Read more about the article I’m no longer associated with Guardian Locate 
Announcements

I’m no longer associated with Guardian Locate 

I have a very important announcement to make and I want to do so in the most tactful way possible. Please understand that I'm not opening this up to questions because I'm not sure it's appropriate.  As you may or may not know, I co-founded a company called Guardian Locate. The mission was to provide state of the art tracking devices for people with a propensity to wander. Think kids with Autism or people with Alzheimer's.  For the past four or five years, this has been a project that I've devoted a great deal of time and energy towards. I'd attached both my name and reputation to this project, which believe it or not, carries some weight in this community.  As of about a week ago, I've terminated my involvement…

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March 27, 2017
Read more about the article It’s Spring Break and I’m trying not to stress out over it
My thoughts

It’s Spring Break and I’m trying not to stress out over it

Today marks the first official week of Spring Break. This means that the boys will be home all week.  Spring Break is like a practice run for Summer Vacation. We get a chance to remember how challenging it is before we're thrown into roughly one hundred days of the boys being home.  I really enjoy the boys being home but we need to plan for things that will keep them occupied, and TV/video games will only make up a tiny part of those plans.  Things are a bit tight financially because I lost a good chunk of my income and that's actually something I need to talk about, but in a different entry.  I'm not sure how the weather's going to hold up this week. If it's nice, we can…

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March 26, 2017
Read more about the article My kids are driving me completely insane today and here’s why
Autism Parenting Woes / My thoughts

My kids are driving me completely insane today and here’s why

Holy shit..... My kids are driving me completely bonkers today. I like to think I'm in a good enough place to be able to cope longer with some of this stuff but not today. Gavin will not stop talking. In fact, he literally follows me around the house, talking at me and not to me. I have to actually tell him to stop talking to me, and hate doing that but I swear to God, if he doesn't stop, I'm going to lose my mind. Elliott and Emmett are both handfuls as well. Elliott is generally disagreeable and easily irritated. He's doing this thing where he feels the need to correct what other people are saying and it's driving me nuts. Emmett's meltdown meter is buried in the red, meaning…

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March 26, 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 When good news is heartbreaking 
Gavin / My thoughts

When good news is heartbreaking 

I wanted to share some insight into what it's like to be heartbroken by good news. I know that sounds weird but let me explain.  On Tuesday, we were informed that Gavin has graduated from speech therapy. He had brought his scores up in several areas and he no longer fit the criteria that would enable him to continue.  On the surface that sounds like amazing news and in some ways it is. Gavin's worked very hard to make some of these improvements and we're proud of him. The heartbreak comes when you see beneath the surface and understand what this graduation really amounts to. The reality that my wife and I face is that we're so happy and proud of Gavin for doing so well in speech. On the…

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March 24, 2017
Read more about the article Why I’ve had a change of heart about #Autism Awareness month
Autism Awareness Month / Inspirational Posts / Vivint Gives Back

Why I’ve had a change of heart about #Autism Awareness month

As one ages through life, one tends to gain wisdom and insight that they were previously lacking. What I mean by wisdom is learning from one's past and gaining insights into different ways of thinking. I'm absolutely no exception to this, and I want to share something that I've recently had a change of heart about. We all know that April is Autism Awareness month. This is the one time of year where the world's eyes and ears are pointed in our direction (the Autism community). In the past, I've taken a pretty hardline stance on the Autism Speaks Light it up Blue campaign. I've been very vocal about how I feel that buying a blue light bulb is more about padding the bottom line than raising Autism Awareness. While…

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March 23, 2017
Read more about the article Here’s what happened
Announcements

Here’s what happened

It's been a few days and there are a few reasons for that. The biggest however, is that this site went down and it took me almost three days to fix it. I'm still not sure what happened but I've rebuilt from the ground up and I think everything is in the exact same place it was before. I've been extremely frustrated since this while thing began and I dislike not knowing what's actually wrong. There's still a few things that need to be located, identified and fixed but I'm waiting on the guys at Automattic to get back to me. I just wanted to apologize for the down time and thank you all for sticking around. There's a lot to update you on and I'll do my best to…

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March 22, 2017
Read more about the article Why getting my youngest with #Autism to school is so exhausting 
Autism Parenting Woes / Emmett John / My thoughts

Why getting my youngest with #Autism to school is so exhausting 

Remember last night when I said that I suspected Emmett was going to have a difficult time this morning? That turned out to be the understatement of the year.  Emmett was beside himself all morning long. Lizze and I tried forever to help him through whatever emotional hurdle was in his way but we didn't manage to do that.  We did however, manage to get him to agree to go with me and talk to his teachers.  In order to further redirect his attention away from his anxieties, I picked up donuts while getting gas on our way to school. We ended up being thirty minutes late but we made it. He didn't even need me to walk him in because the redirection was a success..  This is great news…

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March 20, 2017