Autism Parenting Insight Archives - Page 9 of 22

An example of how repetition helps Gavin learn or maintain skills

It's been a difficult day because Gavin is definitely struggling but it's sort of a mixed bag. I'll give you an example. I mentioned to him last night that he needs to shave because if he's going to grow facial hair, he needs to maintain it. His goatee comes in pretty nice but the rest doesn't. If he doesn't shave the rest of his face and neck, it honestly looks like that episode of South Park where Cartman glued someone's pubes to his face in order to look like he had a beard. After his IVIG Infusion, Gavin remembered that he needed to shave. I give him major props for that because even remembering is a big deal for him. ☺ He decided to completely shave off his goatee and…

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October 12, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / Family Pets / Ferrets / My thoughts / Zane

My wife and I have a very difficult #Autism parenting decision to make

Lizze and I may have a difficult decision to make in the morning. As you know, our ferret Zane has been very sick. Over the last week or so, he seemed to doing better and we were all quite relieved by that. Unfortunately, we're noticing that his back legs now seem to be partially paralyzed, which indicates possible neurological problems. I spoke with the vet last night and he's going to see Zane at 10am. We will try and figure out what we need to do but any of the tests that would need to be done would likely be in the hundreds of dollars and there's just no feasible way for us to pull that off. Anyway, the vet is going to advise us if it's either something that…

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October 10, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

I know it can be depressing to read my #Autism parenting story but after you finish reading, I’ll still be living it

Being an Autism Parent is like riding the scariest wooden roller-coaster you can possibly imagine. There are often no brakes and that means you can't get off the ride because it never stops. In many cases, the ride doesn't stop until the day you die. I know it can often be depressing to read about the struggles I face as an Autism and Special Needs Parent. Someone from high school once told me that they don't read my blog because it's too depressing and they don't want the negativity in their lives. It's true and that really hurt to hear that but I get it. While our story is unique in the sense that we are dealing with 3 kids on the Autism Spectrum, as well as some very rare…

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October 6, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts / Today's Victory

As an #Autism parent, I have to celebrate the wins, even if no one else gets it

I know yesterday was a rough one for me and I was run pretty ragged but there were some positives. I wanted to quickly share one of those positives with you and encourage you to try and focus on the positives in your life. ☺ One of the big frustrations I have at home is the amount of screen time the kids have. In a more typical situation, it's much easier to limit that screen time and sorta tamp it down to a more reasonable level. Most kids don't like the idea of giving up screen time in general. For kids with Autism, it's a much more complicated situation and I know many of you out there may shudder at the idea of taking your child's tablet away. It's not…

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October 2, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

As an #Autism and #SpecialNeeds parent, I sometimes desperately need a sense of normalcy

Lizze and I might have the entire night to ourselves. I'm not sure what we're going to do with our free time but I at least a tiny bit of walking will be part of it. I want to finish the month strong. Money is really tight and a huge source stress/anxiety. Now we have at least a $1,000 deductible to come up with related to our homeowners claim in regards to the storm damage to our house, garage, yard and tree (see It's pretty bad but thank God no one was hurt). Our car is really beyond repair and things like groceries or other everyday expenses aren't getting any cheaper. We're also taking Zane, one of our service ferrets to the vet in the morning because something isn't right…

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September 30, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / Gavin / My thoughts

My 18 year old with #Autism did two amazing things this week

I was incredibly overwhelmed last night but I'm feeling a bit better this morning. As a result of feeling a bit less overwhelmed by life, I'm able to puts some focus on a couple really positive things that Gavin has done over the last week. There are loads of concerning issues as well but he's done two things in particular that I want to talk about because it shows that there's always hope. ☺ In order to appreciate these things, you need to adjust your expectations and keep in mind that Gavin is a six year old trapped inside an eighteen year olds body. Perspective is important. That said...... Gavin came to me yesterday and informed me that he has diarrhea. Why is this significant? The fact that he has…

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September 30, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

It may not be pretty or graceful but we will survive

Life is a never-ending series of tests and I'm currently being tested. As an Autism and Special Needs parent, I'm no stranger to challenge and have become accustomed to the daily struggle that many Autism and Special Needs parents face. Being accustomed to something shouldn't be confused with becoming easier. We've (Lizze and me) have been knee deep in managing Gavin's physical and emotional health problems. They are never-ending, frequently changing and can often be a fulltime job, in and of themselves. As we're working through those issues we're also trying to make the necessary preparations in order to file for permanent guardianship of our newly minted 18-year-old son. Lizze is experiencing changes in her overall health and health care that makes things more challenging right now. Elliott appears to…

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September 24, 2018

Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

Trying to reduce the stress in our house is not easy

Today is a totally blah kinda day. We are in a weird place at the moment and that's creating some unneeded stress for everyone. The boys (meaning Elliott and Emmett) are very stressed out over the enormous tree in our yard and are worried that more of the tree is going to fall. This has them on edge, which influences their behavior and mood. I want to get them out of the house today and away from what's stressing them out. It's a really nice first full day of Fall and a trip to the park could be a great way to spend the afternoon. Unfortunately, Lizze is not doing so well today either and her migraine is limiting her movements right now. Anything that we go and do this…

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September 23, 2018