Gavin / Thoughts and Prayers

Gavin’s in the emergency room please keep him in your prayers 

We're waiting to go back, but I wanted to take a minute and ask that you keep Gavin in your thoughts and prayers.   Currently were at the emergency room because Gavin has been experiencing something going today that could end up being very serious, especially with a compromised immune system.   Essentially, Gavin's been peeing blood today, and we aren't sure why. Gavin's story has been shifting today, and so we aren't entirely sure what's going on.  At first, we thought he was popping blood and so we called his doctors to find out what to do. Then later on in the morning, Gavin informed us that he hadn't pooped today at all and that he was peeing blood.  He didn't think it was important enough to tell us…

1 Comment
December 13, 2016
Bullying / Elliott / My thoughts

Great news about the school day today

We had to pick the boys up from school and then run to the other side of town because Lizze had a doctor's appointment. While Elliott's in a bad mood because he's hungry, he was able to deliver piece of really good news.  When I asked him how his day was and if there were any problems, he said good and no problems.  In other words, it sounds like he had a bully free day. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear something like this today. I'm so relieved that our efforts have produced a positive outcome, at least for now. ☺ 

0 Comments
December 12, 2016
Read more about the article I don’t know what we’re going to do
Emmett John / Sensory / Shoes and Socks

I don’t know what we’re going to do

We had a really difficult morning because Emmett would not tolerate shoes or socks once again.  I went last night and tried to find new socks that he might be more comfortable with but he wouldn't even try them on. This morning however, he was finally able to put on one of the pairs of new socks but would not tolerate any type of shoe over top of them.  After about 90 minutes of exhaustive effort, we finally got him to wear his slippers. He wasn't happy about it but it happened.   The battle to reach that point was horrible. The screaming was overwhelming for us but the whole thing was beyond overwhelming for Emmett.  This thing is heartbreaking and I don't know what else to do.  Nothing works. …

14 Comments
December 12, 2016
Read more about the article Today’s Victory: Guess who slept in their own bed last night? 
Emmett John

Today’s Victory: Guess who slept in their own bed last night? 

After the little hiccup we had over the weekend, Emmett fell asleep in his own bed again and that's not only awesome but a big relief.  I was worried that he was going to start sliding backwards but he's back on the wagon and I couldn't be prouder. I'm hoping this trend continues and we can file this particular challenge under overcome...... ☺ 

2 Comments
December 12, 2016
General Update / My thoughts / Reunification

UPDATE: Seven months after my wife moved back home….. 

It's been seven months since my wife and I put our family back together. For those tardy to the party, we spent about twenty months apart after she suffered what our marriage counselor calls caregiver burnout, along with what turned out to be undiagnosed bipolar disorder.  I'm not going dredge through the past at this point but it's important that we're all on the same page.  Since Lizze moved back into the house with myself and the boys, things have been going well. There hasn't been any downside to having our family back together as far as we're concerned.  The boys have not had much trouble adjusting and Gavin is still doing phenomenally well on a behavioral level. Lizze and Gavin have a relationship now that is amazing. It's healthy…

4 Comments
December 12, 2016
Read more about the article Well shit, I just had to open my big mouth
Emmett John / My thoughts

Well shit, I just had to open my big mouth

Last night was a long night and I only have myself to blame.  I recently shared how Emmett was falling asleep in his own bed and we thought we'd finally worked through our bedtime troubles. Unfortunately, it seems that in my excitement over our perceived victory, I jinxed us.  I spent the night on the couch once again because Emmett wasn't able to sleep. Lizze was still sick and so Emmett and I ended up camping out in the living room.  It was a long night but I did get to sleep today, courtesy of my awesome wife.   Perhaps next time I'll not claim a victory so early...  ☺ 

0 Comments
December 11, 2016
My thoughts

A heartbreaking conversation with my son (audio) 

It's been a little while since I talked about how Gavin was doing. I will very, very cautiously say that things might be improving a tiny bit for Gavin and here's why.  It seems that we have gotten the bladder control issues under control. I don't know that I've actually heard him say anything about it in at least a week or so. He still tends to have problems during his Infusions but that's about it.   The medication he's taking to relax his bladder seems to be doing the trick. Of course, it could also be that he's been back down to only 600 mg of Clozapine per day for a few weeks now. I think that helped.  On the backside of all this, he's still struggling with psychosis…

4 Comments
December 11, 2016
Read more about the article How we finally got our child with #Autism to fall asleep in his own bed
Autism Parenting Woes / Emmett John / My thoughts

How we finally got our child with #Autism to fall asleep in his own bed

Here's a little story about an eight year old with Autism, who was unable to fall asleep in his own bed at night.  This little boys name is Emmett and this has been a long standing issue.  He's had some really bad nightmares while in his bed. Based on a very common trait with people on the spectrum called generalization, Emmett now believes that he will always have nightmares when he falls asleep.   We've tried all kinds of things: New beds New mattresses  Night lights  Flashlights Things that project very peaceful light shows onto the ceiling Magic spray Leaving a calming show on repeat on their TV Diffusers with essential oils  Music Door open and door closed These are just a few things off the top of my head…

8 Comments
December 10, 2016