Consequence. Every action or inaction can have a consequence. We try to teach our kids this valuable lesson through out their young lives. But how to be teach this lesson to our autistic children. Autistic children have a very difficult time in any type of social interaction. This is a major struggle for us with Gavin. He doesn't understand all the time that his actions have consequences,sometimes good and sometimes bad. The best way we have found is to hold him to a higher standard. We have discussed this at length with all his doctors and teachers. Gavin has to face consequences for his actions. If he hits his brother there is a consequence. If he throws a fit or has a meltdown that has a consequence. They only way…

The end of the day has arrived. I find myself alone on the couch with Maggie, my blackberry and Extreme Makeover Home Edition on Hulu. Lizze went to take EJ to bed and never came back. They are curled up sleeping next to each other. ER and Gavin are both sleeping. At least ER is sleeping, I think Gavin might still be moving around. He is quiet. So he's probably just playing peacefully on the floor. Gavin just came down to tell me he can't sleep. This defiantly points in the direction of manic. We visit this place quite often. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Lizze and I are going to watch the entire series of King of the Hill start to finish over the summer. So…

Paradise. More like paradise lost. Today has been very trying so far. Gavin lost it right before lunch. he and ER were playing. Gavin decided to make it into a game "with no rules". However, there was no way for ER to win because Gavin wouldn't let him. He frustrated ER with this. Lizze approached Gavin to question him about what happened. ER said Gavin was cheating. Gavin wouldn't just answer the questions. Lizze asked him again to answer. This time he bit her head off. I called Gavin over and made him sit like a pretzel on the floor. This keeps him from kicking and jumping around. I asked him the same questions and he just started to scream. Maggie (our dog) went over to check on him and…

I knew the day was coming. We shut off the satellite today. We need to dig deeper to cut expenses and that is really all we had left. We are actually pretty excited because we will be saving the money each month now. I have my tower for the computer business hooked up to the big screen so we now just stream netflix and watch our weekly shows on hulu. We just have to wait an extra day to watch. We have actually been pretty fortunate to have things to either sell or shut down. This usually makes the difference we need it to. I the many years I have worked for Microsoft I have received many things from them. I have received free tablet pc's, free copies of just…

My wife has been through so much. I think it's important her story be heard.. She deserver's to have her story heard... To read more please visit her Blog .........Dear Nicholas, We've been apart nearly 10 years and there’s apparently still a piece of me that is afraid of you. I used to be so strong before you. My Granny taught me never to fall for a guy like you. I still don’t know how it happened. Well, that’s not entirely true. I thought I could save you. I thought I could save you from yourself. First, from the gang that didn’t exist in the end. Then from your parents because they didn’t understand you. Little did I know that they didn’t understand you because you were stoned all the…

One of the big things I struggle with daily is stress. I'm under so much stress each day that words cannot express the crushing weight I feel. My wife has fibromyalgia which was triggered and worsened by stress. Her quality of life is nonexistent. We never have a chance to just get away for a bit. We even have to take turns sleeping sometimes. We are not managing this stress very well. But to be honest this is not the typical stress most people feel each day. Nothing will ever be resolved. The kids will always be autistic and have special needs. So it's not like things will get better or there's a light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn't apply to special needs parents. I enjoy fixing…

Lizze and I are crumbling under the weight of everything. Emmett John (EJ) is becoming extremely difficult to manage. He screams and breaks things almost constantly it seems. He targets Elliott Richard (ER) and Lizze and physically assaults them. ER has scratches on his face and back and bumps on his head, all from EJ. Lizze's face is all scratched up from EJ clawing her for seemingly no reason at all. EJ is angry much of the time. At least it feels that way. There is no way to know for sure what he is feeling because he still doesn't talk. He will walk through the living room and throw or smash literally anything he can get his hands on. I think it's pretty obvious he's frustrated with life. We…

I am going to start sharing the songs that my autistic kids seem to find relaxing. Emmett John especially, seems to respond positively to music. So here is one of the songs he falls asleep to every night. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrpSjXo6ah0]