CBD and Autism: What There Is To Know

CBD (Cannabidiol) is a phytocannabinoid or endocannabinoid and is one of about 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants. Cannabidiol can be consumed in many ways: Through inhalation, aerosol spray, and orally. It has been well established that the substance can be used for various medical purposes such as the treatment of a wide variety of illnesses including insomnia, acne symptoms, epilepsy, anxiety, cancer symptoms, inflammation, depression, chronic pain, diabetes, autism, and so on. The drug works for individuals of all age groups. It can be very beneficial to your pets (dogs and cats) too. For this article, we will look at how cannabidiol helps autism and some other important facts that should be known. Autism Autism is an adverse developmental disorder that affects an individual’s ability to communicate and interact.…

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6 Los Angeles Airport Hacks Every Traveler Needs to Know

Traveling to Los Angeles Airport any time soon? Spare yourself from Lax parking headaches upon arrival. Keep on reading and learn from the tips we’ll share to get rid of common nightmares that inexperienced travelers commonly make. 1. Book a Parking Spot Booking an LAX parking spot saves time and money. You can bring your car to the airport, which also means that you won’t need to go through the hassle of booking a cab to go home when you get back from your travel. These days, booking an airport parking spot is easy. Check out ParkON.com to secure a guaranteed spot when you arrive. While doing additional research for parking at LAX I stumbled upon a new website that I enjoyed called parkingaccess.com. Lots of parking options and very simple and…

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Signs of Undiagnosed #Anxiety in Children with #Autism

  By Hailey Shafir, LPC, LCAS, CCS-I Anxiety is the single most common mental health disorder in America, and will affect over one third of the population at some point during their lives. In children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), these numbers are even higher, with some studies estimating as many as 84% of these children also have an anxiety disorder. Often, anxiety may be overlooked in children with Autism because some symptoms of anxiety and ASD overlap, and also because anxiety can present in atypical ways with children on the spectrum. There are several different types of anxiety disorders, and research indicates certain types are more common in children on the spectrum. Specific Phobias (where the child is afraid of a specific situation or object like spiders, small spaces,…

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I’m hoping this helps foster a bit more independence for my adult #Autistic son

We have a great deal of nothing planned today, and I'm okay with that. I feel like I slept pretty well last night, and I got my morning walk in around 8 AM. Aside from getting some work done, I also want to spend some time with Gavin. Gavin is struggling with personal hygiene issues, and I get frustrated having to always remind him to do basic things. It's not that he's refusing to do these things, he simply lacks the self-awareness needed to recognize these things need to be done. I'm referring to things like trimming his nails, brushing his teeth, shaving and properly showering. We've tried lots of things to help him remember or recognize these things need to be done, but nothing has really helped. Part of…

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How we knew our 11-year-old son was #depressed and how we’re helping him

I've spoken about my personal war with depression many times. This time, I thought I would take a few minutes and provide some insight into how we knew that Emmett was struggling with depression, as well as why we decided medication was in his best interest. Everyone is different, and this is not to be viewed as medical advice or replace seeking help from your doctor. Emmett is our recently turned 11-year-old. He's the youngest of our three autistic kids. He's been through a great deal in his short life from Gavin's extreme behavior to the loss of three family members in the last eight months. Everyone in our house is on at least one medication, and some are on multiple. We take medications very, very seriously, especially for our…

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Teenagers are tough, but teenagers with #Autism can be even tougher

My wife and I have about 20 years of Autism parenting experience. Gavin's going to be 20 years old in January, but our journey with him was anything but typical, even for an Autistic kid. The reason I say that is because now that Elliott is a teenager and Emmett's not too far behind, we're finding it a completely different experience than we had with Gavin. In many ways, it's very much like we're going through all of this for the first time because our frame of reference with Gavin not proving to be helpful. Gavin functions at a much lower capacity than the boys, and that presented us with a unique set of challenges. Elliott and Emmett are very high functioning but struggle in many ways that Gavin didn't.…

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Navigating the nursing home with my #Autistic kids isn’t easy

I wanted to share a special moment from the other day. As you may recall, we recently lost Lizze's grandmother, my grandfather and now my grandmother is in heart failure. She's moved into a nursing home about five minutes away. She's been there for a couple of months, and it's been a difficult transition for her. The positive is that she's now safe, well cared for and much closer. She used to live ninety minutes away, and that made it so hard to see her when especially with our car. Anyway, we try to visit her as close to every day as we can. It's a difficult journey with the kids because her memory is not very good anymore and the other day, it didn't seem like she remembered us.…

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Did you know that #CBD for pets is a thing now?

I've always been fascinated by science, especially medical science. When I was a kid, I used to love reading the medical advances section of Readers Digest. I’ve a big believer in western medicine, but my eyes have recently been opened to other options. I've mentioned before that we've been exploring CBD products for Lizze in hopes of helping her better manage her chronic pain, including migraines. Traditional medicine wasn’t helpful, and after years of not being able to find any meaningful relief, something happened. Ohio recently legalized medicinal marijuana, and Lizze was able to obtain her Ohio medical marijuana card a few months ago. It's pretty much changed her life. CBD oil, which is THC free, has been very helpful as well. She only tried it in two forms, gummies…

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