Read more about the article If you detect some frustration, you’re not wrong
Akron Children's Hospital / Autism Parenting Woes / Emmett John / My thoughts / Pediatrics / Psychiatry

If you detect some frustration, you’re not wrong

I've been struggling to write as much as I'd like if under better circumstances. This last week of my life has been very challenging, and recovering from it is taking some time. We buried my grandmother a week ago today. All of us are still feeling the impact of this, but especially Emmett. As I'm writing this, he's been up for two days now and cannot fall asleep. Melatonin isn't helping, and he's incredibly stressed out. I just got off the phone with his pediatrician's office, and I'm trying to get them to put him on low dose Prozac. Emmett has his first appointment with Akron Children's Behavioral Health in September, and he's on a cancellation list as well. For some reason, his pediatrician, whom we really like, seems resistant…

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June 27, 2019
Read more about the article My 19-year-old #Autistic son totally impressed me
Akron Children's Hospital / Autism Parenting Insight / Gavin / My thoughts / Psychiatry

My 19-year-old #Autistic son totally impressed me

When Gavin was younger, he was admitted to the psych unit at Akron Children's Hospital more times than I can remember. It was always a last resort but a necessary action when things got really bad, and he needed acute stabilization. Anyway, Gavin's doing so much better now, but he's beginning to struggle once again. Most of this struggle revolves around him, managing his frustration. It's not easy for him because he's very easily frustrated and often has unrealistic expectations of himself. The other day, Gavin came downstairs and wanted to show me something. He'd been straightening up his room and came across one of his old folders from a psych stay at Akron Children's. Inside it, he found some of the work he'd done while he was there. In…

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May 20, 2019
Read more about the article It feels awful to know I’m failing my wife and kids
Akron Children's Hospital / Autism Parenting Struggles / Elliott / Psychiatry

It feels awful to know I’m failing my wife and kids

We had Elliott to Akron Children's Hospital yesterday. It was a routine follow up in behavioral health. We discussed any concerns we had. We talwdat things are going well and what needs work. We also follow up on medications and make sure we're still on the right track with that as well. I personally feel like Elliott is making a serious effort in many areas, and I made sure to bring that up. I'm incredibly proud of him because I know that life in our house isn't easy. That said, there are still things that he needs to work on as well. That's not anything against him at all. He's a newly minted teenager, and that's never easy, especially when Autism factors in. One of the things that Elliott is…

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May 2, 2019
Read more about the article So far so good
Akron Children's Hospital / My thoughts / Pediatrics / Psychiatry

So far so good

We've made it halfway through the day, and things have actually gone smoothly. Emmett's back at school, and we're in the waiting room at Akron Children's Hospital for Elliott's appointment. A huge thank you goes out to Lizze's Mom because she was willing to hang out with Gavin after he was done with his blood work. This way we didn't have to drag him around with us all day. It wouldn't have been fun for him, and I needed a break from his constant updates about his new Keyblade. We'll get Elliott some lunch and then head back to pick up the kids when we're done here. We have family therapy at 5 PM, and then we're going to meet my family for dinner. That's a last minute thing, but…

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April 30, 2019
Read more about the article He can go from zero to rage in no time flat
Akron Children's Hospital / Elliott / My thoughts / Psychiatry

He can go from zero to rage in no time flat

Elliott's appointment went pretty well. It was with the Behavioral Health Center at Akron Children's Hospital and it was also the first time we had really been to the new building. It's pretty amazing.. ☺ This trip was basically a followup and med check. Nothing new really happened and nothing has changed as far as medication is concerned. Elliott had a few tense moments because he became very frustrated. That's sorta what Elliott does. He goes from zero to rage in not time flat and his frustration threshold is very low. It was good that it happened because they were a there to witness some of the challenges he's dealing with first hand. Anyway, I took Elliott to get lunch and was kinda excited about that because he and I…

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November 14, 2018
Read more about the article This is an unbelievably busy week
Akron Children's Hospital / Elliott / Emmett John / Gastroenterology / Gavin / Lizze / My thoughts / Pediatrics / Psychiatry

This is an unbelievably busy week

It's going to be a seriously busy week and it's going to involve a great deal of driving. Elliott has an appointment at Akron Children's Hospital in the morning. This is for a medication check with the behavioral health center. The drive will likely be longer than the actual appointment but it is what it is. On Wednesday, I'll be returning to Akron Children's Hospital again, this time with Gavin. He's got a follow up with gastroenterology. We've been waiting for this and I need to make this happen. On Thursday, Lizze has an appointment in the morning and on Friday, I'm back at Akron Children's Hospital once more for the boys. This is just a regular thing with their pediatrician. It's not a big deal but we still have…

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November 13, 2018
Read more about the article The heartbreaking reality of how trauma has seriously impacted one of my kids with #Autism
Akron Children's Hospital / Elliott / Gavin / My thoughts / Psychiatry

The heartbreaking reality of how trauma has seriously impacted one of my kids with #Autism

I've been meaning to write this but the idea of doing so has been too overwhelming. There are a number of reasons for that but the main one is that I'm struggling with my own depression at this point and many things have me overwhelmed. I'm going to try and keep this super quick so I can actually finish it. Elliott finally got into psychiatry at Akron Children's Hospital this past week. We'd been waiting for a very long time for an opening because child psychiatrists are nearly impossible to find in our area, especially good ones. We ended up meeting with a nurse practitioner. Turns out we already knew him because he used to work with Dr. Reynolds, Gavin's longtime psychiatrist. That was very comforting, although we'd never spoken…

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October 14, 2018