Folks,   It's been a while since I did another Autism in "Real Life" post but I would like to get that going again. If you are interested in participating please send me an email to: rob@lostandtired.com. Please put Autism in "Real Life" as the subject (for the email filter). I will send you the list of questions and get it published. I truly believe the best way to spread Autism Awareness is by sharing our stories, both good and bad.   Thanks   -lost and tired   Links to previous installments of Autism in "Real Life" http://lostandtired.com/2011/02/19/autism-in-real-life-meet-jen-bush http://lostandtired.com/2011/02/16/autism-in-real-life-the-leaman-family http://lostandtired.com/2011/02/14/autism-in-real-life-meet-jill  

We were due to begin the Clozapine yesterday but ran into a snag. For some reason the we had not been added to the "registry" (yes...there is actually a registry for Clozapine).  properly. Gavin did get his first of many blood drawls done yesterday. I told him that it was ok to be scared or afraid. It was ok to be nervous. However, it was not ok to hit, kick or scream at the lab techs. I explained that if he could be VERY brave and do his best to keep control over his body I would take him for ice cream when we were done. Gavin was nervous and started to panic in the moments leading up to the actual blood drawl but did not require much assistance to hold him down.…

Yesterday we went to the farmers market to buy fruit and veggies. Lizze hasn't been out in a while so the walking was rough on her to say the least but we got lots of fruit for the kids to munch on. Great deals like an entire flat of strawberries for $2. We got to also spend some time with Emmett. We focused on using ASL with him. He's getting really good with colors and seems to be able to count to 5 (just not consistently but ANYTHING is progress). If you are NOT a special needs parent and even if you ARE, PLEASE DO NOT take anything for granted. Not even the LITTLE stuff. -lost and tired Posted to WordPress via Autism Aware and midNIGHT ROM powered Epic 4G

For those who haven't seen the this earlier, Gavin is very busy creative writing. I offered to record him reading the story so he could watch himself. We decided to post it on the blog because Gavin wants to share this story with all of you. So basically, my Autistic 11 year old decided to step outside of his usual comfort zone to do this for all of you. So I'm  supporting that idea because I think he will grow from this experience and it makes him feel good about himself. Please feel free to leave him POSITIVE feedback. For anyone who has never met anyone with Autism, just watch the videos and you will. Thanks This is volume 1. It's divided into 2 parts:   Mario Party 9: The adventure…

We should be starting the Clozapine at some point today. I had a talk with Gavin about the blood work that would be required every week. He didn't seem to bothered by it but it may not seem real until it actually happens. I explained how this medicine will help the voices and "scary thoughts" go away. He didn't freak out or anything like that. However, to be completely honest, he has probably already forgotten about the conversation. He's already off to a pretty rough start this morning. I thought it best not to remind him and add anxiety to the mix. I truly hope we are making the right decision by doing this new medication.  Posted to WordPress via Autism Aware and midNIGHT ROM powered Epic 4G

Autism is a profoundly dynamic developmental disability. This means that Autism affects each child and their family in a different way. Like snowflakes no two Autistic kids are the same. Likewise the impact on the family unit is just as different. So it would stand to reason that one voice or even a handful of voices would not be able to accurately represent what Autism is to the rest of the world. So why do we let this happen? Why do we let others speak for us? In order to spread true Autism Awareness we NEED a culmination of voices. Part of the reason Autism Awareness is SO ineffective is that we let others speak for us far to often. I don't want someone in a vastly different situation to be…

In general Autistic kids can be VERY easily influenced even by each other.  This can present a problem if one child is more aggressive then the other. In my case Gavin self-injures. He used to be VERY aggressive towards people but not for the past 6 months or so. As I said, he does self-injure and that is presenting a BIG problem that came to a head this morning. Elliott WORSHIPS Gavin and has a tendency to "model" his behavior as well. That is where we have a problem. Elliott is witness to Gavin's self-injurious behavior on a regular basis despite our attempts to shield him from it. Gavin gets very aggressive with himself whenever he gets frustrated.  He has scratched open his forehead and left bruises all over his body. This…

One of the things I struggle with in working with Gavin is generalization. It's pretty common in Autistic kids and definitely an issue with Gavin. Here's an example of what I mean. If you were to take a "typical" child to a store like Walmart or Target and bought them a toy they would likely be excited. If you took Gavin to the store and bought him a toy he would also be excited. The difference is that Gavin would then expect a toy every time he went to the Walmart or Target. He generalizes going to the store and getting a toy. It only takes one time for this to happen and we have spent a considerable amount of time and energy working with this. Generalization carries over into…