My wife and I have never put any stock in the whole vaccine debate. I have to admit that I just trusted our doctors and never really researched the whole debate.  That changed when we were advised by our sons psychiatrist to re-evaluate our stance for Emmett John. Read my post here: http://wp.me/pQI30-3a Anyway, we have been researching a ton lately and have begun seeing the vaccine and autism debate for what it is. Does anyone even know how the debate got started? If not you should Google the name ""Dr. Andrew Wakefield". The whole debate was started over a now completely discredited research (and I use the term loosely) study. It was based on false information that was apparently "unethically" obtained.  This guy is currently under review to have…

I found this article today while doing some research. I thought it was a good read. I'm not sure who wrote it. The article can be found here: (or read below) http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-02-07/opinion/17848204_1_andrew-wakefield-vaccines-autism A reality check on autism and vaccines February 07, 2010 Many worried and angry parents of an autistic child believe that vaccines may cause the disease. But it's pure myth - disproved by numerous studies and now a final slap from a British journal disowning a report that started the dangerous nonsense. Will these parents accept reality - and allow their children to receive shots against a dozen or more illnesses? And will fringe groups that play to fears of autism give up their indefensible claims? The answers can't come soon enough for public health experts. Vaccination rates,…

Gavin loves to watch movies like Transformers, Harry Potter ect. However, shows like Blues Clues will send him running upstairs. My guess is that it's a sensory thing. We don't really understand why but suspect it has something to do with shows like Blues Clues, Dora ect always have a lesson in them. If Gavin perceives someone is going to get into trouble or be embarrassed he freaks out. Even if the show is designed with much younger children in mind. Keep in mind Gavin is emotionally about 3 years old. I was wondering if anyone could shed so light on this for me? Do any of your kids do anything similar? LT

The two youngest have been picked up and are off to celebrate Easter with my family. Lizze and I are still under the weather so we stayed home. We kept Gavin home cause he is already on sensory overload. We decided that it would be nice for Gavin to have the house to himself. We ordered chinese and just hung out. He is having a better day now and he never really gets a break from the kids. So today turned out better then I had thought. LT

As a parent dealing with possibly 2 autistic children life tends to get me down. I hate that some things are out of my control. I'm a control freak but so much control has already been taken from us. I just like to feel in control of my life. The holidays tend to be the hardest time of the year for me. Here's why: So it's Easter Sunday and I'm feeling pretty crappy. I want so much more for our kids. I'm still not feeling 100% yet and Lizze has been dealing with a migraine for about a week now. The kids are all excited because the Easter Bunny visited them last night. The family is all going to my brother and sister in laws house for Easter dinner. Once…

So I thought I would share an embarrassing moment and main reason we don't go out much. Before I go into to this I swear my wife and don't raise the kids this way. Gavin had to have blood work done for him depakote levels a few years back. This is quite an ordeal. We have to call ahead to make sure they have enough people on that day to get this done as it usually takes about 8 people. We told Gavin that after the blood work we would take him to lunch cause he was so brave. Gavin loves Chinese food so we went to a buffet near our home. We walk up to the hostess desk and tell them there will be 3 of today. As we…

How to parents of autistic children cope with life? Speaking for myself, I don't know. I know I'm depressed and tired all the time. Recently I have been getting sick after eating. The stress is killing me. How are we as parents supposed to cope with this level of chronic stress? There is little to no help out there. For the amount of kids that are autistic you would think that there would be more support centers. At least in my area there isn't even a support group for parents of autistic children. We get lumped in with support groups for other disorders. Respite care? What's that? Aside from my parents we get nothing. There needs to be support for the parents because we are all on the front lines.…

We noticed awhile back that Gavin never sweats. Today he was outside running around and all he does is get really red in the face but he doesn't sweat. I was wondering if this was common with autistic kids or something unique to Gavin. Thanks