One of the things I think that many of us, as special needs parents, have in common, is our desire for understanding. We desire understanding for our children and even for ourselves. The life of a special needs family is complex by it's very nature. Speaking only for myself, I know that many times I don't even understand the how's and why's. I want to help people have a better understanding of the struggles my children face daily. I want people to understand that when we can't go somewhere or have to cancel at the last minute, there are very good reasons. I want family and friends to understand that we aren't blowing them off and in reality, we would prefer to be there. However, the reality is that we…

If you listen really carefully,  you can hear the sounds of a special needs Daddy cracking.  We all have our vises.  Sometimes these are the only things to get us through the tough times.  I have 2 myself. These things have gotten me through some of the tougher times.  They can be and escape and offer comfort or a sense of normalcy when things in your life are crazy. My first vise is building custom ROM's for Android smartphones and using those ROM's to spread Autism Awareness. My second one has been a long standing vise. That would be playing video games.  When I'm really frustrated with life,  I can join a COD Black OPs match and just escape into that world for a little bit. Well this afternoon I…

Elliott and Gavin have spirit day in the morning at school. So they are both wearing their Ohio State shirts. I found Gavin's and washed it,  however,  I couldn't for the life of me find Elliott's. I spent all day,  looking for that freakin' shirt.  I went through all the laundry and looked every place I could think of but no luck. Elliott has a habit of misplacing his clothes. I was starting to panic because I couldn't find it and I didn't want Elliott to have wear his uniform to school.  I was thinking,  maybe I could get him a shirt in the morning and bring it to school. Then about 15 minutes ago,  it occurred to me that there was one place I hadn't checked.  So I walk…

I'm very proud to be able to release this new ROM build for the Epic Touch 4G, arguably, the best smartphone on the planet (at least for now). As always, midNIGHT ROM is dedicated to the spread Autism Awareness. This release is unique because carrier IQ has been removed from this ROM thanks to the amazing coding skills of k0nane, a fellow Recognized Developer over at xda-developers. I want to thank k0nane for partnering on this release and bringing an end to Sprint and Samsung's ability to track our activity on this device. For more information or to see what this release is about click ---------> Android Development As always, I want to thank everyone for their support. Spreading Autism Awareness is something I'm very passionate about and the Android community has united to do…

How do you watch TV?  Well,  if you name is Emmett John,  the best seat in the house is on Daddy's shoulder. ;-) In this picture,  I'm blinded by the flash but smiling because Emmett just farted on my shoulder and I had a front row seat.  ;-) - Lost and Tired Posted by Wordpress for Android via Samsungs Epic Touch 4G (provided to me at no charge by Sprint) without the use of proper editing tools and disadvantages of a bastardized version of auto-correct. So please forgive the spelling ;-) Please Vote for Lost and Tired (just click the link) and help me spread Autism Awareness. Everyone can Vote once a day :)

Alright,  I have to be real honest here.  Gavin in is driving me insane. I have no idea what's going on with him anymore.  It could be outside of his control, in which case I feel even more guilty for not having more patience. The problem is that he's not listening....or at least not remembering. Several times now,  today alone, I have had to stop him from telling stories to Elliott.  I can't trust that they are going to be appropriate,  as typically they aren't. See last night's post about nightmares. How many times must I repeat myself to him?  I don't know if it's teenage issues in general or if he honestly doesn't remember the 6 conversations we have had about this in the past 24 hours.  He reacts…