I wanted to take a few minutes and update all of you on the current status of Operation Hope. I was able to speak with someone from Stark County Family Council/Wraparound this morning.  I spoke with a very pleasant and compassionate woman who did an intake.  The ball is now officially rolling.  We have records to collect and paperwork to fill out,  but this process is moving much faster and smoother,  at least so far,  than I could have hoped for. Basically,  once I have the paperwork turned in,  we will meet with the committee who makes the decisions about funding.  We will have a conversation, and you all know,  I'm all about dialog.  I'm so grateful to have a chance to speak with them about helping Gavin and the…

Gavin just had a huge tantrum because we corrected him for saying something to Emmett that was not nice.  As a result, he lost his TV. This was pretty consistent with the other tantrums, however, the level of violence and self-injury has escalated. Thankfully,  his rage was only directed at himself and the objects in his immediate area. This time around for whatever reason,  he decided to include punching himself in the crotch, repeatedly.  If he wasn't doing this on purpose,  I would feel much worse about this than I already do.  He punched himself in the crotch,  screamed in pain and then did it again and again. He scratched up his face and legs again but nothing serious. I'm debating about whether or not to take him to Akron…

Emmett is currently on a Spiderman kick. We took him to see the Amazing Spiderman a few weeks ago. He was a fan before but now he's a much bigger fan. :-) He has been emulating Spiderman this weekend and I'll be dammed if it isn't the cutest thing ever. I love the fact that he's doing this.  It just shows how much progress he's made.  I don't care if he wants to wear that shirt everywhere because I'm so proud of him.  I hope this makes you smile.  :-) 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…

I touched on this a little bit yesterday.  I think that, in general,  special needs parents, myself included, carry around a great deal of guilt. More often than not,  the guilt is not warranted.  That doesn't make it any easier to cope with though. I carry around so much guilt for things that I know I had no control over.  Rationally,  I understand that but it doesn't make the guilt go away. I'll give you an example.  I hear all the time from people how I'm doing such an amazing job and what a wonderful father I am.  However,  the truth is that I don't see that.  I tend to focus more on what I do wrong instead of what I do right. I compare my short comings to other…

As you know,  Elliott is in the Hamptons, visiting my little sister.  Although,  I guess she's not that little anymore,  she's Dr.  Kate Gorski. Anyway, today Elliott, my parents, Kate and my Grandmother went whale watching.  Although they didn't see any whales,  Elliott had the time of his life. You can see it in his eyes.  I just wish I was there to see them firsthand.  :-( He told my parents that this "was the best trip ever".  :-) I'm so happy for him because he needs this to hopefully unwind and finally relax.  His poor little body is so full of anxiety all the time. Between Gavin’s psychological warfare and Emmett’s bullying,  Elliott is being asked to cope with things, no 6 year old should ever have to. He…

Tuesday is a huge day for the Lost and Tired family.  Gavin returns to the Cleveland Clinic and Elliott returns home from the Hamptons. Gavin is scheduled for minor surgery at 10 am Tuesday morning.  This procedure involves taking various skin biopsies from various parts of his body and using them to tailor a very specific genetic test. They will also be looking for neurofibrosis,  if I recall correctly. The procedure lasts about 20 minutes and they made special arrangements to do it Tuesday.  The doctor that does this doesn't normally do this procedure on Tuesdays. After that we will have about 5 hours to kill before his next appointment. The second appointment will be with the autonomic specialist.  This is crucial because he will play a huge role in…

Gavin is teetering on the edge of having to go to the hospital.  He just got home from hanging out with Grandma and most likely over did it.  The really frustrating part of this is that there is really no way to know what over doing it is for him. It seems as though it's a moving target sometimes.  Right now his heart rate is resting at about 140 bpm.  That's too high for a resting heart rate to be.  That is referred to as a tachycardia.  Right now we have Gavin hydrated and resting.  Hopefully that will be enough to stop this from progressing into a full blown autonomic crisis.  This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do…

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate,  that is the question on many parents minds. I find this sad and scary that we are now having to worry about things like Whooping Cough once again. As you know,  I'm not anti-vaccine but I'm aware of the reality of vaccine injury.  While I don't believe that it's very common,  it does happen and it's tragic.  Think what you want but it is real and my heart goes out to call those affected.  Having said that, because of the mass hysteria surrounding vaccines,  we now have to contend with things like Whooping Cough and Measles once again. Vaccines are most effective when the majority of the population is vaccinated. Even if vaccines were scientifically proven to cause #Autism in some children,  it's certainly…