Read more about the article We reached a unique and amazing milestone 
Gavin / Today's Victory

We reached a unique and amazing milestone 

Gavin's going to be eighteen years old in January, and I'm really trying to work on self-care type things with him. Things like showering, shaving, medications, personal hygiene, and even choosing appropriate clothes.  For the most part, showering, and medications are things that he can reliably do. Sometimes it can be hit or miss, but he really does a good job.  He's been shaving by himself with an electric razor for about a year or two. Sometimes he misses more than he gets, but he puts the effort in, and we just continue to practice.  Personal hygiene is something that we struggle with. Gavin is not very self-aware, and so he doesn't pay attention to food on his face, or toothpaste all over his mouth. This is definitely a work…

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July 6, 2017
Read more about the article Today’s Victory: He ate it
Emmett John / Today's Victory

Today’s Victory: He ate it

I'm pulling the trigger on this one a bit early but it's totally worth it.  In my last entry, I was talking about how Emmett would it longer eat corn dogs, one of the last goto foods he will still eat. I bought a big box while shopping because we are on a very meager budget this month and it's something Emmett always eats.  Unfortunately, the first couple of corn dogs he tried, tasted funny.  Generally speaking, if something tastes funny once, in Emmett's mind, it will never taste right again.  That being said, he wanted to try corn dogs for lunch today and while I didn't want to waste food again, if he wanted to try, I was all for it.  At first he ate one and then he…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article We’re celebrating a little victory today
Gavin / My thoughts / Today's Victory

We’re celebrating a little victory today

I've written this post out twice now and each time WordPress somehow eats it. For that reason, I'm going to keep this short and sweet..  I took Gavin with me to the grocery store the other day. He always wants to push the cart but I usually avoid this because he doesn't pay attention to his surroundings. He tends to run into people and things.  This time however, we weren't in a hurry and I could keep a close eye on him. You should see the look in his eyes when he can push the cart. It's very similar to a parent tossing their new teen driver the keys to the car.  He actually did pretty well. I had to stay on him but no one was hurt and nothing…

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March 26, 2017
Read more about the article The crew from @vivintgivesback flew out to spend the day with the @the_autism_dad family and it was awesome
Gallery / My thoughts / Today's Victory / Vivint Gives Back

The crew from @vivintgivesback flew out to spend the day with the @the_autism_dad family and it was awesome

Today was amazing.  For those tardy to the party, the crew from Vivint Gives Back, flew all the way from Utah to spend the day with my family. There was a great deal of stress and anxiety leading up to this, simply because trying to get the house presentable can present many challenges.  I don't need to explain that to many of you because you face many of the same daily challenges we do. The team from Vivint arrived on time and our day was soon underway. To put things simply, they were here to film a documentary or sorts, featuring both myself and my family.  This was done for a few reasons, but the biggest and most important were to raise awareness for Autism, as well as for the…

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July 28, 2016
Read more about the article We had a few pretty awesome #Autism victories this weekend
Today's Victory

We had a few pretty awesome #Autism victories this weekend

There are quite a few positive things to celebrate this weekend. It's sorta hard to focus on them because the boys are really struggling and that tends to overshadow things.  That being said, I wanted to shine the light on a few things that have been positive before continuing on with the less pleasant reality of our lives at the moment.  Gavin did something really awesome yesterday. While he was prompted to undertake this task, he did it entirely on his own and without any reminders.  Yesterday afternoon, Gavin went and collected up all his dirty laundry from his room and the Mt. Everest sized pile on the landing, going down to the basement. He put them into the washer, ran the washer, moved them to the dryer and then…

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August 30, 2015
Read more about the article Today’s Victory: Putting Others First
Gavin / Today's Victory

Today’s Victory: Putting Others First

This is a bit early for a Today's Victory but I was so impressed that I pulled the trigger and gave the award to Mr. Gavin.  We all know how picky Emmett is about everything in his life and if you don't, he's really, really, really, really picky. I'm talking so picky that it's very often, literally impossible to meet his needs, especially when it comes to food.  Emmett's in a fever flare and so he's eating a lot of ice cream and Popsicles because his mouth hurts so badly.  He's so picky about the color of the Popsicles and the condition they're in. For example, if the Popsicle is bent, cracked or otherwise imperfect, he won't be able to eat it.  Gavin asked for a Popsicle this afternoon and…

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August 19, 2015
Read more about the article Today’s Major #Autism Victory: Eating Dinner
Emmett John / Today's Victory

Today’s Major #Autism Victory: Eating Dinner

I don't have to explain how difficult it can be to get a child with Autism and/or Sensory Processing Disorder to most of you because you live it everyday.  This type of food proclivities run rampant in The Autism Dad household and meal times are very challenging as a result.  It's for this reason that I'm celebrating what I consider a major victory tonight.     Emmett is so difficult to feed, especially when he's in the midst of a fever flare. Last night was no exception. He hasn't been eating very much lately and I'm worried about him.  Last night I had everyone figured out but Emmett. He had no idea what he wanted for dinner and after the meltdown, he'd pretty much given up on eating. Honestly, it's a…

6 Comments
August 19, 2015