Read more about the article Writing with tear filled eyes
Autism Parenting Heartbreak / Gavin / My thoughts

Writing with tear filled eyes

Gavin's having a very rough day. On a good day, he's not running on all cylinders but anymore, it seems like his engine is barely turning over. He's not problem-solving anything lately. I have a really good example of this and it took place yesterday around lunchtime. While Gavin was making his lunch, he stopped, walked into the living room and asked if he could have a chicken patty for lunch. The answer of course was yes. He came back a minute later to ask how long he should put it in the air fryer for. He wanted it in there for 15 minutes, which is way, way too long. He should know the answer to this because he's done it plenty of times. I asked him why he didn't…

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March 11, 2019
Read more about the article A meltdown inducing dentist appointment today
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / My thoughts

A meltdown inducing dentist appointment today

We have an exciting day planned and by exciting I mean not fun at all. Mr. Emmett is returning to the dentist this afternoon because he has a baby tooth that needs fixed. When he was at the dentist a month ago, we discovered that he had the start of a cavity on the front of the tooth that had been in contact with his metal cap. The cap had left a mark on the tooth in question and the dentist wants to fix it before it can become a problem. It's minor enough that he shouldn't need to be numbed up or anything like that. I know it's a baby tooth but that tooth is not ready to come out and we don't want there to be any problems.…

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March 11, 2019
Read more about the article Gavin is losing skills and it’s heartbreaking
My thoughts

Gavin is losing skills and it’s heartbreaking

We've come to the realization that Gavin's level of regression has reached a new low. This has actually been coming for a little while now but we've had to pull some responsibilities away from him today. For the last couple of years, Gavin has been doing the dishes. I don't know what it is about doing the dishes that he likes but he was very much into it. Unfortunately, that time has come to an end because he's simply unable to wash the dishes anymore. We've been needing to either have him redo some of what he's done incorrectly or go back and do it ourselves. It's unfortunate but it doesn't make sense to do them twice, just so Gavin feels like he's helping, Lizze and I are taking that…

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March 11, 2019
Read more about the article Sometimes I struggle with feelings of being a terrible parent but not tonight
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

Sometimes I struggle with feelings of being a terrible parent but not tonight

I really struggle with feelings of being a terrible parent. I feel this way for a number of reasons but one of the biggest reasons revolves around failing to give my kids a better life. I know there's only so much I can do but I still feel like I'm failing them. Anyway, I decided to get them out of the house yesterday. Our house is so small. And they have nowhere to play. It breaks my heart to see them try have fun but end up getting frustrated. Honestly it feels pretty shitty. I'm very preoccupied but I wanted to stop what I was doing and give them my undivided attention. Lizze was sick and whatever I did, I would have to go it alone. After talking to the…

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March 10, 2019
Read more about the article We don’t always get to do what we want
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

We don’t always get to do what we want

Lizze is sick and the boys are driving me crazy. They have a ton of energy and are in desperate need of an outlet. Seeing as we can't really spend time in our yard, for various reasons, including safety, we need to find something else. The boys are bored of always going to the same park so I figured I'd take them hiking at Quail Hollow. I'm not really in the mood to take this on, especially alone but being a parent isn't always easy and we sometimes have to do things we don't feel like doing. It's actually a pretty nice day and it would be nice if we could take advantage of it. It's in the 50's and partly sunny, so why not do some hiking. On the…

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March 9, 2019
Read more about the article An Assault of Verbiage
My thoughts / Podcast

An Assault of Verbiage

I'm doing something a bit different with this episode of The Autism Dad Podcast. Last week I was supposed to be interviewing Harish Bikmal, the founder of Zenaviv. Unfortunately, there were some technical issues that interfered with recording and I had to reschedule. In order to sorta fill in the gap, I thought I would finally get to one of the requests I have been getting. Check out the bonus episode below and let me know what you think.. ☺

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March 8, 2019
Read more about the article ETY-Kids 5 Safe-Listening In-Ear Headphones by @WorldWideStereo (Review)
My thoughts / Reviews

ETY-Kids 5 Safe-Listening In-Ear Headphones by @WorldWideStereo (Review)

This brief review is a bit overdue as a result of a WordPress related glitch last week. I wanted to get this out there for parents who are worried about their kids damaging their hearing as a result of using headphones and listening at dangerously high volume levels. My Son Elliott has been using the Etymotic Research ETY-Kids 5 Safe-Listening In-Ear Headphones for a little while now. Elliott is huge into music and if he's awake, he's got earbuds in. He loves his Bose CQ 35 II NC headphones but can't wear them all the time. Lizze and I have been concerned about him damaging his hearing because he tends to listen at higher volumes. When I was approached to do this review, I jumped on it because Elliott loves…

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March 8, 2019
Read more about the article This unfortunate animal cracker led to a very awkward conversation with my youngest
Link / My thoughts

This unfortunate animal cracker led to a very awkward conversation with my youngest

For starters, we're dealing with an unexpected change in routine this morning. School was canceled because so many people are sick. There is strep throat, another unknown viral thing but there are also several confirmed cases of flu in the school. I can't stress enough just how important it is to get your flu shot every year. People actually die from the flu so get it done. 😉 Anyway, Lizze and I were sitting in the living room this morning, contemplating what to do with our day when we heard a ton of commotion from the boys room. I assumed they were fighting again because that's sorta their default setting at times and they're both thrown off by there being no school. As I stopped what I were doing and…

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March 7, 2019