I've been doing the whole special needs parenting thing for the better part of a decade now.  People always ask me what is the most difficult part.  They are always surprised by my answer. To me,   the most difficult part of special needs parenting isn't the kids,  it's everything else.  If all I had to do was physically care first my kids,  I could do that.  However,  everything else in life gets in the way and makes it even more challenging.  The biggest issue revolves around money. I have to be able to pay the bills.  If not,  we'd lose our home,  our car and that wouldn't be good for anyone.  If all I had to do was worry about bringing in an income,  I could do that.  The problem…

Lizze was at the neurologist today for her migraines.  She almost always has a migraine.  They don't respond to medications and she is miserable all the time. It has gotten to the point where the only left that they can do is Botox injections.  Apparently,  people have found relief from chronic migraines with Botox.  Lizze isn't excited about the idea but I think at this point,  she dislikes the pain more than the needles involved. This does come with risks.  One of the side effects is migraines, which seems counterintuitive.  The other is an extreme migraine when the Botox wears off. They are putting a plan together and will likely follow up with the actual procedure at some point in the near future. Have any of you ever had this…

My kids are really,  really trying my patience.  Emmett was in a mood already this morning,  however,  upon Elliott arriving home this afternoon the screaming began. Lizze had two appointments that basically lasted all afternoon. I had all three boys for most of the day and have become a Daddy on the edge. Emmett either doesn't or can't listen,  I'm not sure which.  Elliott really struggles with Emmett and the combination of the two is quite volatile. Gavin on the other hand,  has been very well behaved and actually quite helpful. I can't wait for the day to be over,  the kids to be in bed and all the work I need to get done tonight is finished. I'm trying to make arrangements for this week with Emmett because we…

I wanted to share this with the community because I'm really proud of Samsung for stepping up and providing me with the means to give away the Galaxy Tab 8.9 a couple of weeks ago. Often times we never get to see the direct impact that generosity such as this has.  Robert,  the winner of the giveaway,  sent me this last night.  It's a picture of his daughter using the Galaxy Tab.  She's enjoying the game Fruit Ninjas. Thank you once again Samsung for making this donation to help the Autism Community.  **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

We woke up this morning to Emmett hitting another fever cycle.  His mouth sores are popping up again and he is extremely grouchy. We kinda figured something was wrong when Emmett was asking for his special ice cream yesterday.  He only asks for this when his tongue is breaking out in sores. This is going to be a tough cycle because we can't give him anything for the cycle. The infectious diseases specialist told us to withhold prednisone,  monitor his temps and take pictures of his tongue. This will make the week a bit more complicated but hopefully doable.  :-( **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

As the summer creeps closer and closer,  so does the end of the school year. This is the inspiration for today's discussion. What, if any,  preparations do you make in order to prepare for the end of the school year?  Do your kids transition well or do you have problems?  Do you have any advice for families that struggle with the transition? **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store

Putting all the crazy from this past week behind us,  we are moving forward.  This is another really big week for the Lost and Tired family.  Gavin will finally make it to the Cleveland Clinic and be seen by the Dysautonomia specialist. If you recall,  he was supposed to be there about 2 weeks ago but ended up stuck in the Hospital because he couldn't maintain his own blood pressure. This will likely require multiple trips but getting our foot in the door is the first step at hopefully finding some answers. We also return to his primary neurologist to follow up on his hospital stay and the EEG. Gavin was diagnosed with epilepsy last week and is starting new meds this week because the Depakote is not working causing…

Gavin has tons of talent in many areas but I'm completely blown away by the emergence of his latest hidden talent. Gavin has been drawing in his room for most of the day.  He's been really focused on drawing today for some reason. While Gavin has always loved to draw,  they have always been very simple and featured more stick figure type drawings. Tonight he showed me his sketch book and I couldn't believe it. Basically,  he has been watching TV and then pauses the show at some point and draws what he sees.  This is a picture of the Incredible Hulks cousin. He never said who she was but I recognize her.  I'm totally impressed and so extremely proud of him. Check out his drawing... **Thanks for reading**  …