Read more about the article Preparing for a crazy Summer in our not-so-safe neighborhood with @VivintGivesBack
Featured / Vivint Gives Back

Preparing for a crazy Summer in our not-so-safe neighborhood with @VivintGivesBack

Sometimes I share my experience with Vivint Gives Back in regards to helping prevent wandering. There's also another side to our Vivint Smart Home System, provided to my family, and that's security. We live in a neighborhood that has on countless occasions, proved itself to be very unsafe. We've been involved in drive by shootings, people have been stabbed in front of our house and we hear gunshots almost every single day. Our car was just recently broken into again as well. It gets scary, especially for the kids. As summer approaches, we are working on some commonsense safety measures (that I'm not getting any into in this particular post) but aside from commonsense, we rely heavily on our Vivint Smart Home System to help keep us safe. We have…

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May 24, 2018
Read more about the article If you worry about #Autism related wandering, we can help
My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

If you worry about #Autism related wandering, we can help

Over the years, there have been a few areas in regards to Autism parenting, that have really become personal for me. Wandering is among the most important of them. As a father of 3 boys with Autism, I count myself truly lucky that we haven't had to deal with wandering, any more than we have. I've shared on a few occasions, how Gavin managed to let himself out of the house at least twice. We found him collecting recycling out of people's trash cans. I don't think Emmett ever successfully escaped but my goodness, he was determined to. I was able to snap this picture when he was younger. It shows the lengths he would go to let himself out of the house. This is no joke. I think he…

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May 11, 2018
Read more about the article @VivintHome is giving away 4 free SmartHome systems in honor of #Autism Awareness month
My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

@VivintHome is giving away 4 free SmartHome systems in honor of #Autism Awareness month

I wanted to take a second and share something really amazing that my good friends at Vivint Home are doing in honor of Autism Awareness month. They're giving away four (4) free SmartHome systems in the month of April. (see below for details) I've spoken about this countless times before. There is no way to completely eliminate the risk of a child with Autism from wandering or escaping the house. This is a widely accepted fact that keeps many of us up at night, there are things you can do to limit the risk of your child getting out of the house and wandering away. How can Vivint's SmartHome system help prevent wandering? https://youtu.be/fhOFiycKx4w Who's eligible and how do I enter? Any North American household with at least one member…

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March 29, 2018
Read more about the article Getting ready for our appointment with @VivintHome
My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

Getting ready for our appointment with @VivintHome

Tomorrow, we'll be seeing the return of Vivint to our home. We're having a new camera added to the back of our house and a new alarm panel installed. When they're done with that, they're going to do a once over and make sure everything is up to snuff. In order to get ready for this appointment, we need to make sure that the Vivint tech has clean access to all of the Vivint devices in our home. The boys and I are going to spend the evening straightening up the house to make sure we're ready for them to come. This is actually the best way to get our house caught up.. Lol On a side note, please remember that you can take advantage of the Vivint Gives Back…

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March 8, 2018
Read more about the article How to easily change your @VivintHome device names
My thoughts

How to easily change your @VivintHome device names

In this brief tutorial, you will learn how to change the device names on your Vivint Smart Home system. The most common reason you would want to do this is that you've moved one or more of your Ping cameras. Most people will want the camera name to reflect the camera's location. This tutorial will show you how to change the device names, so you can accomplish this.   https://youtu.be/yeFaIDjdS4g Changing you the device names on Vivint Smart Home system   Load the Vivint app on your mobile device Tap the menu button on the top left of your screen Tap on Device Settings in the left panel Locate the device you want to rename from the list and tap on it Tap on the current name to edit and let it process…

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June 7, 2017
Read more about the article How to easily check @VivintHome Smart Deadbolt battery levels
My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

How to easily check @VivintHome Smart Deadbolt battery levels

In this brief video tutorial, I show you how to check the battery levels of your Vivint Home Smart Deadbolts. It's much easier than you think, and you can do it from your favorite mobile device.   This super short video is just over a minute, but you'll be checking your deadbolt batteries like a boss. ☺   https://youtu.be/JvhJrpm8hTk If you are a special needs family and need help, please visit Vivint Gives Back. This is a program that provides special needs families with the equipment to make their homes both safer, and smarter. The goal is to limit the ability of your special needs child from getting out of the house and wandering away.  The equipment is free, monthly service is based on your income. Visit Vivint Gives Back and see what you qualify…

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June 5, 2017
Read more about the article Using the @VivintHome app to automatically make sure your doors are locked
My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back / YouTube Video

Using the @VivintHome app to automatically make sure your doors are locked

While this will apply to anyone using a Vivint Smart Home, this is aimed at Auto families. As Autism parents, we very often have to go to great lengths to ensure the safety of our kids on the Spectrum. If you are one of the many families using the Vivint Smart Home system, provided to special needs families through The Vivint Gives Back Foundation, this video is for you. In this short, Family friendly video, I will show you how to setup a custom action that checks to make sure your exterior doors are locked at any given time. This is very useful if someone forgets to lock the door. The system will check the doors at the time specified, and lock any that are unlocked. Requirements for this to…

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May 25, 2017