This is where Emmett John said his very first word EVER. I was just randomly filming him playing with Maggie and he said "doggie". I was so focused on making sure they were playing safely and Maggie wasn't getting to rough that I don't think I even realized he said that until later on. This was a HUGE turning point for us. We NEVER thought we were going to hear him say anything...ever. I'm so glad my timing was "on" that day.   [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kznRO6fXsA[/youtube]

I decided that, today, I would revisit some of the most important moments along our journey....thus far. Some of you may have already seen some of these things but many others have not. I wanted to share some behind the scenes moments that may or may not have made it to the blog. Please enjoy....and stand by....

Gavin and I met with Dr. Pattie for about an hour tonight. There were no snacks and no prizes at the end. We sat there and talked. We tried to get a better understanding of where Gavin is coming from when he makes the choices he does. I don't think we are any better off right now because Gavin really didn't make a whole lot of sense when he was talking. At a few points he started to get worked up but we quickly responded and defused the situation. While we don't have a better understanding of his motives he did put together a pseudo behavior plan. Gavin made a list of ways he can "defuse" himself when he gets frustrated. These would be better options then melting down or hurting himself.…

My wife wrote this today and I think the title sums it up. This is something VERY personal to her and it's something that unfortunately touches even the special needs families. How do you explain something like cancer to any child let alone an Autistic one? Explaining Cancer to my Autistic Sons. By Elizabeth Gorski

We talk about learned behavior...right? How about Emmett puked tonight right after taking his meds. I never want to be to quick to blame Gavin but this is EXACTLY what Gavin does. Gavin will make himself vomit and does so in a very dramatic fashion as to bring as much attention to himself as possible. So Emmett has witnessed this quite a few times. Now we are dealing with Emmett running to the bathroom and sitting down in front of the toilet and making himself puke. Now if we get to him in time we can distract him and he's first e bit if we are to slow them, like tonight, he will vomit. I hate this because it just muddies the water. We don't know if he vomited because…

Elliott and Gavin were both supposed to visit with Dr. Patties tonight. In light of Gavin's behavior today I have had to change things up. Gavin and I are going alone. This appointment WILL NOT be fun. No snacks and no prizes. We will spend the time talking about what happened and how we can help to prevent it from happening in the future. I sucks for Elliott cause he didn't do anything wrong. So I'll bring something home for Elliott. Gavin has to know this behavior is unacceptable. - 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…

So I went to the doctor today. I have been REALLY stressing out about this appointment. I thought I would share how it went. Basically, I got a clean bill of health. I lost 10 lbs this month AND my cholesterol is down almost 35 points. My HDL (good cholesterol) is still way to low but I'm wiping out the LDL so huge progress. My overall score is 180 down from 211. I also will be starting Paxil tonight as well. So everything else checked out just fine. Big relief and I feel great about the progress I've made. So thanks for all the thoughts and also for listening to be whine. - Lost and Tired Post by Wordpress for Android via Nexus S 4G with out the use of…

I have be having to correct Gavin all morning. I'm nit talking nit picking either. Relatively major issues are the only ones we try to focus our limited resources on.  If there was ever question as to whether or not he had control over this there isn't anymore....at least for me right now. With out going into the gory details I had to intervene 4 times before Elliott actually got hurt. I was giving Gavin the benefit of the doubt and clearly that was a mistake. Elliott's fine and Gavin didn't do it on purpose but he was careless and wasn't listening. After Elliott got hurt....that was it. I had warned Gavin already that this would happen if he continued. So he was awarded oatmeal for lunch. The started to…