I wanted to take a second and share a bit more insight into special needs parenting and what makes my youngest, Emmett John, tick. I think that real life examples are really helpful in understanding some of the challenges the Lost and Tired family faces on a daily basis. This may seem like a silly example but I assure you, the fallout from this type of situation is very really real and exhausting for all involved.

One of Emmett’s favorite treats or rewards are suckers. However, if we buy a bag of suckers, only some of them will be edible to him. Sometimes the color will present a problem but more often than not, it’s the imperfections that get us. So you can see what I’m talking about I have prepared this example.

One of these suckers Emmett will eat and the other he won’t. Can you tell which one is which?

If you said that he wouldn’t even touch the one on the left, you would be correct. You’ll notice the stick is bent and that is something he will not tolerate. Even if I try to bend the stick back, it’s not going to be Emmett approved. If the bent sucker is the only one left, we will typically experience a meltdown because he gets so overwhelmed by the situation that he simply doesn’t know what else to do.

I’m pretty sure at least some of you out there know what I’t talking about. This can be quite a challenging situation, especially when you apply this exact same sensitivity to just about all aspects of life. I hope that this simple example has been helpful. I think that it’s really important to use these type of things to help educate and explain to those, less experienced in Autism, what types of challenges some families are facing.