I was awarded a featured guest blogger spot on a great blog called Nathan's Voice, by it's author, Lorrie.  I am a Mom to four wonderful children, the youngest son being diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder, just sharing her family's experiences in hopes it might help someone out there. I am also "Nana" to a very energetic grandson and a new grandbaby on the way! Lorrie is featuring my article entitled, My Broken Heart. I wrote this back in February of this year, after experiencing something that changed my life. I want to thank Lorrie for honoring me with this guest blogger spot. I truly consider it a privilege when someone want's to share my work on their site. Please check out her blog, read her story and share in her journey.  …

  I meant to share this a while ago but with everything going on, it got lost in the shuffle.  I have been syndicated by Autisable.com. This is really cool website with a great deal of useful information. I'm really excited to be a part of it now. Thank you Autisable.com for inviting me to share my writing as well as my family's story. Here is one of my articles that published today.  Help! Does my kid have OCD?

Well today hasn't really gone as planned.  Although, honestly, I didn't really have any plans.  Emmett will be going to her parents in a little bit and spending the night.  As soon as that happens,  I will be giving Lizze a special injection into her leg to help battle her migraine.  Her migraines are occurring every single day.  Her preventative medications haven't worked in a really long time. Now they are so bad that her pain medications are really working either.  She hates taking the pain killers because they are very high dose and they put her completely out of commission for about 6 hours or so. Her neurologist gave her this injectable medication to use in the event the pains meds don't work.  These are standard injections either.  They…

I have been meaning to post this for a while now but time has gotten away from me. Emmett has a very special friend that gifted him with this aquarium. I won't mention her name because I don't know if she's comfortable with that.  However,  I wanted to say thank you once again. Emmett loves his fish tank and I thought I would share some pictures of his setup.  Right now he has 2 goldfish,  3 snails and 1 blue crayfish named cranky crab. He's beyond proud of his aquarium. Thank you so very much.   ;-) - Lost and Tired Posted by Wordpress for Android via Tegra 2 powered Motorola Photon 4G (provided to me at no charge by Sprint) without the use of proper editing tools and disadvantages of…

I'm very happy to announce that on this day, back in 2003, I married my best friend.  Lizze and I have been together for over a decade now.  Life is never easy and our lives are no exception but we take every day for what it is,  a gift. It's hard to believe how much time has actually passed since we exchanged vows.  It's kind of funny,  I still have the shirt my parents bought me to wear to our reception.  I haven't worn it in many years but I still keep it because it reminds me of that day. Even though it's old and has seen better days,  it always makes me smile. Lizze and I have been through more in our short time together then many people will…

I have been doing the whole special needs parenting for a long time.  Walking the road of life with my Austin kids is nothing short of amazing. However,  amazing does come with its challenges.  The one I want to talk about today is obsessions.  In my experience,  both in my own personal family and through the many friends I have made through this blog,  obsessions are very common with ASD kids. Gavin,  my oldest son,  is 11 years old.He has only really ever had two main obsessions.  By obsessions,  I mean,  he will literally,  eat/sleep/breathe whatever his obsession is. For Gavin,  Legos and video games (in particular, Sonic the Hedgehog) are the two main obsessions he has.  He will talk nonstop about Sonic or some new Lego thing that he wants. …

With all the things in the news lately about Autistic children wandering away, I though it was very important to get this message out. I have been talking with Jeremy Warnick, Corporate Communications Manger at Lojack SafetyNet. I truly believe in addressing this problem this is a great way to do it. As you know, I don't often open my blog to outside posters but this is something I think we all need to take VERY seriously. I appreciate the oppurtunity to work with Lojack SafetyNet to help spread this very important message. Please share this post so we can get the word out. Lojack SafetyNet is giving away 1,500 devices and 6 months of free service. This is a pretty big deal.   PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED Kathy Kelleher, LoJack SafetyNet  With back…

This is part 7 of the What is Occupational Therapy series.  In this episode, Emmett is on the Puddy Swing. Basically, Emmett has to maintain his balance while pulling the puddy down from above his head. I want to share these with people because I know that starting something new can be scary for a child and mom or dad. I hope these video's give you a better sense of what to expect when it comes to OT. Please keep in mind that what you may experience could be different as this is geared for Emmett's particular needs. [youtube width="720" height="480"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk2iaANCkF4[/youtube]