Read more about the article How we finally got our child with #Autism to fall asleep in his own bed
Autism Parenting Woes / Emmett John / My thoughts

How we finally got our child with #Autism to fall asleep in his own bed

Here's a little story about an eight year old with Autism, who was unable to fall asleep in his own bed at night.  This little boys name is Emmett and this has been a long standing issue.  He's had some really bad nightmares while in his bed. Based on a very common trait with people on the spectrum called generalization, Emmett now believes that he will always have nightmares when he falls asleep.   We've tried all kinds of things: New beds New mattresses  Night lights  Flashlights Things that project very peaceful light shows onto the ceiling Magic spray Leaving a calming show on repeat on their TV Diffusers with essential oils  Music Door open and door closed These are just a few things off the top of my head…

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December 10, 2016
Read more about the article Guess who fell asleep in their own bed tonight
Emmett John / Good News

Guess who fell asleep in their own bed tonight

Much of the news tonight is of a very positive nature, and that feels awesome.  We ended our night by discovering that Mr. Emmett had fallen asleep in his own bed for the first time in I don't know how long.  This is huge for us because it's been a struggle.   I realize it's only been one time but that one time means it's possible and possible gives me hope that we'll be able to work through this challenging situation with our youngest.  Awesome job Emmett...  ☺ 💙 

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December 8, 2016
Emmett John

Unfortunately, Emmett’s sick

Emmett ended up home from school again today. This time is wasn't sensory related. I mentioned yesterday that Emmett appeared to be getting sick and I was right.  Unfortunately, he's dealing with what probably amounts to a cold or sinus thing. He's congested, his nose is stuffy and his throat hurts.  It's nothing serious but it's making him seriously miserable.  Right now, he's snuggled up with Mommy and watching Inside Out. We're keeping everything low key and relaxing today. There's nothing on the schedule so we aside from getting Elliott from school, we have nowhere to be. ☺  Hopefully, Emmett will feel better soon because he's really sensitive when he's sick, even more so than usual. 

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November 30, 2016
Emmett John / School / Sensory / Shoes and Socks

Sensory issues kept my son home from school again

The boys were up early once again. Everything was fine until it was time to get dressed and ready for school. Correction.. Everything was fine until it came time for Emmett to put something on his feet.   Lizze and I worked for at least an hour to help Emmett tolerate something on his feet.  We tried countless shoe/flipflop/slipper/crocs combinations both with and without socks. Nothing worked.   Lizze worked to desenitize his feet with deep pressure and spending some time in the rice box. We have a large box fill with dry rice and Emmett likes to stand in it. It has helped in the past but not today.  He wanted to go to school so badly but his body was fighting him at every turn.   Part of…

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November 29, 2016
Read more about the article Why #sensory issues kept my son home from school today
Emmett John / Sensory / Shoes and Socks

Why #sensory issues kept my son home from school today

Emmett woke up this morning and was so sensory sensitive, he barely tolerated his pants and shirt.   He was able to wear his clothes for the most part but when it came to shoes and socks, there simply wasn't any wiggle room.  Emmett loves school and doesn't want to stay home but at the same time, he's so overwhelmed by his sensory processing issues that he couldn't even compose himself.   Unfortunately, we had to take Elliott to school and we were already running late.  Lizze and I decided that with an inch of snow on the ground, that it was too cold (27°F) for him to wear his flip-flops to school.  We offered to have him just wear his slippers to school and then bring his flip flops…

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November 21, 2016
Elliott / Emmett John / General Medical Stuff

DON’T MISS: Important Update on Elliott and Emmett

It's time to play a little game called catch up. When we met with Dr. Reynolds last week, we also made some decisions about Elliott and Emmett. Unfortunately, I got tunnel vision with all that was happening to Gavin that I never got around to this.  After speaking with Dr. Reynolds about both Elliott and Emmett, it was decided that we would be removing all of the medications, with the exception of their ADHD meds. There were several reasons for this but the main one is that the medications don't appear to be doing anything.  Over the next 15 days, we will be weaning them off of these meds as per Dr. Reynolds instructions. I don't expect to see any negative changes in behaviors as a result. There is a very…

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November 20, 2016
Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

I don’t have any shits left to give today 

I was going to try and find some witty way of doing this post. I was going to try and find some humor in it because I'm trying to be positive. Unfortunately, I just can't make that happen without being totally disingenuous and I'm not going to do that.  Today has been a trial of patience for both Lizze and myself. It's only 8:30am and I'm already done for the day.  Here's the deal...  Emmett woke up in a good mood. He woke up early and climbed into our bed to snuggle. Who isn't up to snuggle one of their kids in the morning? In fact, I thought to myself, oh thank God he's in a good mood today because that will make for a good morning.  Unfortunately, that prediction…

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November 17, 2016
Emmett John / Meltdowns / Sensory / Shoes and Socks

Zero to Meltdown

I talked this morning about how awesome it was that the boys got themselves dressed and ready for school before we even woke up. That's all very true and something I'm quite proud of them for.  Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends and the meltdowns begin.  Emmett was fine until it became time to put something on his feet. He's been wearing slippers to school without socks for about a week or so but for some reason, he wasn't able to tolerate them today.  He went from having a great morning to an ear drum shattering meltdown in nothing flat.  We finally ended up settling on flip flops but packed his slippers and a pair of socks should he change his mind.  The whole thing lasted roughly twenty minutes…

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November 16, 2016