Read more about the article Have I mentioned how much I literally hate homework? Can anyone relate to this story?
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / Homework / My thoughts / School Related Issues

Have I mentioned how much I literally hate homework? Can anyone relate to this story?

Emmett missed most of last week because he wasn't feeling well. I had work sent home for him to work on so he wasn't so overwhelmed when he hopefully returns on Monday. Emmett is crazy smart and way ahead of everyone else in his class, so homework is something that should come relatively easy for him. Sometimes it is and other times it's a fricking nightmare. One of the things that Autism has contributed to this mess, is a very literal interpretation of everything. Emmett interprets things in a very literal, incredibly ridged way. There's almost no way to help him work through anything, when he's literally interpretating things. An example that we are struggling with this morning is this. The instructions for a math problem he's stuck on went…

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March 18, 2018
Read more about the article I hate feeling powerless
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / My thoughts

I hate feeling powerless

It's now 1:47 AM and Emmett has just now fallen asleep. We've been trying to help him for hours upon hours. He has a really bad tummy ache and feels like he's going to puke. This is stressful for any kid but it's especially so with a kid like Emmett. To make things even worse for the poor kid, he also seems to be hitting a fever flare because he's getting sores in his mouth again. I don't know what the deal is with these tummy aches but they are consistent, especially when school is approaching. He's not making this up and he's clearly in distress but the cause remains a mystery. My personal opinion is that we're dealing with a side effect of his extreme anxiety. He struggles with…

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March 12, 2018
Read more about the article #Autism Parenting: Picking the BEST of the WORST options
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts / School Related Issues

#Autism Parenting: Picking the BEST of the WORST options

We have therapy for the boys tonight but Lizze isn't feeling well and she will probably stay behind. It will likely be the boys and I heading out tonight. Tonight's focus is going to be on school for Elliott and Emmett. We have to figure something out because while the boys like school, they're also miserable at the same time, albeit for different reasons. This needs to be a very serious discussion about our options. I'm hoping Lizze feels up to going but but if not, we've discussed it amongst ourselves already and have reached a consensus. We both agree that the status quo isn't in the best interest of the kids. What we do about it is where we become less sure of ourselves. At this point, I feel…

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January 30, 2018
Read more about the article The only thing that could make it worse
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

The only thing that could make it worse

It was rougher night last night because Emmett woke up about 2 AM and was unable to go back to sleep. If at all possible, I don't like to go to sleep while one or more of the kids are awake, especially in the middle of the night. I've been known to grab a nap on the couch while the kids are watching a movie or something but I'm right there in case anything happens. I assume that Emmett had a nightmare again but he doesn't like to talk about it and if I ask, he gets upset. Generally speaking, nightmares will wake him up and make it difficult for him to go back to sleep. He and I ended up sleeping in the living room last night. It took…

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January 12, 2018
Read more about the article How often does your kid with #Autism get hurt?
Autism Parenting Struggles / Gavin / My thoughts

How often does your kid with #Autism get hurt?

One of the big challenges we face with Gavin is his complete, total lack of self awareness. He's also oblivious to his surroundings as well. Both of these challenges are very difficult to work with and often lead to problems like what we had this afternoon. Gavin never seems to want to sit on the couch in our living room. He always sits on a folding chair, to the side of the couch and close to the fireplace. He's a creature of habit and rarely deviates from this. Unfortunately, there are times when Gavin is moving too quickly and not really thinking. When he goes to sit down, he sorta flings his head back and cracks it on the corner of the stone mantel. I don't know how many times…

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December 21, 2017
Read more about the article It’s not easy raising a #Schizophrenic teenager with #Autism
Autism Parenting Struggles / Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

It’s not easy raising a #Schizophrenic teenager with #Autism

We had to temporarily restrict access to the kids Nerf guns as a result of them getting to carried away. They had been shooting each other in the face and that broke a major safety rule. Gavin just came downstairs and asked if he could have his Nerf gun back because he was being called in a mission to patrol Shuazoom. We gave it back to him because we didn't know what else to do. Gavin's Schizophrenic and honestly believes he's going on a real life mission. We didn't want to make anything worse for him by sending him into battle without his trusty weapon. Did we do the right thing? Who the hell knows. Schizophrenia is not easy to live with, whether you have it personally or you're caring…

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December 21, 2017
Read more about the article The kids are bouncing off the wall
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

The kids are bouncing off the wall

OMG... The boys are all over the place. Gavin on the other hand, it's relatively calm and very much focused in his everyday routine. It takes quite a bit for Gavin to lose focus on his routine. Everyone is extremely excited about Christmas and it shows. lol At the moment, I have Elliott and Emmett successfully contained in their room. They've been bouncing off the walls since about 6 AM. I don't hear any fighting, so they must be getting along. I'm happy to see them playing nicely together this morning. Lizze is at her doctor's appointment and I'm feeling pretty okay this morning. I haven't taken my antibiotics yet, so who knows ows how long that will last. My goal for today is to channel the kids excitement for…

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December 21, 2017