Elliott – Page 18 – The Autism Dad

The boys are heartbroken

The boys both came home from school today having not eaten anything the whole day. Elliott spent a part of the day crying, as did Emmett. They're really stressed out about losing Cleo. It hadn't occurred to me that Elliott and Emmett have never existed without Cleo. She's been a big part of their lives for their entire lives. I hadn't thought about that before now. This is a much bigger deal from them than I was originally thinking. Cleo was there for them during the separation, and if you recall, Emmett used to snuggle her like a teddy bear. She would tolerate it until he fell asleep and she would sneak away without waking him up. For the first time in their entire lives, they will go to sleep…

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August 23, 2017

Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

Our school year has been surprising

The boys had a good day at school and that's always a good thing. No ones making fun of Elliott over his backpack, and that's an enormous relief. A big bit of awesome is that Elliott doesn't have homework this year. That's such a huge relief for all of us. Homework has been a nightmare over the years and it looks like we will be getting a break from it. Unfortunately, Emmett is getting homework this year but he seems to be doing okay with it. ☺ I'm kinda liking the level of positive surrounding this school year already. I was really worried about how things were going to go, but so far, it's been awesome.

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August 22, 2017

Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts / School / Victories

Here’s the verdict from the first day of school

I'm greatly relieved to be able to share that the boys first day of school was an overwhelming success. All of the kids that were a problem last year for Elliott, are no longer attending. This is amazing news for Elliott and anyone else that was troubled by this last year. ☺ Both Elliott and Emmett like their new classrooms, teachers and classmates. There might even be hope for them eating the school breakfast, as the food has changed this year and is supposed to be much better. Best of all, not one person said anything to Elliott about his backpack. We clearly got off to a rough start but I'm thrilled with the way it all played out. I'm hoping that tomorrow is just as good, but with a…

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August 17, 2017

Elliott / My thoughts

But isn’t that a girl’s backpack?

While shopping for school supplies this year, I found myself in a position where I needed to make a decision that could have an impact on Elliott, as he moves forward. For some reason, Elliott decided that he was going to go a completely different direction in deciding what backpack he was going to get for the new school year. As a Dad, I was sorta caught off guard when he picked out the backpack in the picture below. There were some really cool backpacks he could have chosen from and I made sure he had plenty of choices. We searched Amazon but in the end, he had his heart set on this pink backpack at Walgreens. I'm very open minded and have raised my kids to be true to…

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August 17, 2017

Elliott / My thoughts / Occupational Therapy

Elliott’s first day of occupational therapy

Elliott did awesome at occupational therapy. We've never had this particular therapist before but she was awesome as well. Elliott is so timid when it comes to anything that takes his feet off the ground, and she worked with him to get through some of it. She said that he absolutely made her Monday and that he's the perfect kid to have as the last patient of the day. ☺ I think Elliott had a good time and great workout as well. Unfortunately, he'd going to be super sore in the morning but I keep telling him it's the good kind of sore. lol [foogallery id="64672"]

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August 14, 2017

Elliott / My thoughts / Occupational Therapy

It’s a big day for Elliott

While it true that I'm dreading part of today, there's also something I'm super excited about. After being off for a couple of years, Elliott is finally making it back to occupational therapy. Between lack of therapists and waiting lists, it's been quite awhile since he was last in this therapy. I'm stoked that he will be starting up again today. He's only going twice a month but every little bit helps. Not only are they working on strengthening, balance, coordination, but also secure social skills. It will do Elliott some good to be back at it and hopefully, this will help to midogate some of his challenges. ☺

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August 14, 2017

Elliott / My thoughts

Elliott and I went for a walk

Elliott and I went walking by ourselves. Emmett didn't want to go and Gavin was laying down. Lizze stayed home with the kids, so Elliott and I could still go. It was really nice spending time with Elliott. We walked about a mile and a half, and he talked the entire time. I just listened and jumped in when it was appropriate. lol Elliott's a talker. There's no two ways about it. He has a lot to say and it's tough to listen when there's so much going on in the house. Elliott was able to explore some creek banks and collect some rocks. He loves doing that.. ☺ I'm hoping it helped him to get all that out and not have to compete for a listening ear. I had…

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August 13, 2017

Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts / Sensory

Bedtime has become a sensory nightmare

Last night was a challenge once again because Emmett wasn't tolerating a blanket. Everything has to be just so, in order for him to be comfortable enough to fall asleep. I'm going to be brutally honest here. I didn't even dick around with trying for extended periods of time to help him work through this. At this point in time, it's more important that we all get some sleep, rather than worrying about the means in which we obtain it. Like I said, there was no dicking around. I went straight for what we knew ow works and works rather quickly. That approach is as simple as snuggling and singing him to sleep in our bed. For whatever reason, it's helping him fall asleep. He used Lizze's super soft blankets…

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August 7, 2017