For some reason I can't explain, I feel a renewed sense of hope.  Hope is something that doesn't always make an appearance in our lives.  It seems like more often than not, despair is the word of the day.  I can't explain it but for some reason despair has been replaced with hope. This sorta happened towards the end of the day. Out of nowhere, I just felt like everything is going to be okay.  How long will this feeling last? I have no clue. Being that we are working our way towards Monday morning, I wouldn't be too surprised if that takes its toll.  Having said that, I'm more than grateful to be able to lay my head down tonight with a sense of peace. Whenever hope comes for…

I want to recognize both Emmett and Gavin today because of how well they got along this morning.  Gavin was patient with Emmett and Emmett was patient with Gavin.  It's not that they don't ever get along.  Typically, Gavin tends to sorta hoard more of whatever they happen to be playing.  He usually controls enough of what's going on so that he never loses.  This has been a long standing issue and something that really upsets the boys.  Having said that, Gavin did really well this morning.  He didn't take everything over or try to control the outcome.  Great job Gavin.  Great job Emmett.  :-) This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Follow @Lost_and_Tired Visit the My Autism Help…

First off, let me say this.  There are some people out there convinced that all I do is bash Gavin because I don't love him. The truth is quite the contrary.  I love Gavin very, very much.  Having said that, Gavin is very, very, very, very challenging.  When I talk about the things we are dealing with, in regards to Gavin, I'm not bashing him. While I might be frustrated and overwhelmed by his behavior, I'm simply sharing my experience. I know that there are at least some of you out there that can relate. My belief is that sharing the struggles helps me to better cope and has nothing to do with loving or not loving one of my kids.  If fact, I would argue that it proves my…

Today's question revolves around whether or not common sense is necessary for independence. I think we all hope that our kids will be independent some day.  I also suspect that many of us are concerned about whether or not that will actually happen or if it's even possible. I'm sharing one of my biggest concerns about this in respect to Gavin.  I want to open this up for discussion so we can share our thoughts and opinions.  Gavin is gifted in quite a few areas. He's very intelligent and extremely creative.  His friends at school call him The Math Wiz because he's so good with numbers.  However, when it comes to common sense, Gavin is sorely lacking.  To be more accurate, Gavin has absolutely no common sense. We see examples…

I was just about to say how well the morning was going on my end but before I could even write those words, Emmett began melting down. There goes the morning but hopefully we can recover and have a decent afternoon.  How's your day going so far? This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Follow @Lost_and_Tired Visit the My Autism Help Forums To reach me via email, please Contact Me

It occurred to me this evening that you all know how we are doing but I don't know how you are doing.  It's important to me to stay in touch with my readers and I would love to get to know you all better. I thought that I could start things out by simply asking how you are doing? This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Follow @Lost_and_Tired Visit the My Autism Help Forums To reach me via email, please Contact Me

I wanted to bring a new feature of Lost and Tired to your attention.  I'm using a new commenting system that allows you, my readers, to decided which commenting system you would like to use.  As of right now, I have it set up to use LiveFyre, Facebook and Google+. I have to option to add Disqus as well but just haven't set that up.  This makes it much easier to comment on a post because you have a choice.  LiveFyre works as it always has.  Facebook works but doesn't sync with comments made in the Facebook page.  Google+ works and comments made on a post in Google+ will show up in the comment feed on Lost and Tired.  The downside right now is that it's not recognizing older comments. …

It seems that Emmett may be entering into another fever flare. I'm not sure what's going on because he seemed like he was going into one a week or so ago. This time it looks like the sores are popping up in the back of his throat. He spent all day today screaming and miserable. I was able to briefly distract him with the iPad and Lego Batman. However, that was short lived.  All he's eaten today was Popsicles and wouldn't touch anything else.  That's a really good indication that somethings not right.  I hope that this isn't the case and he's feeling better in the morning. It breaks my heart to see him in pain, especially when there isn't anything we can do about it.  On a purely self-preservation…