Read more about the article Why lunch was a sensory nightmare
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / Feeding Problems / Fever Cycle / My thoughts / PFAPA / Sensory

Why lunch was a sensory nightmare

Emmett's still in the opening stretch of his current fever cycle, and he's incredibly difficult to manage as a result. I've mentioned before that when he's in a fever flare, many of his Autism related challenges are exacerbated.  Typically, the biggest challenge during the period of time the flare is active is sensory related.  He becomes so much more sensitive to everything around him.  Making lunch today was a nightmare that resulted in a massive, but relatively short lived meltdown. It had to do with a pepperoni sandwich that wasn't perfect.  Sometimes he likes to make his own sandwich because it must be perfect. I should also add that he rarely ever eats a sandwich because he rarely eats bread. I don't know why it's okay sometimes and not okay…

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July 27, 2017
Read more about the article #Autism Parenting: Some days are worse than others
Autism Parenting Insight / Clothes / Emmett John / My thoughts / Sensory

#Autism Parenting: Some days are worse than others

We had a really challenging day. Rather, Emmett had a very challenging day, and subsequently, so did the rest of us.  Any parent would gladly take away their child's burden and shoulder it themselves, but when it comes to Autism, there's no possibility of that. No matter what we do, sometimes we just can't help him.  For me personally, this was an emotionally draining day because Emmett was completely out of sorts for most of it.  The main issue for the first part of the day was clothing related. He couldn't wear any shirt. There's one shirt that he can wear, and we can't find it. It's got a picture of a pug wearing sunglasses and headphones. It's nowhere to be found.  His other shirts are bothering his shoulders. He…

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July 10, 2017
Read more about the article Handling meals in an #Autism household
Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

Handling meals in an #Autism household

Keeping it simple for dinner tonight. While I was able to go shopping last week, I wasn't able to go extensive shopping.  I rarely actually cook anymore because no one ever eats the same thing.  We try to stock things we know the boys will usually eat. Things like Ramen Noodles, chicken nuggets, hardboiled eggs, cereal, fruit, and other things that can be quickly put together.  I wish we could do complete meals but the kids struggle too much with sensory processing issues and that's not easily accomplished, especially in a limited budget.  How do you handle mealtimes in your Autism household? 

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June 18, 2017
Read more about the article Some creative ways of meeting my kids sensory needs
Some creative ways of meeting my kids sensory needs
Emmett John / My thoughts / Photography / Sensory

Some creative ways of meeting my kids sensory needs

  I'm trying to find some creative ways to help meet my kids' many sensory needs. The idea is to find constructive ways to getting a sensory fix, without destroying our house. lol In the picture above, Emmett is running this rock wall, like it's an obstacle course. He loves it, and it seems to help him get what he needs. Unfortunately, he wants to continue increasing the difficulty level. The challenge for me is finding ways to do that without making things too dangerous. For now, this is working and it will buy me a little time... :-)

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June 4, 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 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…

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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…

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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