People aren’t the only ones scarred by the past

Maggie is our amazing English Staffy. She was rescued from a fighting ring in Akron Ohio about a year before she came into our lives. She's a very intimidating dog but has an absolute heart of gold. She is in so many ways, the perfect dog.  She's protective and fantastic with the boys, which she views as her babies.  She's also great with other animals. Everyone that meets Maggie, falls in love with her. Having said that,  she has this habit that drives me nuts.  She inhaled her food.  This is probably from when she was used as a fighting dog and was under fed. She's about 4 years old now but still does this. Basically,  what she does is eat so fast that she pukes it back up.  When…

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Distractions

Emmett has been really focused on beating Lego Batman. While we do limit time in the computer and with video games, it's nice to see him work so hard at something.  It's also a nice distraction for the times that things aren't going so well in the house. This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me. Please join our Autism Help Forums Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

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A chilly morning

It's actually pretty cold the moment. It's likely that we can get the gas turned back on today, however, we won't be home for them to do it.  It looks like we will be one more day without the stove,  hot water or the furnace. I'm choosing to focus on the matters at hand and that's our trip to the Cleveland Clinic today for my wife. My goal for today is to worry about the things I have control over and back burner the ones I don't.  That's not something that comes naturally to me but I do what I can to practice this kind of attitude because otherwise I would stress out a whole lot more.  Who needs that? I know I don't. This was posted via WordPress for…

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Nothing an extra blanket won’t help

I've been up on and off tonight. I just can't seem to slow down the thoughts swirling around in my head. One of the things weighing heavy at the moment is that our natural gas was shut off.  Aside from the obvious,  I'm concerned that the house will get to cold at night without heat.  However,  despite the outside temp being in the 40's, it's not that bad in the house. I was expecting the temp to drop much faster since the house is so old and poorly insulated. Thank God for small favors.  It's about 2am and there is still plenty of time to get colder but I think we are going good to make it through this. For tonight, we prepared a few extra blankets and hopefully we…

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A new search for answers begins

This afternoon, Lizze and I will be returning to the Cleveland Clinic once again.  This time however, Gavin will be at school and Lizze is going great to be the patient. She will meet with one of the top autonomic specialists in the country. The purpose is to figure out what's going on with her every declining health.  This will hopefully shed some light on the migraine she has had for the better part of the year.  We also hope to find answers about her sleep disorder, extremely low blood pressure and more. Gavin doctors believe that Lizze may hold some clues as to what is going on with Gavin as well.  They currently believe that Lizze has some sort of autonomic disorder and that is likely where Gavin acquired…

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Gavin Behavioral Update: 09/18/2012

Gavin has not had a good day.  We ended yesterday with issues and began today with issues as well.  School seemed to go okay and that's good.  However,  OT and speech this afternoon, not so well. My understanding is that he wasn't following the rules,  wasn't listening to Lizze or the therapists. It's really difficult not to just be turned off to anything Gavin right now.  I realize how that sounds but you have to understand what it's like living here.  Many times we feel like prisoners in our own home,  held captive by his violent outbursts. I just need a break,  we all need a break. This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell…

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Don’t judge, things happen

So I wanted to take a few minutes and turn our misfortune into a learning experience. This is simply meant to educate and nothing more. I share our story, good,bad and otherwise.  I do so in a transparent manner so that hopefully, lesson can be learned. I wrote a post a few days ago, in response to the Fox News story about the little 5 yr old autistic boy denied lunch at school because his parents were behind on the bill. There was quite a bit of judgements being made about the parents.  Some people thought they were bad parents because the bill was left unpaid. My goal was to remind people that these parents shouldn't be judged so harshly because we have absolutely no idea what their lives are…

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Not taking out the trash

Who would have thought? Gavin absolutely loves cleaning.  That's right,  he loves to clean.  For the longest time I didn't really pay attention to this.  However,  I have found that Gavin just has this thing for cleaning.  Now prepare to have your mind blown because this is going to seem really weird.  Last night,  Gavin had this huge,  huge tantrum.  We needed to find a consequence that would hopefully send a message. The thought actually occurred to me that I could withhold taking out the trash but isn't that the most bizarre thing ever. Who would have thought that taking away chores away could be disciplinary tool. It just seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? Now considering Gavin's personality,  one of two things would likely happen.  First, it could work. He could…

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