Read more about the article I don’t know why he won’t sleep but it’s getting old
Emmett John / Sleep Issues

I don’t know why he won’t sleep but it’s getting old

Emmett was unable to fall asleep once again last night.  We ended up camping out in the couches in the living room because it was the best way to keep tabs on him and hopefully get him to fall asleep. Sadly, we saw the hour of 2AM before he finally fell asleep.  In the above picture, Emmett's snuggling under a 25lb weighted blanket. This picture just happens to capture him in mid-point because he most definitely wasn't sleeping.  I was able to sleep for a short while after he fell asleep but I'm an exhausted walking zombie this morning.   Lizze and I just traded places and I thought I would finish this post before closing my eyes for a little bit. I need to be up in a little…

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August 10, 2016
Read more about the article Come see what Gavin did because I’m so stinking proud :) 
Gavin / Speech Therapy

Come see what Gavin did because I’m so stinking proud :) 

We've had a pretty good day. Gavin did really well at speech today.  In fact, he kicked ass. How can someone kick ass in Speech Therapy? Check this out... Gavin was given an assignment and that assignment was to write a game review of his favorite video game. Physically writing with a pencil and paper is really hard for him and so I suggested to his therapist that he type it in Microsoft Word on his tablet. She agreed that became the game plan for this task. The way I see it is that as long as he can type his words, that's pretty much all that's required anymore.  The important thing was that he create the original content and translate it into something that could be read by others.…

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August 9, 2016
Read more about the article Problems with Occupational Therapy 
Emmett John / Occupational Therapy

Problems with Occupational Therapy 

Gavin and I are here at Akron Children's Hospital for his Speech Therapy. While we were here, I had to check on what the deal was with Emmett's Occupational Therapy, since it was stopped during his Functional Independence Group.  The group finished up a week ago and Emmett was supposed to pick right back up but unfortunately, that's not going to happen.   His therapist had a baby (Congratulations again if you're reading this ☺️) and we were supposed to pick up with another therapist until she came back.  Something happened, Emmett has fallen off the schedule and no one knows why.  I've confirmed that Emmett will be without therapy until at least the second week in September.   This is really frustrating because Emmett is dying to return to…

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August 9, 2016
Read more about the article What do you struggle to keep in stock in your home? For us it’s toilet paper
My thoughts

What do you struggle to keep in stock in your home? For us it’s toilet paper

This may seem like a silly question but I think it will be interesting to see the various differences across households. Sometimes these things are related to Autism and other times they aren't.   In my household, we can't seem to keep toilet paper in the house.   We use Cottonelle toilet paper because it can be used as a paper towel in a pinch.  For some reason though, we just can't keep that in stock.  Part of the problem is related to Autism because the boys have a routine as far as the bathroom goes and go through a tremendous amount.  Often times it's needless because they aren't actually using the bathroom, they just think they need to and compulsively follow through on their routine.   Is there something…

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August 9, 2016
Read more about the article Progress has been made on the medication management front 
Medication Management

Progress has been made on the medication management front 

So I've mentioned before that we had switched to a new pharmacy because of all the problems we've had with Walgreens.  This new pharmacy can prepackage medications into daily doses and that eliminates the need to put meds together manually.   The first month we used this service, it was pretty rough because the meds were not correctly divided or weren't included because of refill dates.   We just began the second month and are much farther ahead this time around.   Elliott's and Emmett's box is perfect.  All I need to do is simply tear of the little packet off and dispense the medications.  It's so much easier.  Gavin's is almost perfect as well.  There are only two things left to fix and that will be done by next…

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August 9, 2016
Read more about the article Gavin gives an update on his latest mission 8/6/16 #schizoaffective
Gavin / Mission Debriefing / Schizoaffective Disorder

Gavin gives an update on his latest mission 8/6/16 #schizoaffective

Just so we're all on the same page.  Gavin suffers from a form of Schizophrenia called Schizoaffective Disorder.  He's currently in the midst of a psychotic break and living with both audio and visual hallucinations. Gavin likes to update me frequently on his missions and what's going on in his world's. Gavin spends a great deal of time in what he calls worlds.There are many of them and he's the ruler of them all.  He battles the evil forces of Eggman and Zurg with his band of visibly challenged, super best friends. I refer to them as his visibly challenged group of super best friends for a couple of reasons. For starters, they're his best friends, only he can see them and they're also super heros. I started using that…

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August 9, 2016
Read more about the article A MAJOR announcement and a few sidenotes
Announcements

A MAJOR announcement and a few sidenotes

I wanted to talk to you folks for a few minutes and explain a few changes that you may have noticed already. I've been officially sponsored for the very first time.  I so excited to share with you all that this blog has been sponsored by Vivint Gives Back. What does this mean? It's important to understand that this sponsorship is in regards to server fees only. Vivint Gives Back and The Autism Dad Blog are both on a similar path.  That path is one that's dedicated to helping the special needs community, especially those touched by Autism. Vivint Gives Back will be helping with server fees and that means that I no longer have to stress out of pocket expense in regards to the hosting of The Autism Dad Blog…

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August 8, 2016
Read more about the article Believe it or not, Monday and I are getting along today
My thoughts

Believe it or not, Monday and I are getting along today

I'm feeling pretty good today.  It's beautiful outside, the kids are mostly having a good day and there's not much to get done today.   For the first time in a little while, I'm feeling pretty chill. I mean, there are a great many things I'm worried about but my anxieties seem to be in check and I'm focusing more on the things I have control over st the moment.   I had a good night's sleep and maybe that helped.  That doesn't happen very often so it's sorta hard to know if that's impacting things right now or not.   We only have two places to be today.  Our Dr. Pattie appointment for this Wednesday was moved to today at 4pm and Lizze sees her psychiatrist to touch base…

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August 8, 2016