Gavin hit a major milestone on his journey to independence

Today, I'm thrilled to share a milestone achievement in my autistic son, Gavin's journey toward independence—a journey marked by resilience and quiet strength. At 24 years old, Gavin faces challenges that many of us can barely fathom. Diagnosed with Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID), his immune system is severely compromised, which means he's highly susceptible to infections that his body struggles to fight off. To manage this condition, Gavin has adopted a rigorous medical routine that involves self-administering a crucial medication through two small needles directly into his abdomen, not once, but twice every week. The procedure itself is daunting and time-consuming, at times taking several hours each session. It's a testament to Gavin's fortitude that he has managed these infusions on his own for many years, enduring the discomfort…

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We sign papers for day services today

Today is a big day for Gavin. Today is the day that we sign papers for him to begin day services. This has been such a long time coming and I’m so glad we’re finally here. As I understand it, Gavin and I will be meeting with his SSA and a representative from the day center. We will talk about Gavin’s needs and create a plan that best meets them. My guess is that he will be attending at least a few days a week but it won’t start for about 30 days. Everything has to be processed and transportation arrangements must be made. It may not take a full 30 days but that’s the current estimate and Gavin’s okay with that because it gives him some time to emotionally…

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A quick update on Gavin’s transition into his adult life

It’s been a minute since I’ve updated you guys on how Gavin’s journey into his adult life is going. There’s a few reasons for that but one of them is that not much has changed since the last update. Gavin was getting overwhelmed by all the changes he was perceiving and wanted everything to slow down. I was not in a good place myself and being able to take a step back helped me find my footing and catch my breath. At the same time, Gavin was still continuing his job coaching. He meets every week with his job coach to practice interviews, and work on his resume. Last week Gavin expressed interest in day services again. Day services would give him things to do during the day. There’s social…

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Am I the only parent who struggled with this?

I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while because I think we should be open and honest about this. Here we go. I’ve been very focused on Gavin transitioning into adulthood. He’s almost 23 years old, and this has been a long time coming. It’s also been met with several delays, mainly due to COVID. Anyway, one of the things I struggled with was admitting that Gavin moving out was in everyone’s best interests. It’s in Gavin’s best interest, but it’s best for the rest of us as well. This is where I’ve struggled emotionally with this whole thing. Gavin is among the most amazing humans I’ve ever known, but he’s not always easy to coexist with. His behaviors can be overwhelming and very frustrating for me as…

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Helping my adult #autistic son find independence

Gavin is bound and determined to move out. Until recently, I hadn't really considered that to be an option but this is what he wants. As his parent, I want him to reach whatever level of independence he can achieve. With that in mind, I'm getting the ball rolling on this. The process is likely to take awhile and that's okay because I wouldn't do anything before COVID is resolved and it's safe for Gavin to pursue. I'm going to be preoccupied this week so I don't envision making any serious progress. I wanted to outline my current plan but keep in mind this is subject to change. I expect that we have a full year, at the very least, before we can really do anything. I want to make…

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