Read more about the article Midnight and morning meltdowns 
Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

Midnight and morning meltdowns 

Last night was a nightmare. Mr. Emmett didn't go to sleep until well after midnight. It was one meltdown after another until he fell asleep. All of this because of a stuffy nose.  To recap, a stuffy nose turned our lives upside down, until well after midnight last night. Emmett and I ended up falling asleep in the living room because I didn't want to him to wake the other boys up.  Lizze had to be up super early, in order to go to class, so I was nominated to manage this situation last night. I'm so tired today and I'm going to have to close my eyes for a little while.  If I wasn't already tired enough, I would be after trying to get Emmett ready for school. It…

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May 16, 2017
Read more about the article You might not believe this
Elliott / Emmett John / Gavin / My thoughts

You might not believe this

In what can only be called a miraculous turn of events, both boys are in school today. 😁  There was some struggle in regards to lunches, but we did finally get out the door. We even got to school a bit early, and I was able to speak with the principal, as well as Emmett's teachers.  We addressed the whole breaking pencils thing, and was comforted by hearing from several of the staff members that his non-uniform shirt was okay.  After dropping the boys off and dealing with each of their problems/concerns, Gavin and I went walking.  I'm feeling pretty amazing today and really enjoyed walking. 

8 Comments
May 15, 2017
Read more about the article Whatever happens we’ll tackle it together
Emmett John / My thoughts

Whatever happens we’ll tackle it together

We had a rather long weekend, and I'm unsure of how Monday is going to start out. Lizze has had a really rough few days, and I tried to let her sleep as much as I could. I ended up falling asleep on the couch this afternoon because I was so exhausted from the past few days.  Emmett has been struggling, but able to wear a shirt all day on Saturday. Unfortunately, Sunday was not very kind to him and neither were his clothes.  He spent the first half of the day without any, but did eventually get dressed towards the end of the day. He's not been eating well and I'm concerned that we might be looking at back to back fever cycles. It's rare, but it's happened a…

4 Comments
May 15, 2017
Read more about the article We’ve gone a full 24 hours 
Clothes / Emmett John / My thoughts / Sensory

We’ve gone a full 24 hours 

I want to take a minute and say that Emmett has been doing an awesome job for the last twenty-four hours. Towards the end of last week, Emmett was unable to wear a shirt.  It's a sensory processing thing, and there wasn't anything I could do to help him. He ended up missing school on Thursday and Friday, as a result of not being able to tolerate a shirt.  I'm tentatively excited because Emmett has been wearing a shirt for the last twenty-four hours. I'm hoping this is a sign of things to come, because we could use a good week. There's only two weeks of school left, and I'd like to make the best of it. ☺ 

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May 14, 2017
Read more about the article Screams of terror were heard all through the house
Emmett John / My thoughts

Screams of terror were heard all through the house

Just as I was brushing my teeth last night, getting ready to go to sleep, Emmett woke up in a panic. I was in the bathroom and out of habit, I closed the door behind me.  Emmett ran into my room and saw that I was gone. He ran downstairs, thinking I was sleeping in the couch or something. When he didn't find me there, he just began screaming at the top of his lungs. It was a scream that immediately conveyed terror.  When I opened the bathroom door to go get him, he was standing right there. It sorta freaked me out a bit because I didn't hear him come back up the stairs.  He was standing there, sorta swaying back and forth, like he was trying to keep…

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May 13, 2017
Read more about the article Sometimes it’s hard to keep moving forward
Emmett John / My thoughts / School Related Issues / Sensory

Sometimes it’s hard to keep moving forward

Sometimes it's really hard to find the strength to pick up and continue moving forward. There are days when the idea of continuing to keep moving ahead, is so completely overwhelming.  Poor Emmett has now gone almost two days without being able to tolerate a shirt. This is a newer thing for us, because we're used to the big issue being shoes, socks, and pants. Shirts have never really been a significant issues in regards to school.  Unfortunately, the last two days have presented us with an obstacle that we were unable to overcome.  Missing school is not something we take lightly, but neither are Emmett's Autism related struggles. We have to balance compassion and societal demands.  We all know that kids have a long sorted history of wanting to…

20 Comments
May 12, 2017
Read more about the article It’s been almost 12 hours and still no progress
Emmett John / My thoughts / School Related Issues / Sensory

It’s been almost 12 hours and still no progress

It's currently pushing 5:30 PM, and Emmett still won't tolerate a shirt. We've tried a few times throughout the day, but haven't made any progress. I'm thinking it's best not to push him at this point because we want him to be able to wear one tomorrow morning.  I spoke with the principal this afternoon, as a result of him reading a comment from the previous post. The comment stated the Emmett missed 42 days of school, and did so in a way that made it seem like the person commenting was a staff member at the school.  I told him that I wasn't upset, if indeed it was a staff member, but I was curious if the number was right or not. He was really upset because it seems…

8 Comments
May 11, 2017
Read more about the article Nothing worked because everything hurt
Emmett John / My thoughts / Sensory

Nothing worked because everything hurt

Sensory processing disorder has gotten the best of us today. Mr. Emmett woke up after a night filled with nightmares, completely overwhelmed. In his nightmares, he's being eaten alive and can't wake up. Emmett's daily life is often dictated by his sensory issues. Today was particularly bad because he woke up, already overloaded, and not standing a chance. More often than not, Emmett will struggle with his clothes in the morning, but we can work through it. On these days, Emmett has enough resources in his coping bank account to help him through. Unfortunately, there are some mornings where this coping bank account is already overdrawn. He was very clearly overdrawn this morning, and he wasn't able to tolerate wearing a shirt. We worked to help him through this from…

36 Comments
May 11, 2017