I'm posting this video for the same reasons I have in the past. I want people to know what families like mine are facing on a daily basis. We aren't dealing with the "cute and cuddly" side of Autism very often. However, this time I do have another reason for wanting to post this. Gavin struggles every day in almost ALL areas of his life. There are times that he really does try to make the right decision and this is one of those times. Our typical meltdowns can last an hour or more at times but this one was VERY short and I was able to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating in huge part to Gavin's receptiveness today. While the meltdown is never an "appropriate" way to deal…

I saw this post by Autism Speaks on Facebook today. They have started a James Durbin vote club on the Official Autism Speak blog. While I personally like the guy and think he's EXTREMELY talented, I'm concerned Autism Speaks may be sending the wrong message. Perhaps I'm looking at this wrong but I just think we have to VERY careful with a situation like this. By Autism Speaks creating a voting club for James Durbin and throwing their EXCLUSIVE support behind the ONLY Autistic contestant on American Idol, they may be sending the message that we should vote for him because he's Autistic. In my opinion that's a very dangerous and even insulting approach to take. I think many people could easily perceive this as a call to vote for…

Hey everyone, if you get a minute (and even if you don't have a minute, make the time) PLEASE visit "Like" and "Share" the Mason Allen Medlam Facebook page. If there was EVER a cause to support this is it. Please help spread the word. I don't typically do things like this, that's how STRONGLY I believe in what they are doing. Here is a direct quote from their page: "On July 27, 2010 my five year old autistic son, Mason Medlam, wandered from our home and drowned in a neighbor's pond. He died two days later. This page is dedicated to raising autism awareness, wandering prevention, and wandering safety. We miss Mason more than can ever be expressed. We love you, Bubby."   -Lost and Tired

Lizze and I have been working VERY hard with Emmett to give him a BASIC means of communication. Lizze has been working especially hard with ASL and we are starting to see progress. Some people may not see this as a big deal but many more will also understand just how BIG a deal this actually is. We are finally starting to see some basic language developing. THIS IS HUGE.   Edit: I'm laughing out of EXCITEMENT and NOT at his expense. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqeFLc0YjlY[/youtube]   -lost and tired

Not to be out done by Gavin, Elliott has been working REALLY hard for the last few days on his own story. He asked me if I could record it and post it like I did for Gavin. He's just so cute. He worked REALLY, REALLY hard on this and made me redo the video 3 times before he was happy with it.  He just kills me. But again what a great thing for an Autistic child to do. I am SO proud of him.  Please enjoy and leave your positive feedback.  Thanks   -lost and tired         [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pf8jiRDAYo[/youtube]

After writing the Special needs parenting and the “tough decisions” this morning I was thinking. I know, scary, right? Well anyway, I was thinking Gavin doesn't do well with blood drawls or needles in general. Part of the way we have made it through those so far was that we didn't give a lot of time to anticipate what was going to happen. For kids with Autism anticipation is a horrible, torturous experience. It does nothing but induce anxiety for many kids on the spectrum. Anxiety is one a the MAJOR components or contributing factors to meltdowns. I foresee us having major problems with anticipation. Gavin will know that for the foreseeable future (or FOREVER as far as he's concerned) he will be getting at least one shot every week...FOREVER. This is actually very concerning for…