Read more about the article Even Daddies make mistakes and need to apologize
Autism Parenting Advice / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

Even Daddies make mistakes and need to apologize

Today was one of those days where I feel like a parenting failure. There wasn't one specific thing that contributed to me feeling like this but rather a culmination of things. The boys were being the boys. They were loud, hyper and testing my patience. Gavin was being Gavin and that means he was talking non-stop about his games or the games he's saving up for. He's become much more sensitive lately and he reacts to stress in a not so positive way. That is very frustrating for me. I just didn't have the patience that I should have had today. I was short with the kids on several occasions and I let their behavioral challenges get to me. No ones perfect, least of all me. I've had a difficult…

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March 11, 2018
Read more about the article What it requires to BE a Special Needs Parent and what it requires to HELP one
Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

What it requires to BE a Special Needs Parent and what it requires to HELP one

In my family, we don't experience too many situations that fall into the normal category. With special needs kids, normal is something that we have almost no comprehension of. Normal is a subjective term anyway and it's going to be different for everyone. It's because of the above reasons, so many special needs families struggle. It's hard to find help for situations where unless you've lived it yourself, you can't possible truly comprehend. This is where the whole walk a mile in my shoes, cliché as fuck phrase, applies incredibly well. I run into that quite frequently in my life. There's a surprising amount of well intentioned people in the world (which is a good thing) who want to help but don't seem to grasp that the obvious solution doesn't…

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March 6, 2018
Read more about the article Important advice for new and experienced #Autism parents
Autism Parenting Advice / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

Important advice for new and experienced #Autism parents

Being an Autism parent is difficult, in every sense of the word. I have good days where I feel like we make forward progress and I'm filled with hope. I also have bad days where it can seem like moving forward is an impossible task and giving up is a reoccurring thought I can't get out of my head. Sometimes I have days that are somewhere in between. Something that I learned early on was the importance of being positive. Being positive doesn't mean that I sugar coat anything or try to see the things in my life through rose colored glasses. While that may put a more positive spin on things, it wouldn't be truthful and therefore unhelpful to anyone, including myself. In my experience, being positive means celebrating…

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February 28, 2018
Read more about the article He’s 18 years old on the outside but not on the inside
Gavin / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

He’s 18 years old on the outside but not on the inside

Gavin's having a rough time today. He's eighteen years old now but can't be treated or managed like a typical, freshly minted adult. Unfortunately, Gavin's cognitive ability is significantly lower than his chronological age. Until we have his new NeuroPsych testing done this summer, we won't know exactly how much he's regressed since the last time he was tested, but his doctors have pinned his emotional age at around eight or nine years of age. That's a ten year difference between his developmental age and his chronological age. As he gets older, it becomes more and more obvious that he is struggling. Today he was taking out the recycling (supervised of course) and his lack of ability to problem solve was on full display. We have recycling collected in a…

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February 19, 2018
Read more about the article Why it’s important for special needs parents to find something positive in each day
Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

Why it’s important for special needs parents to find something positive in each day

When you're a special needs parent, it's quite common to feel overwhelmed. If you did a keyword search in this blog, you'd find countless times I've used the word overwhelmed to describe how I'm feeling. Being overwhelmed isn't something that's easy to deal with because of its very nature. When I'm overwhelmed, I sorta feel like I'm being crushed under the weight of all that's going on in my life. In that moment, I'm unable to carry the weight and no longer able to even process anything. It's kinda like a computer bogging down because it's doing too much at one time. During these moments, it's not uncommon to feel a sense of dread or dispair. It's important that you not give into these feelings. It's hard for people to…

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February 19, 2018
Read more about the article How I helped my adult son with #Autism work through a really bad day
Gavin / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

How I helped my adult son with #Autism work through a really bad day

Today felt like a trip back in time to when Gavin was really struggling with behavioral issues. OMG did he have a rough day. He tried his best but couldn't cope well with all that went on yesterday. His Monday was thrown off because of the shift in his bloodwork schedule. That threw him for a loop and the day had only just started. When he started his IVIG infusion, both infusion sites ended up leaking and he needed to be stuck with a needle five or six times before we could get it working. His infusion going poorly sent him into a downward spiral that he would never recover from. Throughout the rest of the day he struggled with just about everything. His frustration threshold was nonexistent and he…

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February 13, 2018
Read more about the article How helping others helps me to cope with being an #Autism parent
Autism Parenting Advice / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

How helping others helps me to cope with being an #Autism parent

This may sound like it would be counterproductive, but one of the best ways to cope with the stress of being an Autism parent is to use your experience to help others. That's sound crazy right? I know it does but let me explain. When I first began my Autism parenting journey almost seventeen years ago, the stress was unbearable. I was on edge all the time and barely slept. I didn't know what to do and felt like I was completely lost in the dark, trying to find my way. I began blogging under the title Lost and Tired. It was basically a digital journal that helped me to process things. I could write about what I experienced or how I felt and walk away from it feeling lighter.…

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February 12, 2018