Read more about the article I didn’t realize what the problem was until today
Autism Parenting Struggles / Elliott / My thoughts

I didn’t realize what the problem was until today

I've come to an important realization today. I used to think that Elliott didn't have any issues with socialization. He has friends and interacts with them throughout the day. When we're out in public, he's the most polite kid in the world, and people comment on it all the time.  All those things are good. They're great actually, because not all kids on the Autism Spectrum have those skills.  Unfortunately, it never occurred to me that what he's been struggling with has to do with social skills. On the surface, everything seems great. It's when you look a bit deeper that the problems become more apparent.  Elliott struggles to understand where people are coming from.  Today is a perfect example.  Elliott was riding the bus home from the field trip…

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April 28, 2017
Read more about the article I have good news and bad news tonight
Bad News / Elliott / Emmett John / Gavin / Good News / My thoughts

I have good news and bad news tonight

Today has been one of those days were it's truly been a mix bag. We've been blessed with some really positive events today. At the same time, there's some bad news as well. I think that's how life sorta balances everything out.  In fairness though, life has a pretty shitty track record for balancing things out for us, and a lot of other families.  I want to begin with the good news because it's a pretty big deal.  I had been talking about how things being tight this month and how we are adjusting to a significantly reduced grocery budget. This has had me really stressed out and scrambling to figure out our options. Last night, or rather very early this morning, my new advertising deal came through. I hadn't…

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April 19, 2017
Read more about the article More homework frustration for my son with #Autism 
Elliott / Homework / My thoughts / School Related Issues

More homework frustration for my son with #Autism 

Both boys had a good day at school but Elliott's a bit frustrated over his homework for the week. Homework proves to be a struggle when he has four days in which to do it. I've written about this countless times.  Elliott is frustrated because it's a short school week and yet they're given the same amount of homework to do.  I can understand his frustration and I'm not quite sure of the logic that goes into the decision to do this. If homework is a problem on a full week, why not reduce the amount proportionally on a short week? That seems reasonable to me, because I know Elliott's far from the only one who struggles with homework in his class.  We'll help Elliott to get as much done…

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April 18, 2017
Read more about the article 2 things my #Autism family is struggling with right now
Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

2 things my #Autism family is struggling with right now

It's been an exhausting day.  I managed to squeeze out five hours of sleep between last night and now. That was broken up into three tiny chunks and not all at once. That sorta kills the benefit.  Emmett's been having nightmares again for the last couple of nights, and in true Autistic fashion, he's generalized the cause as being his bed. In other words, because he had a nightmare while in his own bed, he will always have nightmares if he's in his own bed.  Generalization is one of the challenges Autism has brought into his young life and its tough to counter.  He's so smart and logically I think he knows his bed has nothing to go with bad dreams, but emotionally he can't put those things together.  It's…

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April 6, 2017
Read more about the article The heartbreaking letter my son with #Autism wrote
Elliott / My thoughts / School Related Issues

The heartbreaking letter my son with #Autism wrote

Before we go into this post, I want to be clear that Elliott wants me to share this personal journal entry of his. He hopes other kids will learn something from him. There's so much to catch you up on, and I'm trying to get there, but it's been one problem after another. This is something that I wanted to get out there for Elliott because it's important to him. The other day, Elliott fell down the stairs at school. He banged his body up a little, and he's sore, but otherwise physically okay. The only reason I even found out about this, is because he was in tears when he climbed into the car after school. I asked him what was wrong and he explained how he'd fallen down…

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March 24, 2017
Read more about the article Why the boys will NOT be in school tomorrow 
Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

Why the boys will NOT be in school tomorrow 

The boys are in their own beds, at least for now. Bedtime didn't go so well tonight because both boys are starting to feel under the weather again and were not in a good mood.  Emmett was especially argumentative and rather explosive.  For now, they're both in bed but I'm not sure how long that's going to last.  We did setup the humidifier in their room and hopefully, that will help with the cough. As long as they fall asleep and stay asleep, I should be able to sleep in my own bed tonight.. ☺  School is already off the menu for tomorrow because of the fevers....  Hopefully, the boys will be feeling better tomorrow and can return to school on Tuesday. 

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March 12, 2017
Read more about the article Sh!t: It’s just turned into a three day weekend
Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

Sh!t: It’s just turned into a three day weekend

Like and idiot tempting fate, I took Emmett's temperature. Now he's running a fever of 102.1°F and is unbelievably grouchy. I'm being forced to accept that what was a traditional two day weekend, has morphed into a three day weekend at the very least.  I'm not gonna lie here, I'm a bit stressed out because I wasn't able to really relax at all this weekend, cause I've been dealing with sick kids. I haven't even been able to sleep in my own bed.. 🙁  Part of me is debating on giving Gavin his IVIG infusion tonight. That would be a day early but the last thing we need is for him to get sick as well. 

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March 12, 2017