Read more about the article 10 Things all new #Autism parents need to know 
10 Things / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

10 Things all new #Autism parents need to know 

It's not very often that I outright give anyone advice. I may stress the importance of certain things, but I dislike telling anyone what to do because everyone's situation is so different and I'm not walking in your shoes. Having said that, and in the spirit of Autism Awareness month, I thought I would break from tradition and offer some advice for those of you out there, just beginning your Autism Parenting journey. One of the things I remember the most upon hearing that my son had Autism, was a profound sense of my world crashing down around me. I felt like I was unprepared for this new journey and frankly, I was. I was heartbroken, angry, scared, confused and overwhelmed. I didn't know what Autism was, let alone anyone…

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April 10, 2017
Read more about the article Everyone in the house was exhausted today
General Update / My thoughts

Everyone in the house was exhausted today

It's been a blah day here in The Autism Dad household. Everyone left home today was really, really tired.  Gavin slept a good part of the morning, as did Lizze and I. Emmett just layer in bed and watched a movie.  After waking up, I feel much more capable of taking on the day, at least what's left of it. I still have Gavin's IVIG infusion to do this afternoon but at the moment, I'm waiting to pick up Elliott from school.  I'll write something a bit more coherent in a little bit. My brain is in quite a few different places right now. 

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April 10, 2017
Read more about the article Emmett didn’t go to school today and it’s thrown our day off
Emmett John / My thoughts / PFAPA

Emmett didn’t go to school today and it’s thrown our day off

Unfortunately, Emmett didn't go to school this morning. He's having an okay morning but it's obvious that something's isn't right. Elliott did really awesome this morning and we got off to school on time, even besting bus 38... ☺ Emmett being home has thrown our day off, but we've adjusted and have been able to move forward regardless.  We also have a sick cat that had to get into the vet this morning. She's had explosive diarrhea and it wasn't getting better. The first appointment they had available was 9:30 AM this morning.  Thankfully, she's going to be okay but we have quite a bit of medicine to force feed her for the next few days. Fun..... 

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April 10, 2017
Read more about the article Emmett’s running another fever tonight because what’s 1 more missed day of school 
Emmett John / My thoughts / PFAPA

Emmett’s running another fever tonight because what’s 1 more missed day of school 

Emmett spent the evening in the worst mood imaginable. He had a zero tolerance for everything. Several meltdowns were had in a relatively short period of time, with each one being as unpleasant as the next.  I decided to check Emmett's temperature and son of a bitch, he's running a fever. It's low grade and just under 101°F, but it's another piece of the puzzle.  Unfortunately, the school has a fever policy and anyone with a temperature of 99.5°F is sent home. They've bumped that up a little bit for Emmett but at the moment, he's still over the limit.  We've been suspecting for a few days now that he was hitting a fever flare, but the demeanor and fever pretty much confirm it now.  He has state testing tomorrow…

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April 10, 2017
Read more about the article Too much of anything can be a bad tbing
My thoughts

Too much of anything can be a bad tbing

The boys arrived home and seemed to have had a good time, which isn't surprising.  They didn't even make it in the door before they immediately began asking to play the Xbox. Lizze and I told them no because they literally just walked in the door. That didn't make them very happy...  I love video games and always have. It's a great way to decompress or escape for a little while but all in moderation. Too much of anything can be a bad thing.  We're gonna have to keep working on this. 

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April 9, 2017
Read more about the article This is why I’m not doing so well today
My thoughts

This is why I’m not doing so well today

The boys are spending the day with their Grandparents and I just woke up from my nap. I've been in pretty rough shape the last few days because my back has gone out.  I suffered a major back injury back in 2001 and it took the better part of twelve years to finally manage the pain.  I've been doing really well that past few years, mostly because I discovered that fitness walking helped tremendously.  I'm not sure what has happened but the pain is so bad, it takes my breath away. Walking isn't the fix all at the moment because when I try, my legs physically give out. It's one of those things where I step funny, and literally lose control of my lower body.  While this sucks, I'm not…

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April 9, 2017
Read more about the article Impressive artwork by Emmett
Artwork / Emmett John / My thoughts

Impressive artwork by Emmett

The other day, Emmett brought this picture home from school. I guess he drew this during his free time and wanted to share it.  I'm impressed with this because he drew a 3D block and then drew it pulled apart, in 3D. That takes some insight into how to manipulate 3D objects and then draw them based on what he sees in his head. ☺ 

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April 9, 2017
Read more about the article Has anyone faced this bizarre #sensory processing issue before? 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

Has anyone faced this bizarre #sensory processing issue before? 

Recently, Emmett has been struggling a great deal more with eating. If you've followed our story for awhile, you might recall that we have an enormous challenge when it comes to Emmett and eating. He's extremely sensory oriented and struggles with things like food, clothes, noise and shitload of anxiety. The anxiety serves to make everything worse. Anyway, Emmett has a very small menu of foods he'll eat, and that makes it challenging to feed him. He's very sensitive to things like taste, smell, color, shape, packaging, presentation and imperfections. It's not uncommon for me to have to remake something a few times because something about it wasn't right. Recently, Emmett has begun saying things like, this doesn't taste right. The problem is, what doesn't taste right, happens to be…

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April 8, 2017