I'm not sure I would call this hoarding but it's pretty close. I was cleaning out the registers today when I came upon this in Gavin's room. He has apparently been.....collecting....trinkets and trash for a while now. If you think that was the big surprise, you'd be sorely mistaken. The biggest surprise was discovering that Gavin had been using the register as a urinal. He says it has been a long time since he has peed in the register.....whatever that means.  I made him scrub it and then scrub it again.  We couldn't figure out where the smell had been coming from....now we know. The challenges never seem to end... Anyone see anything similar? - Lost and Tired Post by Wordpress for Android via Nexus S 4G with out the…

This is the triumphant return to my "Nope....No Aspergers here" posts.  In this picture, you will see what I found upon walking in to Gavin room this afternoon. Aspergers? I ha be no idea what you're talking about... ;-) - Lost and Tired Post by Wordpress for Android via Nexus S 4G with out the use of proper editing tools and auto-correct. Please Vote for Lost and Tired (just click the link) and help me spread Autism Awareness. Everyone can Vote once a day :)

I want to help people have a better understanding of what it's like to raise an Autistic child. Not every Autistic child is the same and not every Autistic child will meltdown the same way. However, for many of us, this is a reality we face every single day. Many times this happen several times though out the day. This can and will happen at home and in public. A lot of the time there is no rhyme or reason for these meltdowns but they will "usually" be tired to over-stimulation, stress or anxiety. My goal here is NOT to paint Autism in a negative light but instead be realistic and honest. These meltdowns are just one small piece of the puzzle that makes up an Autistic child. In this…

Emmett and I went to Home Depot this afternoon to get the replacement parts for the sink. I took Emmett cause he really wanted to go and I thought I could take advantage of the time together and teach him a few things. I always try to incorporate learning in our everyday activities. Even the little things can make the difference in the life and future of an ASD child. Well it turned out not to be to educational for him but it was a good time none-the-less. Emmett seems to have a taste for shopping....as long as he doesn't have to pay for anything himself. :-) Enjoy. Part 1 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckHHx4oAN5A[/youtube]   Part 2 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn-MpXY3yoU[/youtube]

I have been working with Gavin for a while on personal hygiene and other self-care type things. With Autistic children this isn't always an easy task. This has been true for Gavin as well. I always have to remind him to wipe his face after eating or brushing his teeth. Well out of no where today Gavin tells me he wants to go upstairs and brush his hair. I asked him if I can take before and after pics and post them. He was quite happy to have his face plastered on the site for all to see. He was so funny cause he went upstairs and was gone for a bit. He came down and was quite proud of himself. I just had to smile because he has a…

I'm grateful that we have a place to live. Things could always be worse but with that said, I HATE THIS HOUSE. I'm so tired of everything falling apart, not because of the maintenance aspect but because nothing is a simple repair. Much of the plumbing and electrical work in the house is a complete disaster. Often times I have found that many of the things done to this house prior to us moving in was not done properly. The sprayer on the kitchen sink went bad and so we can't turn the water on without flooding underneath the sink. This is normally a simple repair but with my luck. The two supply lines are butted up against the bolt at the end of the hose I need to replace.…

Sorry for all the off topic posts but this is about our lives and this is part of it right now. These damn cats are driving me crazy...yes I know it's a short trip..ha ha. Seriously, our porch smells like cat urine and the smell creeps into the house as well. This is a pain in the a$$ and there seems to be little or no recourse. I won't kill the cats as that's not something I believe in. That said, I think I'll just let Maggie have her fun. As I said, she won't hurt them but she can scare the pi$$ out of them, somewhere other then my front porch for a change.   Now this cat is clearly not that smart but it is persistent, I'll give…

So Maggie actually got hurt because of this stupid cat. The cat was peeing on my porch and Maggie chased it away. Please stop collecting pets if your not going to take care of them. When you take a pet into your home, they become your responsibility. You can't just "release them into the wild", it doesn't work that way. It's cruel and they become a problem for everyone.