I came into contact with a parent of an Autistic child recently. We were sorta "debating" about Autism and Aspergers related issues and whether or not these children can be successful. This person firmly believes that there are NO successful people in the world with Autism (excluding those with Aspergers but even then their not sure). I find that statement very disturbing, even though I don't believe it to be true. So it got me thinking, does Autism mean unsuccessful? Success is a relative term but If you actually believe that there are NO successful people in the world with Autism, isn't that like saying Emmett will never amount to anything? If that's the case then I really take issue with this. I don't know what this persons life is…

Okay, I'll be really honest, hieghts make me a bit nervous. Kinda ironic as my previous career was a firefighter/paramedic. Having to climb tall ladders was part of the job but it's much different if someone's life depends on you climbing that ladder. The psych unit at Akron Children's  is on the eighth floor and the problem I have with that is that the elevator is glass or open. Meaning you see eveything. I'm not super fond of that evevator trip. It does kinda freak me a out a little because when you actually see the ground coming up fast it feels like the elevator isn't slowing down fast enough. I know....pretty sad..right? Sure, but this video makes it look MUCH slower then it actually is....I swear. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD258grCrOE[/youtube]

Gavin was released this afternoon. He seems to be doing good. Nothing really has changed but he was in a new environment for a bit and sometimes that can help. They did work with him on coping skills and anger management techniques. They did add a few more disorders to the list. I'll list those later. I was a bit suprised with the added disorders but I suppose they kinda make sense. Some are related to behavior and some are related to speech. We're just taking those with a grain of salt for now. I wanted to thank everyone for there thoughts and prayers. - Lost and Tired Please Vote for Lost and Tired (just click the link) and help me spread Autism Awareness. Everyone can Vote once a day…

When a child, like Gavin, is sent to a psych unit it's usually for good reason. It's a heartbreaking task for any parent. It's done it for many reasons but there are two common ones. One the child needs to get help that can't be provided at the home (maybe the child is to violent or dangerous and you have to worry about safety as well). Two, it's also used as a deterrent to negative behavior. For example, if the child continues to hurt themselves they will go back. I realize that there are many more reasons for needing to send a child to an place like this. These were just two examples. After speaking with the case manager yesterday, she said Gavin is having a blast.. She said it's…

Emmett's getting his grub on before going to speech therapy.. He really likes the sausage patties at McDonalds. We don't go often but sometimes it's just nice Lizze and I to treat Emmett to breakfast when the other kids are at school.... - Lost and Tired Please Vote for Lost and Tired (just click the link) and help me spread Autism Awareness. Everyone can Vote once a day :)

Emmett ages out of early intervention this month. So we are in a transition period right now. I had to meet with Canton City Schools child psychologist today. Canton City School's is responsible for Emmett and ALL other kids in their district. You may recall our experience with the Canton City School system with Gavin. To say Gavin's experience with Canton City School's was bad is like saying the Grand Canyon is just a ditch. Gavin's exeperience was HORRIBLE and abusive. Needless to say I was less than excited to meet with them today to discuss Emmett's future. However, I must admitt, that I was impressed today. We clearly got shafted when Gavin was there and things seem to be different now. Emmett also did really well today. He wore…

As many of you know this van has been the bane of my existence for almost a year now. After a BRAND NEW transmission (within the first month of owning the van) new front and rear subframes, deep engine work, 6 vacuum leaks, a tune up, new intake, new tie rods, one flatbed and 3 tow's later she's almost fixed. I heard back from Andy at Waterloo Transmission this afternoon. After having the van a week and unsuccessfully reproducing the issues it finally happened.  The van FINALLY stalled for them today. Our suspicions were correct and it was the fuel pump that was intermittently failing.  We were pretty sure that was the problem but it's about an $800 repair so they wanted to be sure before we incurred that cost. It performed FLAWLESSLY for the…