Read more about the article Do you have a #selfcare buddy?
Family Pets / My thoughts / Ruby / Self-Care

Do you have a #selfcare buddy?

Lizze took the boys to school and let me sleep in this morning. She's pretty awesome. Actually, she's pretty and awesome. 😉 Anyway, she had an appointment this morning, and when she got back, I was able to go for my walk. I don't usually like walking between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM, especially when the sun is blasting but I slathered on some SPF 50, packed up my self-care buddy and hit the park. If you've not figured out yet, Ruby is my self-care buddy. She's quite passionate about walking and will relentlessly me until we go to the park. This really helps, especially on the days I don't feel like going. 😀 Everyone should have a self-care buddy. It's roughly 80°F and incredibly humid today,…

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May 23, 2019
Read more about the article My son asked that I share this
Artwork / Gavin / My thoughts

My son asked that I share this

Gavin has been a Sonic fan for most of his life. Sonic is also one of the main characters in his Schizophrenic hallucinations. We hear about Sonic all the time, and while we can't see him, he often accompanies us where ever we go. Anyway, the point is, Sonic is very important to Gavin. It's been a good while since Gavin spent time drawing. He's usually too busy running missions with Sonic and the rest of his superhero team. The other day, however, Gavin came downstairs after having drawn and colored this picture of Sonic. He's super proud of himself and asked that I share his work with my readers. ☺ I'm always thrilled when my kids are creative, and I'm also excited to share my kid's artwork. I think…

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May 23, 2019
Read more about the article I get demoralized at times and wish I could do better
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

I get demoralized at times and wish I could do better

Do you ever have those days where you can't shake a bad mood? I'm totally having one of those days right now. I'm not angry or anything like that. I do, however, feel frustrated for a number of reasons and overwhelmed by a great many things in my life. All I want to do is focus I on improving our quality of life, even a tiny amount. School let's out in five days, and we have a long summer ahead of us. There's a zero percent chance of us being able to afford going on any type of vacation, but we're going to try to get in as many day trips as we can. Even that's likely to be a struggle, but it's important that we give the kids the…

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May 22, 2019
Read more about the article Today just keeps on giving
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

Today just keeps on giving

It's been another long night, and I'm just now getting around to writing anything. Mr. Emmett is all sorts of miserable because of his current fever flare, resulting in painful mouth sores, and is not very pleasant to be around at the moment. I can't really blame him. He's in a shitload of pain. This will be day two of the increased dose of his anti-virals, and we're hoping this helps to provide him with relief as soon as possible. Lizze's had a doctors appointment this morning, and as a result, I was not able to go walking until after lunch. Gavin's been keeping to himself for most of the day, and the times I have seen him, he's barking orders for things he wants me to get the next…

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May 21, 2019
Read more about the article My 19-year-old #Autistic son totally impressed me
Akron Children's Hospital / Autism Parenting Insight / Gavin / My thoughts / Psychiatry

My 19-year-old #Autistic son totally impressed me

When Gavin was younger, he was admitted to the psych unit at Akron Children's Hospital more times than I can remember. It was always a last resort but a necessary action when things got really bad, and he needed acute stabilization. Anyway, Gavin's doing so much better now, but he's beginning to struggle once again. Most of this struggle revolves around him, managing his frustration. It's not easy for him because he's very easily frustrated and often has unrealistic expectations of himself. The other day, Gavin came downstairs and wanted to show me something. He'd been straightening up his room and came across one of his old folders from a psych stay at Akron Children's. Inside it, he found some of the work he'd done while he was there. In…

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May 20, 2019
Read more about the article There’s no chance of that happening today
My thoughts

There’s no chance of that happening today

I didn't sleep very well last night. I'm really feeling stressed out, and I woke up almost every hour throughout the night. My brain was just churning out endless amounts of worry, and it kept waking me up. I was able to get the boys off to school on time and then go for my walk. Ruby, of course, went along with me. When I got home, I was able to work on a little writing before having to take Lizze to an appointment before lunch. Halfway to her doctor's office, the school called, and Emmett needed to be picked up. He apparently has a very bad mouth sore and was unable to make it through the day. He almost never comes home for these anymore and the fact that…

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May 20, 2019
Read more about the article What happened at the @ClevelandClinic last week?
Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

What happened at the @ClevelandClinic last week?

I just realized I neglected to mention how Lizze's appointment with the Neurological Center for Pain at the Cleveland Clinic went. For starters, the staff was absolutely amazing. Not that it's a surprise, but it really is important to note that because we've had some truly awful experiences with other medical facilities in the past. The Cleveland Clinic, however, never disappoints. Anyway, as I had previously mentioned, Lizze needed to decide how to proceed with her migraine medication called Aimovig. Aimovig is a once a month autoinjector that is designed to help prevent migraines by blocking a protein thought to trigger migraines. Lizze has been on the lowest dose for about four months now (I believe) and she hasn't really noticed any improvement. If she didn't have use of her…

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May 20, 2019
Read more about the article It’s difficult to focus on anything when there are so many things that need my focus
My thoughts

It’s difficult to focus on anything when there are so many things that need my focus

I've said this before, but it warrants repeating. Being an Autism and Special Needs parent is not easy. I can't honestly see how anyone could claim otherwise. Maybe they're stronger than me or a better human than me. Either way, my life is an endless string of challenges, and while I do my best, I almost always fall short. It's always a struggle. I was talking with someone the other day about some of the current challenges I'm facing, and it was hard to put things into perspective for them. That's not their fault and understanding something you've not personally been through is hard for anyone. The reality is, it's very difficult to explain the complexity of the Autism and Special Needs parenting struggle to someone who isn't an Autism…

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May 19, 2019