One of the most difficult thing for me as a special needs parent is understanding the motives behind certain behaviors. Take Elliott for example.  He having a very difficult time listening and doing as he's told. This is somewhat out of character for him.  He's also incredibly anxious a day whiny.  This makes day to day life,  frustrating and exhausting. However,  I keep asking myself,  why is he doing this? Is this just a phase? Is he simply being defiant? My personal belief is that he is reacting to an understanding stable home life,  as one of my readers pointed out today. I've felt this way for a while and my opinion is backed up by the fact that when you remove him from the environment, he improves. Emmett is…

Please be aware that is post is of a very sensitive nature. Last night,  Gavin exposed himself to Lizze and I in the middle of the living room. Gavin came downstairs and wanted to tell us that some of the bandages from his surgery were coming off. I told him that he could remove the bandages,  carefully. There are three locations that were bandaged,  all on his right leg.  His ankle,  knee area and thigh,  all had biopsies done. Gavin was wearing a pair of loose fitting shorts last night. He stood in the middle of the living room and removed the bandages from his ankle and knee area. When it came time to remove the one on his thigh,  he first pulled the right leg of his shorts up…

Lizze is having really, really bad day.  The weather and stress is killing her. Today she is only able to walk with assistance and that's hard for me to see. Obviously it's even harder for her to experience. We are supposed to go to my parents house for a cook out.  Several birthdays will be celebrated as well. Unfortunately the weather is pretty crappy right now and it doesn't look to be getting better in time.  I'm not sure what will happen if it continues to rain.  We are all looking forward to getting out of the house for a little bit.  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…

In our family we have a name for some of the quirky characteristics of our kids.  We call these quirky characteristics ism's. This started out many years ago with Gavin.  We called all the cute little quirky behaviors Gavin-ism's. This has been passed down to Elliott and Emmett as well.  For example,  one of my most favorite is an Emmett-ism. Emmett has a very particular way of showing me affection.  It's called hug and kiss and I value it more than anything in the world.  He has to hug me first and then give me a kiss. It has to be in that order or he starts over again.  It's just been something he has always done.  I think it's one of the sweetest things in the whole wide world. …

Elliott is really having a rough time anymore.  He's so anxious and it feels like all he does as whine about everything. He's also having a hard time listening. It takes many attempts to get him to do anything. We so need to get him on his new meds. He needs relief as soon as possible. We have to call his doctor on Tuesday and see what we can do. 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

It's the 1st of September and we brought it in with a day full of manipulation and tantrums.  Gavin is extremely manipulative.  Ask any parent with a child that has reactive attachment disorder or conduct disorder and they will likely tell of a similar story. I'm just going to focus on the most recent events.  They start off with Gavin caught trying to manipulate Elliott into wanting to play video games.  As you know,  Gavin is not allowed to play video games very often, because he gets too upset and he also has epilepsy, so that's a concern as well. On occasion,  we allow him to help his brothers while they are playing a game.  This allows Gavin to play,  but in a limited capacity.  This is one of those…

The bond between a boy and his dog is an amazing thing.  Emmett made up his own little song and was singing it to Bella as he danced with her in the living room. How cute is that? 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

On occasion, I like to make confessions about things I have done, that I'm not proud of. Not only do I feel better but I also show everyone that I'm far from perfect and that I make mistakes.  This helps people to realize that they are not alone. Today I want to confess that I lost my temper with Elliott Richard last night.  He wasn't listening and was whining about everything.  I raised my voice to him more than once.  I'm ashamed because he's not feeling well and his anxiety is through the roof. Instead of being more patient a day understanding,  I yelled at him because I simply couldn't take anymore. Now,  I had given him multiple chances to stop and all I did was raise me vioce above…