Emmett’s gone from bad to worse 

Tonight has not gone well. Emmett has gotten really sick. His fever has come back, and his throat still hurts.  At bedtime, Emmett complained of nausea. We helped him fall asleep, and he was out for about two hours. Around 10pm, Emmett puked all over his bed, and his bed is the top bunk.  I'm once again on the couch in the living room. Emmett's on the other one, curled up, and sleeping. God bless Lizze cause while I was comforting Emmett, she somehow got his bed scrubbed down and sanitized.  I didn't know this, but apparently strep throat can cause nausea and vomiting. We're not sure if this is why we're dealing with all of this unpleasantness, but if he's not better by Monday, we're going to get him…

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This is NOT a good thing

Mr. Emmett woke up this morning, not feeling well. He was complaining of a sore throat, but that was it. As the day progressed, so did whatever he has going on.  A few minutes ago, he spike a really high fever.  At this point in time, we aren't sure what's going in. He could have something like strep throat, or this could be a fever cycle.  We've seen fever cycles in the past where the mouth sores appear in his throat, causing a great deal of discomfort. Like I said, we aren't sure what's going on. If this is a fever cycle, this is the highest we've seen in a very long time.  Please keep Emmett in your thoughts and prayers. We're managing the fever and will go from there. 

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How I saved my sanity and calmed our #Autism house

Lizze and I took the boys to the park this evening. It had been a stressful day for a number of reasons, and I wanted to steer the car back onto the road.  We all had fun. Emmett caught Pokémon, and Elliott was doing something on his tablet. Elliott was enjoying sitting on the bench in the garden. It was a tranquil moment for him, and while I'd of preferred no tablets, I was happy to see them happy.  Gavin went straight to his favorite spot and sat down. He loves these big rocks above a small waterfall.  While keeping a close eye on the boys, I got to spend some time doing one of my favorite things, aside from writing. I love taking pictures, especially nature related.  At some…

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Never underestimate the impact of a meltdown 

This was one of those days where I spent all the energy I had in morning.  The boys went to the zoo today and the anticipation/excitement of that kept Emmett from sleeping last night. We camped out on the couch and he did eventually fall asleep, but he didn't get nearly enough.  He was a holy terror this morning. Overstimulation, exhaustion and anxiety are not his friends.  As volatile as he was this morning, when we got to school he was fine. He gave me a super long hug and a kiss, before hopping out of the car and walking into the school.  I don't know own how he turns it off like that. Gavin used to do that and it drove me crazy. He's get Lizze and I all…

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Holiday’s can be really tough for #Autism Parents and here’s why

Easter, as with pretty much any freaking holiday that we celebrate, puts my wife and I into a position where we need to decide whether we go to see family or stay at home.  At its most basic level, this is the choice between dealing with major fallout, or limiting the amount of fallout we have to deal with.  When we go to holiday functions with family, we all have a good time while we're there. The problem arises when the boys become overstimulated and right about the time we get home, the meltdowns begin. I'm not sure there's ever been a holiday for us, where this wasn't an issue,  As for this Easter, we will be going to celebrate with my family. The boys will have an Easter Egg…

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How literal interpretation leads to meltdowns 

I promised that I would write about why Emmett's school report led to so many meltdowns over the last week or so. The reason can be summed up in two words, literal interpretation.   The instructions provided simply said to write about three things you like to do in the snow. Seems pretty simple and straight forward, right? Wrong.. Emmett was so fucking stressed out over this because he takes the instructions quite literally, and is unwilling to deviate from them in any way for fear of breaking the rules or lying. When we sat down to work on this last week, we began by coming up with three things he liked to do in the snow. That proved to be so much more difficult than it sounds. The way…

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We faced several challenges this morning 

I was able to nab a whopping four hours of sleep last night. Surprisingly though, I don't feel too bad today.  We started off the morning convincing Elliott that he had to go to school, even in he didn't like his hair. He actually took more work this morning than Emmett did in regards to putting his shoes and socks on.  When we arrived at the school, I walked the boys in because I promised Elliott I would let the school know he was upset about his hair.  We ended up speaking with the principal about it and he said that he really liked Elliott's haircut but that he would let the teachers know that he's stressed out over it.  When I left the boys and headed home, Elliott was…

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A knock down drag out morning

Emmett had a rough morning in regards to shoes and socks. Recently, Lizze had gotten into a newer routine with his shoes and socks, increasing the frequency in which he can tolerate them. For some reason, he just wasn't having it this morning. There was a massive meltdown, lots of screaming and loss of sanity. We did everything we could think of to help him but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, Lizze was successful and while we were a little late, the boys got to school. I can't even begin to imagine a life where even the simplest of things isn't a knock down drag out brawl. The reason it bothers me so much, aside from the obvious, is that these occurrences are so stressful for Emmett. It sucks for…

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