartache and pain, the constant stress of being a special needs parent and major health issues, we are still here.  Not only are we still here,  but we're here together. I was hoping that I would find some truly profound words to help convey how happy I am that we've made it this far,  but the have eluded me thus far.  As you all know,  I'm rarely…

This coming week will bring about big changes to the Lost and Tired family.  In this one week,  the boys will return to school,  we will meet with Dr. Patti to discuss Gavin and we will also have our first meeting with Stark County Wraparound. In between all of these things we will squeeze in at least 10 other appointments, ranging from occupational therapy to immunology.  This is going to be a challenging week because I also have a new article due Monday as well. The kids are also going to be adjusting to their new schedules and that by itself is not very easy, as I'm sure many of you can attest to.  My goal is to have as positive of an outlook as possible. Oh....and tomorrow is our…

Not 10 minutes after my last post,  I caught Gavin with Emmett between his legs.  He was sitting on the couch with his legs spread out. Emmett was kneeling on the floor and in between Gavin's legs.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  The last time was a few months ago and Gavin had Emmett burying his face in his crotch.  He encouraged Emmett to do this over and over until we caught him..... We immediately addressed this with Gavin this afternoon.  He claims he forgot he wasn't allowed to do that. He also claims that he doesn't remember us or Dr. Patti ever talking to him about this before.  Keep in mind that we have had countless discussions about this with him over the years and several…

One of the most difficult thing for me as a special needs parent is understanding the motives behind certain behaviors. Take Elliott for example.  He having a very difficult time listening and doing as he's told. This is somewhat out of character for him.  He's also incredibly anxious a day whiny.  This makes day to day life,  frustrating and exhausting. However,  I keep asking myself,  why is he doing this? Is this just a phase? Is he simply being defiant? My personal belief is that he is reacting to an understanding stable home life,  as one of my readers pointed out today. I've felt this way for a while and my opinion is backed up by the fact that when you remove him from the environment, he improves. Emmett is…

Please be aware that is post is of a very sensitive nature. Last night,  Gavin exposed himself to Lizze and I in the middle of the living room. Gavin came downstairs and wanted to tell us that some of the bandages from his surgery were coming off. I told him that he could remove the bandages,  carefully. There are three locations that were bandaged,  all on his right leg.  His ankle,  knee area and thigh,  all had biopsies done. Gavin was wearing a pair of loose fitting shorts last night. He stood in the middle of the living room and removed the bandages from his ankle and knee area. When it came time to remove the one on his thigh,  he first pulled the right leg of his shorts up…

Lizze is having really, really bad day.  The weather and stress is killing her. Today she is only able to walk with assistance and that's hard for me to see. Obviously it's even harder for her to experience. We are supposed to go to my parents house for a cook out.  Several birthdays will be celebrated as well. Unfortunately the weather is pretty crappy right now and it doesn't look to be getting better in time.  I'm not sure what will happen if it continues to rain.  We are all looking forward to getting out of the house for a little bit.  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…

In our family we have a name for some of the quirky characteristics of our kids.  We call these quirky characteristics ism's. This started out many years ago with Gavin.  We called all the cute little quirky behaviors Gavin-ism's. This has been passed down to Elliott and Emmett as well.  For example,  one of my most favorite is an Emmett-ism. Emmett has a very particular way of showing me affection.  It's called hug and kiss and I value it more than anything in the world.  He has to hug me first and then give me a kiss. It has to be in that order or he starts over again.  It's just been something he has always done.  I think it's one of the sweetest things in the whole wide world. …