Read more about the article An #Autism parent for almost 17 years and I’m still learning
Autism Parenting Insight / Emmett John / My thoughts

An #Autism parent for almost 17 years and I’m still learning

After a few bumps in the road, the boys are in a pretty good place. Things got a bit out of hand when I tried to surprise the boys with going to a movie tonight. I thought it was going to be something everyone would be excited about but I wasn't even kinda right. I'm about 17 years into this journey and I'm still learning new things everyday. As soon as I told Emmett that we were going to go see the new Justice League movie, he freaked out, and not in a good way. Elliott wasn't too excited either but he didn't have the extreme reaction Emmett did. It hadn't occurred to be that Emmett might not do well with being surprised. I was caught up in trying to…

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November 16, 2017
Read more about the article Why my son with #Autism has threatened to run away
Autism Parenting Insight / Elliott / My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

Why my son with #Autism has threatened to run away

I haven't had the energy to talk about this but it's become a significant problem and it's something we are struggling with. Elliott has struggled with anxiety for as long as we can remember. It's one of his comorbid diagnoses to go along with Autism and ADHD. Elliott worries about everything and having Autism has made that much more impactful. Like many kids on the Autism Spectrum, Elliott perseverates. That basically means that his brain puts thoughts on repeat and he literally can't stop thinking about whatever that is. He's always been this way. The truly unfortunate thing is that when those thoughts on repeat are about things that terrify him, like say, having bloodwork done or getting a shot, it's simply too much for him to handle. We've been…

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November 15, 2017
Read more about the article Gavin’s brain is getting worse
Autism Parenting Insight / Elliott / Gavin / My thoughts

Gavin’s brain is getting worse

Gavin has been having serious mental and physical health problems for almost his entire life. As far as Elliott and Emmett are concerned, they've never known any different. To them, Gavin has always been like this and they never knew him before he began to change. Something that we have probably not done enough of, is sitting the two youngest down and explaining to them what Gavin is going through. There are times that they tease Gavin because they don't realize that Gavin has zero control over his inability to do or not do certain things. As an example, Gavin can't tell the difference between two of our ferrets. Tiny and Lemme do look very much alike but their faces are different. The rest of us can see the difference…

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November 4, 2017
Read more about the article Bad news
Autism Parenting Insight / Cleveland Clinic / Gavin / Insurance Related Troubles / My thoughts / Pediatric Neurology

Bad news

I've been continuing to follow up in regards to Gavin's NeuroPsych testing scheduled for tomorrow. After a few attempts to connect with our case manager, I haven't heard anything back. As a result, I called the Cleveland Clinic directly, checked on the status and I'm glad I did. Insurance has denied Gavin's claim three times this week already, the last being yesterday. Unbeknownst to me, the appointment had been canceled. I'm glad I did my due diligence because otherwise I would have hauled Lizze and Gavin to the Cleveland Clinic at a Godawful hour, only to find that we no longer had an appointment. The only reason I would have assumed anything in the morning is because I was told by the Cleveland Clinic eariler in the week that the…

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November 2, 2017
Read more about the article It feels so shitty to make this type of decision
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

It feels so shitty to make this type of decision

We made the difficult decision to cancel trick or treating today and while it wasn't popular, it was the right thing to do. There were several factors that went into making this decision. For starters, it's 40°F and raining outside. That's miserable to begin with, but considering two of the three boys are running fevers, Lizze is still really sick and Gavin's labs aren't good, we didn't feel comfortable going. Emmett was hit the harder because he doesn't deal with change well and he was really looking forward to going. Gavin didn't seem to care one way or the other and Elliott was on the same page as Gavin because I don't think he's feeling well. Lizze and I didn't know what else to do. All we could do was…

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October 29, 2017
Read more about the article My number one tip for vacationing with #Autistic children
Autism Parenting Insight / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

My number one tip for vacationing with #Autistic children

I've never been a huge fan anyone telling anyone else what to do when it comes to an Autistic child. The reason being, every child is different and just because they may carry the same label, doesn't mean they have anything else in common. That being said, there is value in sharing one's personal experience because everyone can learn from the experience and decide if or when it applies to their particular situation. Having just spent ten days on vacation, four of which involved were simply driving, I learned a few things that worked for my three kids with Autism. At this point, I only want to focus on what I believe to be the most important thing I learned from this experience. This may or may not benefit your…

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October 11, 2017
Read more about the article Some interesting thoughts about #Autism and our vacation
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

Some interesting thoughts about #Autism and our vacation

Lizze is still pretty sick. She's been resting most of the day but still feels shitty. Hopefully she's going to start feeling better soon. The only interesting thing I need to catch you up on is that we had our first family therapy session since returning from Florida. The appointment was interesting because we focused on the trip. Dr. Pattie asked each of the boys to tell her what they loved the most about the trip and what they hated the most about the trip. I would have thought that everyone hated the drive there and back. That seemed like the obvious answer, but it wasn't. Gavin's the only one who said anything about the drive. The bottom line is, none of the kids really were able to answer that…

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October 11, 2017
Read more about the article A bit of insight into my day
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

A bit of insight into my day

The boys made it to school this morning. They left the car happy and ready to take on the day. I'm grateful for that because I very much hate when I have to send them off to school on a rotten note. Our trip to the Cleveland Clinic was rescheduled because Lizze is sick. In fact, she's running a fever and that's very unusual for her. She's clearly miserable and spending up to three hours in the car wasn't in her best interest. Gavin still went to my parents house anyway and then we were able to go to sleep for awhile. Emmett's not been sleeping well and that means I'm not sleeping well either. He's having a bit of a rough time adjusting to being home at night. I…

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October 10, 2017