Blog - Page 252 of 1611

3 tell-tale signs I need help with my #Depression

I've been very open in regards to my ongoing war with depression. I feel that the only way we can de-stigmatize things like depression or any other mental health illness, is to speak openly, honestly and without shame. It's with the continued spirit of honesty, that I share with you my current struggles with depresion. I'm not going to go into my past history with depression in this post right now because honestly, this is hard enough as it is. You can however, read for yourself. See My War with Depression. In a nutshell, I'm not doing well. There are a few things that tend to happen when depression is kicking my ass. It's always been that way. As problematic and disruptive as these things can be, it's sorta like…

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June 12, 2018

Autism Parenting Confessions / My thoughts

What it’s like when I don’t cope well

I'm feeling incredibly overwhelmed this morning and I'm not entirely sure why. I've been feeling anxious and like there's just too much going on for me to cope with. I honestly can say that it isn't just one thing that weighing on me, it's the totality of everything. On most days, I'm able to take things on, one or two at a time and cope. On days like today, I taking on everything at once and it's crushing. This isn't something I'm doing on purpose or even consciously but the impact on me is significant. I'm literally shaking as I write this because I can't seem to center myself and it's more than I'm able to adapt to at the moment. I need to remove myself from the game for…

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June 11, 2018

Contributed

Keeping The Children Occupied During The Summer Break

This is a contributed post and therefore does not represent the views and opinions of this blog or its author. Summer is fast approaching and with that comes the dread of the extended break children get out of school. While it can be a fabulous opportunity to spend time with your children, it can also be the subject of a lot of stress and pressure as you wonder how you will keep them entertained for such a long time. Whether you are working and navigating the world of childcare or a stay at home parent, I have some suggestions that might help you keep the children occupied during the summer, and to hopefully keep you sane in the process. Image source Book some family days out When it comes to…

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June 11, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts

1 more reason my heart is breaking tonight

I've talked many times about Gavin and his many challenges. I've confessed to being frustrated and overwhelmed by his behaviors on many occasions as well. It's no secret that everything he goes through is absolutely heartbreaking to me. I think it would be for anyone with a soul. One of the reasons that it's so heartbreaking for me is because while it's true that Gavin is blissfully ignorant of his challenge on most days, there are days he becomes aware of them. Yesterday was one of those days where my frustration got the better of me and it just happened to coincide with Gavin being aware of something he was struggling with. I don't remember everything that happened because frankly, there was just too much to remember but it basically…

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June 11, 2018

My thoughts

I’m looking forward to this week for 1 big reason

We're going into our third week of summer vacation and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to it because there's something amazing happening, in fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm looking forward to this week because there's absolutely nothing going on. We still have our regular, weekly appointments but there are no out of town trips and no doctors appointments that have the potential to go badly. So often we are bouncing from one appointment to the next, in a seemingly endless game of hopscotch. It's exhausting for all of us but it's especially hard on the kids. Our goal for this week is to have a low key, relaxing seven days because we start back up with out of town appointments next week. Our budget…

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June 11, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

2 things that have always overwhelmed me as an #Autism parent

There are so many things about being an Autism parent that can be overwhelming. Everyone's list is likely to be different but I bet there are at least a few overlaps. I thought I would share two of the most overwhelming aspects of being an Autism parent for me. For me, and I've said this a million times before, sensory processing challenges are easily one of the most overwhelming aspects of being an Autism parent. Sensory processing disorder impacts my kids in different ways. Generally speaking, SPD makes it incredibly difficult to feed, clothe, and even take my kids anywhere. They are very easily overwhelmed by sensory input. Things like taste, smell, sound, touch, and sight can often lead to overstimulation. This leads to the inevitable meltdown. It's not their…

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June 11, 2018

#Autism Question of The Day

Are there times when you find being an #Autism parent harder than usual?

Being an Autism parent is rarely described as being easy. It's many things but easy simply isn't one of them. That doesn't mean that there aren't times that are easier than others. In that vein of thought, I thought I would pose a question to you all. Are there times you find being an Autism parent harder than usual? If so when? For me personally, it much harder to be an Autism parent when my kids are sick, especially when it's my youngest, Emmett. Emmett is so sensory oriented that even things like a simple cold will put him into a tailspin. It's awful because there's nothing we can do, short of curing a cold, that will help him. Things like a stuffy nose, scratchy throat or even sneezing can…

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June 10, 2018

My thoughts

Sleep and #Autism Parenting

It was a long night and I'm exhausted. Lizze sent me back to bed and left me undisturbed until I woke up on my own. Thank you for that.. ☺ I will say that it's amazing how lack of sleep impacts, even after getting an extra long nap. Truthfully, I feel pretty good but at the same time, I'm also feeling drained. There's absolute truth to the notion that you cannot make up for lost sleep. You can get sleep after having lost some but it doesn't undo what the lost sleep did. I don't know if that makes any sense but I bet if you asked most Autism parents if getting an extra long nap undoes the previous nights loss of sleep, I bet most would say no. That…

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June 10, 2018