This was my experience at the polls this morning.  I'm not suggesting that this is an actual problem, but I felt uncomfortable with it. I voted this morning but it took quite some time.  I didn't struggle with who I was voting for.  The problems was that I was challenged.  That basically means that for some reason, I was flagged. I don't know if it's random or what. The problem had to be resolved with me filling out a 10u form. The form was broken up into sections based on the reason for me being challenged in the first place. However, the Election Official on hand, didn't know how to fill it out.  His instructions to me were to "fill out the whole thing. If you do that, whatever is…

I write about this twice a year, every year, because I hate it each and every time, no pun intended. Twice a year we move the clocks either forward or backwards. This is known to us as the dreaded time change. I use the word dreaded because it's a really unpleasant time in the Lost and Tired household. I have a wife and 3 children on the #Autism spectrum and they never handle the change of time well.  Their sleep cycles are all thrown off and typically, it takes a few weeks for them to ever so slowly adjust. Until they finally adjust, it means very early mornings. Today began at 3 am, with Elliott waking up and being unable to fall back asleep. We go through this every time. …

While Gavin was over yesterday, he informed both Elliott and Emmett that Burger King had Super Mario toys in the kids meals.  I don't know what his motives were, if there were any,  but Elliott and Emmett latched on to that and wouldn't let go. I'm not suggesting that Gavin was looking to cause trouble but he wouldn't let it go we I told him to.  I know that I will inevitably get comments and emails saying that Gavin's not responsible for what Elliott and Emmett do, and their right.  However, when I ask or tell him to stop talking about this and he keeps going, that is a problem. Basically, I was left with 2 small children with #Autism and anxiety issues, now laser focused on these Goddamm Super…

Gavin came home today and we had a really rough time.  We learned that Gavin spent the money he earned at his grandparents house on some toys at the store.  You may recall that Gavin owes us for damages to his bedroom and various other things destroyed during his tantrums. When his grandmother asked him if he still owed us money for the repairs, he said that we already had the money.  This was not true.  He hadn't covered anything yet and he knew that he was supposed to turn over everything he earned until the debt was paid.  We would be more flexible if the circumstances of the damage was different. Anyway, he bought $25 worth of toys that he shouldn't have.  I spoke with him about this today…

Today's #Autism Victory goes out to Elliott and Emmett.  They both got their hair cut today and did perfect. I was hoping that they would at least cooperate and not put up too much of a fight. I'm so proud of my 2 handsome little men.  I'll post some pics tomorrow of the new hairdos.  :-)

As many of you know, I launched a support forum earlier this year. There were hundreds of members and tons of interesting conversations going on. The Autism Help Forums weren't for Autism related things only. This forum supports the entire special needs community. Unfortunately, I lost the database and I had to rebuild the forums, from scratch. This means that I am rebuilding the community and need your help.  However, out of the ashes of what was, has emerged something better. I have recently relaunched the Autism Help Forums, with updated software and better Facebook integration. Visit the Autism Help Forums, sign up and and introduce yourself. I realize that it can be tough to start the conversation but we need to break the ice sometime. However, I'm most excited to announce the release…

What could possibly happen in the 2 hours that Gavin was home today? He has the kids bouncing off the walls, literally.  He's been very loud and all over the place. I'll explain more later. I can safely say, this has been the longest 2 hours of my life. 

I'm sharing this petition with all of you.  I didn't write this and I have no first hand knowledge of this particular account.  I will say that this isn't the first time I have heard of something like this happening. It's sad, that in this day and age we are dealing with this type of situation.  Is it reasonable for the YMCA to provide services for every child, regardless of the challenges presented by that child?  I think that there needs to be a line drawn somewhere but at the same time, there needs to be transparency and a very clear set of guidelines.  Parents need to know, going into the program, what the expectations will be and what will happen if a child presents with behaviors that they simply…