Gavin had a rough night

Gavin went to bed, not feeling well. His stomach was upset, and it took him quite awhile to fall asleep. We tried getting him to let us put a fan in his room, and he still didn't want it.  I don't think the heat is the issue, I'm leaning towards reflux again. He seems to be struggling with that lately. We have to be careful what he eats, although nothing is consistently causing him problems.  Tums seemed to help him enough to allow him to fall asleep. If it hadn't, we would have moved to Zofran, but we try to help him work through it without hardcore meds.  It worked because he's sleeping. I've checked on him a few times and he's out like a light.  Hopefully, he'll be feeling…

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Why he keeps forgetting the most basic things

Lately, Gavin's memory has been getting significantly worse. It was little things at first, like losing his shoes. When we went to the grocery store, he could find the items that I had always been able to send him for, and everything was in the same exact place.  We've moved to more serious things now.  The other day, when the boys came back from their Grandparents, Gavin just stood outside the front door. We have keyless entry, and all he has to do is put the code in, and the door unlocks.  I had to go open it for him because he forgot that he could let himself in. In fact, he didn't even see the keyless entry.  When I asked him why he didn't let himself in, he got…

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I have bad news and good news – Which do you want first? 

The boys are going to the dentist today. Originally, Lizze had class, and my Mom was going with me, but that's changed. Due to a temporary, but frustrating insurance issue, Lizze will not be in class today.  Part of me is upset because I know how important it is for her to be there, but the other part of me is all like, thank God because both boys are having work done at the same time, on opposite ends of the office, and I'm only one person.  My Mom was going to go, but since Lizze will be home, she doesn't have to anymore.  I don't know how much experience any of you have with Autistic kids and the dentist, but it's not always a good combination to say the…

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This really sucks 

Gavin and I were on our way to the grocery store when we got hit by a pretty major rain storm. Gavin doesn't walk in the rain, because he doesn't like to get wet. I suppose I don't blame him for that.  We're currently sitting in the parking lot at Giant Eagle, waiting out the rain.  They say in Ohio, if you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes. 

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We are facing a tough decision – What would you do? 

Later on this afternoon, we are supposed to travel to Y-Town. We are having a big family cookout for my Grandma's birthday. We are all pretty excited about going, because it's been awhile since we've been able to visit.  Unfortunately, we aren't sure whether or not we should go now.  On Friday, Gavin puked while at his Grandma's house. He says he's fine now, but we have to go by his behavior, and not his words. He spent a large part of the day sleeping, and that's a bit odd. He's also running a mild fever as well. He did have his IVIG infusion on Friday night, and perhaps it's still his body reacting to that. The other possibility is that he's actually fighting something off.  Next we have Mr.…

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New concerns with Gavin’s health have us worried

We're heading into a rough weekend. I need to catch you up on a few things I didn't get around to yesterday.  The most concerning issue at the moment is that Gavin wasn't feeling well while at his Grandma's house, and ended up vomiting. The question is whether or not he's actually sick. I tend to think he isn't sick, and here's why.  Gavin will over-eat if he's not very closely monitored. I suspect that he ate too much and ended up with a tummy ache.  Historically, if Gavin even thinks he's going to vomit, he'll get himself all worked up, and end up vomiting, even if he didn't need to. He gets it stuck in his head and inadvertently ends up making himself vomit. We've seen this countless times. …

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Read more about the article Using everyday activities to work on important life skills
Using everyday activities that work on important life skills I wanted to show an example of how, as parents, we can use everyday activities to help teach our kids with Autism, valuable life skills. Life skills are important because they are necessary for independence. My oldest is very low functioning and I use every opportunity to work on life skills with him. Today happen to be grocery shopping and bagging groceries. This isn't nearly as easy as it sounds. It can take a great deal of repetition, patience and smashed bread. Lol The end result is worth it when he learns a new skill, even if it's not perfect, and it's never perfect. It's all about progress and moving forward. Seize every opportunity you can to help you kids learn important life skills, as early as possible. The sooner you start, the better, because it can take time...

Using everyday activities to work on important life skills

Using everyday activities that work on important life skills I wanted to show an example of how, as parents, we can use everyday activities to help teach our kids with Autism, valuable life skills. Life skills are important because they are necessary for independence. My oldest is very low functioning and I use every opportunity to work on life skills with him. Today Gavin was experiencing grocery shopping and bagging said groceries. This isn't nearly as easy as it sounds. It can take a great deal of repetition, patience and smashed bread. Lol The end result is worth it when he learns a new skill, even if it's not perfect, and it's never perfect. It's all about progress and moving forward. Seize every opportunity you can to help you kids…

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Gavin’s having health issues tonight

You may recall that Gavin sorta refused his IVIG infusion this morning, because he had a mission to go on first (see Why I'm worried about Gavin today). We were simply going to do his infusion tonight, because it wasn't a huge deal. It was the fact he wanted to put it off, and the reasons why he wanted to put it off, that concerned me.  After dinner, he was getting ready to get his supplies together, and he got hit with some major reflux. It put him down for an hour or so because he wasn't feeling well.  I decided that we would put his infusion off until the morning, because he's already struggling and the infusion is pretty rough on his body.  Once the reflux subsided, he was hit…

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