Read more about the article It’s been a multiple meltdown Monday
Meltdowns / My thoughts

It’s been a multiple meltdown Monday

Deep breath... Count to 10....  Get your butt in timeout.... Those are the things I kept telling myself today as I tried my best to help the kids make it through what turned out to be a very, very challenging day.  Elliott has had no less than 6 meltdowns today. Emmett put his name on the ballot with a few meltdowns himself as well. The most concerning for me personally though was Gavin.     For the sake of keeping this post brief, I'll just say that Gavin's spent a large part of today being very frustrated with himself.  He's right on the edge of having a full blown stomping, kicking, screaming and self injurious meltdown. It's been so long since I've seen him like this and I'm not sure what's…

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article My son with #Autism wrote a note and it brought me to tears 
Elliott / My thoughts

My son with #Autism wrote a note and it brought me to tears 

I was going through the left over papers from last school year and I stumbled across this. It was written by Elliott about himself. The circumstances in which he wrote this are unknown to me at the moment. I really felt a surge of pride for him when I read it.  He spends so much time feeling down, anxious, overwhelmed, angry and just generally freaked out, that reading what he wrote about himself feels so good.  I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a bit because when you have a child that's struggling, seeing any sign of positivity breathes new hope into your life..     I realize that the note is from earlier in the year but that doesn't matter because sometimes you just need a little reminder for hope…

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article Monday’s off to a pretty good start :)
My thoughts

Monday’s off to a pretty good start :)

I mentioned in a previous post that we are moving to our school schedule about 2 weeks prior to the first day back.  The boys need ample time to adjust and then a helps to accomplish that.  I've been up and moving since my alarm went off this morning as well. No desperately needed naps for this guy.  I pushed through the exhaustion and found my second wind. 😀 I got my 20 minutes on the treadmill, which kicked my ass but I feel really good.  I do not like walking or running on the treadmill because it's harder to track actually distance with any degree of accuracy.  Walking the track at the park is like my absolute favorite thing to do at this point in my newly single Dad…

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article John Oliver exposes how televangelists are ripping people off, in a hilarious way **Must See**
Fun and Funny

John Oliver exposes how televangelists are ripping people off, in a hilarious way **Must See**

If you haven't seen John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, you're missing out. Tune in every Sunday on HBO... I wanted to start sharing these because not only are his monologues amazing, they're also incredibly entertaining as well. We all need to laugh and this is a great way to actually learn something while you're doing it.. This is probably not appropriate for kids... https://youtu.be/7y1xJAVZxXg

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article We’ve begun our back to school rehearsals
My thoughts

We’ve begun our back to school rehearsals

Kids on the Autism Spectrum are creatures of habit that typically don't do well with change. My kids are no exception.  When it comes to starting back at school, I've found that if we begin practicing our back to school routine a head of time, it sorta smooths out the transition a little bit. My kids go back to school on September 1st and so I've begun practicing bedtimes and wake up times with the boys.     I've set their bedtime for 9pm and wake up time for 7:15am.  My goal is to give them a little bit of time to adjust to everything before they have no choice.   I'm getting excited because in about two weeks, I'll finally be somewhat of a break during the day. I'll still…

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article Gavin’s developed a bad habit and I can’t seem to break him of it 
Gavin / My thoughts

Gavin’s developed a bad habit and I can’t seem to break him of it 

Gavin is such a good kid and he's come such a long way over the last year. Lately however, I've been seeing quite a few steps backwards and it's got me a little bit worried. It's really kinda bizarre because as he's slipping, as I have affectionately dubbed it, some old behavioral issues are resurfacing once again. I fear before too long, I'm going to be seeing full fledged meltdowns/tantrums again but that's for another post at another time.  For the last few weeks, I've been trying to get Gavin to stop pointing with his middle finger.  If you didn't know him, he would honestly appear to be telling you silently, to fuck off. That's not what he's doing but I can think of a million situations this could get him…

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August 17, 2015
Read more about the article The Weird Shit I Catch My Kids Doing :)
Weird Shit I Catch My Kids Doing

The Weird Shit I Catch My Kids Doing :)

While it shouldn't be any state secret that special needs parenting can be extremely challenging, it can also be very entertaining as well.  One of the things I love most about each of my kids is the way their mind works. I just love it because quite often, you can just see the gears turning as they are contemplating whatever it is they're focused on in that moment.  This evening, Emmett kept going up and down the stairs. Everything he came back down, he would tell me that Blue, his cat is still in the same place he's been for awhile.     At first I just told him that cats don't always move around a lot during the day but throughout the evening, he was very persistent about Blue not…

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August 16, 2015
Read more about the article The Lighter Side of #Autism: This is how we watch TV in The Autism Dad house
YouTube Video

The Lighter Side of #Autism: This is how we watch TV in The Autism Dad house

I thought I would try and record some of the signature Autism, ADHD and Sensory related things my kids do without even realizing it.  Mr. Emmett has this constant need to bounce and the most constructive/nondestructive means by which he can fill this sensory related need is by using a yoga ball.  I don't let him do this when he's eating for obvious safety reasons but watching TV, playing video games and just about everything else can make use of this little sensory tool.  https://youtu.be/FAssgciwibA

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August 16, 2015