While picking Elliott up from school yesterday, I ran into the school counselor, who happens to be on our Wraparound team. She wanted to pass along her condolences for our family's loss. She went on to explain that Gavin was in group and was sharing with everyone that someone in his family had died this week. First of all, I think it's great that they have group at our school and secondly, I think it's even better that Gavin seemed to have opened up and shared what had happened with everyone in his group. I have personally spoken with Gavin about this while he was home this week. He doesn't seem to have any feelings about this, one way or the other. You could say he was ambivalent to the…

I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that this will be our first Easter without Gavin. Because of the chaos that ensues when he's home, it's just not something that can happen. It's really sad and it breaks my heart to know that my family won't be together on Sunday. On the other hand, Lizze and the boys will be much better off and Gavin would rather be at his Grandparents anyway. I was talking to my friend Carl Young from Why Not Father's tonight because his son is very similar to Gavin. In fact, his son Marc is in residential treatment, which is something that we have been trying to find for Gavin.  Carl is one of the only people I know that understands what it's like…

I wanted to share this with my readers because so many people deal with food allergies.  It's even more difficult to go through life as a child with food allergies. Dr.  Nancy Wasserbauer happens to be our doctor and she cares for Gavin, Elliott and Emmett. The boys see her for their food allergies, asthma and Gavin's primary immunodeficiency.  She's in charge of Gavin's IVIG. If you're in the Northeast Ohio area and need help with your child's food allergies etc, Dr. Wasserbauer is absolutely fantastic and we are so grateful for her help. Akron Children's Hospital just posted this video on their YouTube channel, where Dr. Nancy Wasserbauer talks about milk allergies.  I thought this might be of benefit to someone out there.  If nothing else, it will give…

I set up a poll on my Facebook page asking if people would be willing to move past the vaccine debate and not so much on the why but instead focus on supporting those already impacted. Most people have said they want to see us stop worrying so much about why Autism happens and spend the time and energy once used to argue over vaccines on something more important. I thought it would be interesting to  see if you, my readers, are willing to spend less time on the same old pointless debate about what causes Autism, and instead redirect your energy in a positive way? Are you will to focus on how we help those already affected? Is the community ready to move forward? Your opinion is really important…

Well it appears that Elliott is more affected by the death of Lizze's Aunt than we thought. Whether is the loss itself or the impact he sees that it's having on his family, I'm not sure.  Perhaps a little of both. He started freaking out earlier today and when I got him to calm down, he explained through the tears in his eyes, that he doesn't want to go to school on Thursday. I asked him why. He told that his best friend hasn't been at school because he's been sick.  He doesn't want to go because he doesn't know if he's coming back. Remember what I said about generalization? I was afraid this was going to happen and I was trying to avoid this. When I explained to Elliott…

Emmett is my 4 year old son with Autism.  He has a great many sensory processing issues and most of the time, can't cope with the feeling of clothes on his skin. Today however, he really made me proud because as bad of a mood as he has been in today, he did something truly awesome.  While he refused to put his own clothes on (it's just that kind of day), he did put his shoes and socks on all by himself.  He even puts his shoes on the correct feet and adjusted his socks as well.  Shoes and socks are Emmett's arch nemesis and he absolutely hates them most of the time.  Today however, he managed to pull this off and I am super proud of him.  :-) This…

Emmett and I have started out our day  building towers and knocking them down. Emmett loves to stack things up and knocking them down. Do your kids d's like to  build with blocks, only to tear them down and start over again? This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me. ;-) For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.