I've been a special needs parent for almost 11 years now. In all this time I have learned so much,  not only about my kids,  but also about myself. I could say that special needs parenting is such a pleasure and just so rewarding.  The problem with that is that it's simply not true,  at least for me and my experience.  While it's true that special needs parenting can be rewarding,  in my experience,  it's also tedious,  overwhelming,  exhausting as well as financially and emotionally draining.  My experience raising three boys in different places on the Autism Spectrum, has been one of great challenge.  I often find myself constantly putting out fires as apposed to actually making forward progress. I was thinking today about why that is,  and I think…

Screaming.  That's all I have heard this weekend.  Between Elliott whining,Emmett screaming and Gavin melting down,  the little bits of sanity I had left are now refugees fleeing to safety somewhere far away. I used to love the holidays,  however,  now all I can see is the overstimulation it brings.  Someone needs to invent something like sunblock,  only it would filter out all the things that would be deemed overstimulation. Thus preserving my children and subsequently my sanity. Sadly there is nothing out there that can provide the same results other than avoiding the activities that contribute to the overstimulation.  That just sucks. The main issue at this point is just how fragile Gavin has become. It takes nothing to set him off anymore.  We narrowly avoided a meltdown already…

I thought that I would share a cold Ohio winter welcome with all of you. We have our first snow storm that has actually brought with it accumulation. We have a long winter ahead of us and it's already pretty cold. I hope you are all staying warm if it's cold where you are. Posted from WordPress for Android

Disclaimer: I am by no means making a blanket statement about persons with Autism. Every child and adult with Autism is as unique as a snowflake. This is my personal observation,  based on my personal experience. I'm not an expert and would never presume to understand your child better than you. I just noticed something today that may simply be unique to Gavin, but I thought I would share it anyway, in case someone out there could benefit.   Autism and Meltdowns: An Interesting Discovery Gavin has been making some less than good choices lately. I'm not sure if it's the stress of the holidays or just one of those things. However, we are back to having at least one meltdown a day. That is a pretty big increase from not having any…

Elliott is spending the night at Grandma's so I thought it would be nice to spend some time with Gavin. I figured we could camp out in the living room and watch movies. Well,  he feel asleep right away and so I'm watching some Netflix and trying to relax after a pretty grueling week. However,  relaxing is kinda hard to do because Gavin's sorta freaking me out. I've written about this in the past but for those who may have missed it,  Gavin sleeps with his eyes open. It's actually quite unsettling and honestly,  kinda creepy. You know that feeling when you know your being watched?  That pretty much what it feels like. He just lays there with his eye part way open,  as his eye balls are moving from…

I'm so stressed out my head is pounding right now.  I just came back into the house from off the roof.  Emmett ran full force,  right into the window in Elliott's bedroom.  Thankfully,  it was the windows I fixed last winter,  when Emmett did the same thing. I don't understand why he does this.  My thoughts were centering around sensory related issues but who knows. When I replaced the original glass pane the last time,  I used plexy glass for the repairs.  It was way more expensive than glass,  but it more than paid for itself today. If Emmett had done this again with a glass pane,  he could have sustained very serious injuries. Luckily,  the plastic absorbed most of the impact and simply buckled and partially popped out of…

Gavin and Elliott both had Christmas programs this afternoon.  There break begins today and lasts through the first week of 2012. The program was really cute this year.  I wasn't able to get a ton of pictures because Mr.  Emmett John was not interested in sitting still or using his inside voice,  so we stepped out for a little bit. Gavin’s class did a "very Elvis Christmas",  complete with side burns.  Elliott's class sang Christmas carols and Elliott turned into a Christmas tree at the end. The boys had a really good time and it was a great way for them to say goodbye to 2011 and begin preparing for the new year. Do any of your kids have Christmas programs at school?  Posted from WordPress for Android

I meant to write about this awhile ago but never got around to it. It's something I noticed while talking to Lizze on the phone while I was at the store. I often hear people refer to their house as being a zoo. However,  in my case,  it sounds a bit different.  While zoo could definitely be used to describe the Lost and Tired household,  it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear all the screaming through the phone. It have you ever walked in to a pet shop,  not a big chain store,  but a old fashioned pet shop?  When you walk in all you hear are birds chirping,  hamster wheels turning and maybe a puppy barking. When I call home to check on things…