My little brother called me and wants to take Gavin for some one on one time. He going to take him hiking and maybe see some caves in the morning. Tim (my brother) is pretty excited. I think this will be a great experience for both of them. They are packing a lunch and will eat it on the trail.  Gavin will be picked up around 9am and will be back sometime in the afternoon. He'll be just fine.. Wait am I telling you that or myself? - Lost and Tired Please Vote for Lost and Tired (just click the link) and help me spread Autism Awareness. Everyone can Vote once a day :)

Lizze has really been going through a rough time and with the kids in constant need of my attention, she often times takes a back burner. It's one of those situations where there's no clear cut right or wrong answer. We have always said the kids come first no matter what but sometimes I wonder if that's always the right approach. I see it two ways, the kids need me ALL the time so that's extremely important. However, the boys need their mother and that's extremely important as well. I want to be there more for Lizze, it's just really difficult with all the other daily demands and unique needs of the boys. At the same time, doesn't it make sense that taking time away from them and giving it…

Special needs parenting is tough. I have to honestly say that it's easily the most difficult task I have ever set out to do. What I have been seeing a lot of lately is that I'm spread way to thin. I'm trying to take care of so many different things all at once that I can't get any done right. Does that make sense? I don't know how the single parents out there, do this. I have nothing but respect for all  you. I find myself failing at a lot of things lately and I think that's because I just can't keep up with the demand anymore. As Lizze's health continues to decline I find myself trying to fill her shoes and keep up with everything else. Just as an…

We had a problem tonight with Gavin. Elliott got hurt again tonight as a direct result of Gavin's actions. Whether he meant to hurt Elliott or not (and I don't know that he did) there are consequences for his actions. As usual I recorded it as a means of simply documenting what actually happened should this ever be called into question. I took a more hard line approach with this one today because I have just had it with this behavior. No part of me believes anymore that he CAN'T control this. In my opinion this whole thing was a willful act that he could have stopped at any point but simply didn't. This meltdown is because he was told he was going to have oatmeal instead of a chicken patty for…

This video breaks my heart but it serves a purpose. When people question things like Emmett's struggles with sensory issues I show them this. I can't impress upon you enough that just because you don't see something in your brief visit with an ASD child DOES NOT mean the problems don't exist. There is a WORLD of difference in how Emmett would handle the vastly different environments of a special needs classroom and mainstream classroom. Sure Emmett did well in a relaxed classroom setting with 3 or 4 other special needs kids but that's a far cry from trowing him in a mainstreamed classroom with 19 other mostly "typical" kids. Not to mention more pressures and greater expectations. It's not about giving Emmett the benefit of the doubt. It's about providing him…

I want to start out by saying that i'm doing a whole lot of venting here so if I come off a bit abrasive, that's why. Today started off in a fairly typical manner. That was about to change. Gavin is struggling right now. While he is VERY capable of making good choices, he is simply making bad ones. I honestly don't know what his motives are but something more is going on here. This morning, we had Emmett's IEP meeting at Eastgate. The meeting was scheduled for 12:00pm and there was 8 or 9 people involved. Gavin was having a rough morning and his actions resulted in Elliott getting hurt, nothing serious but that isn't the point. Around 11:00 am this morning, Lizze was napping with Emmett. Gavin came downstairs and…

I don't have a whole lot of time right now to get into to this but today involved tooth pulling, late meetings, broken vans, IEP's and the realization that I'm failing on MANY levels. I plan to write a dozy of a post later tonight when the kids settle down and I get a chance to breathe. I'm gonna need to vent.....

I had decided I wanted to get some video of Emmett taking his meds. He does a really good job and I thought I would share it with you all. All he takes is Nexium and Zyrtec for allergies but still I'm quite proud of him for how well he does taking his meds. Anyway, back to the point. So I decided I would film him taking his meds this morning. Everything was going well until Emmett realized he was on camera. Camera + Emmett = "HAM"....... What I actually caught was Emmett goofing around. This almost NEVER happens. While this wasn't what I had set out to do I'm glad I was able to capture this very unexpected moment. Normally Emmett takes his meds and is on his way. Today was…