Meltdowns – Page 3 – The Autism Dad

Gavin had a massive meltdown and it sucked

Lizze and I have been keeping a close eye on Gavin. We always keep a close eye on Gavin but more so now because of his medication changes. Gavin had another meltdown yesterday evening over something that wasn't a big deal, at least not to us. Gavin is always asking for ways he can help and typically won't stop until we give him something to do. If we don't, he gets this sad expression on his face and will repeatedly return, asking the same question. Some of the things Gavin has been doing are the laundry (putting into the washer and switching to the dryer), dishes, managing the recycling and helping with the pets. All these things are important life skills he needs to know anyway, and the more practice…

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October 24, 2017

Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

Emmett’s Day: From Meltdowns to More Meltdowns

I mentioned previously that Emmett had a rough morning. His morning was actually going quite well until he realized that Elliott was going to be home sick. In case you're new here, it's important to understand that Emmett does not like change. It would be more accurate to say that Emmett hates change with every fiber of his being. Not doing well with change is a trait that many on the Autism Spectrum share, both children and adults. Emmett was fine this morning until he found out that he would be going to school by himself, meaning that Elliott wouldn't be in the school building because he was sick. This is a change to Emmett's routine and it totally threw him off. He was so freaked out over this that…

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October 23, 2017

Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

Massive Morning #Meltdown

Elliott had a really good morning but Emmett's was pretty rough. He had a pretty massive meltdown over some confusion about when we are supposed to sign his homework folder. He was thinking that since it's Tuesday, we should be signing for Tuesday. We tried explaining to him that we don't sign for Tuesday until he comes home from school and we go through his folder. I explained that we signed Monday's spot and will sign for Tuesday, when he gets home from school today. He was so freaked out, I had to call the school so they could verify that Lizze and I were correct, and Emmett could relax. Even that didn't help him feel better about this whole folder thing. This is pretty straight forward logic, and I'm…

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September 19, 2017

Autism Parenting Woes / Meltdowns / My thoughts

I got my ass kicked today

We had a few massive meltdowns today. One was courtesy of Emmett, one thanks to Elliott and a third by none other than Gavin himself. Emmett's meltdown was easily the most difficult. He was freaking out because the caramel apple he was going to eat, wasn't perfect after he peeled the paper off. Some of the caramel stuck to the paper. He completely lost it. To make things worse, he soon realized that he had forgotten his tablet at school. Lizze called the school to make sure there was time for me to head back and retrieve his tablet. By the time I made it back home with his tablet, he was in a much better place. Unfortunately, I no sooner walk into the door than I faced with another…

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September 14, 2017

Emmett John / Feeding Problems / Meltdowns / My thoughts / Sensory

Tonight’s meltdown just about pushed me over the edge

We lived through a massive Emmett meltdown this evening. This particular meltdown was in regards to his dinner and it was a doozy, as well as being partly my fault. Emmett is very sensitive when it comes to food. He has major sensory related issues that make feeding him very challenging because the menu of foods that he'll eat is very limited. I was making him and Elliott dinner last night. They both wanted corndogs. The corn dogs have to be cooked a certain way, or Emmett won't eat them. First, we have to microwave it for thirty seconds, no more no less. If the crust cracks, he won't touch it so we have to be careful. After the microwave, the corn dog goes into the air fryer for seven…

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September 7, 2017

Autism Parenting Insight / Emmett John / Insights and Education / Inspirational Posts / Meltdowns / My thoughts

Understanding a devastating #meltdown from start to finish

My goal with this post is to help you understand the meltdown process from start to finish. I'm hoping to reinforce that meltdowns are not behavioral problems. Meltdowns do not require discipline and aren't indicative or bad parenting or a bad child. I am using an example that happened in our lives recently, to help you better understand meltdowns. We went to the grocery store in order for Emmett to pick out his birthday cake. It was a momentary lapse in judgment, and believe me, I paid the price for it. In truth, Lizze, Emmett, and I paid a price for it. The store had tons of ice cream cakes, but the only white or yellow cakes had a graduation theme. The theme was only plastic decorations that could be…

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July 2, 2017

Autism Parenting Struggles / Elliott / Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

More bloodcurdling screams and massive meltdowns after midnight

I didn't get a chance to write much today, and there's a good reason for that. I was up all night with both Elliott and Emmett. I don't know why Elliott was up but it's concerning when we've possibly got Bipolar disorder on the radar. As for Emmett, he was nauseous and running a fever. He was set up on the couch, with a puke bucket and a very low threshold for anything. Being up all night would have been bad enough, but he wasn't just awake. Emmett was having massive meltdowns into the wee hours of the morning. These weren't mini-meltdowns either. It was a super surprised that someone didn't call the police kind of meltdowns. This, of course, didn't help Elliott sleep, but he was already not sleeping…

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July 1, 2017

Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

Slowly erroding away my sanity

Today has been full of meltdowns thus far. Emmett is in a horrible mood this afternoon, and when he's in a horrible mood, everyone around him knows it. The weather is shitty and there isn't much that can be done outside today. I was up with Elliott for most of the night because he was upset and unable to sleep. Out the gate, I'm at a disadvantage, as my resources have been depleted. Gavin's been sleeping for the last few hours, even through all the meltdowns. I wish I was able to filter things out like that. lol I'm not sure how I'm going to survive today. The screaming is slowly by surely erroding any my sanity.. O_o

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June 23, 2017