The special needs family is a complex and VERY fragile entity. A special needs family faces challenges every minute of every day that most people won't face in the entire course of their lives. Because of these challenges many friends and even family will leave the special needs family behind. This happens because those friends and family aren't stong enough to put the needs of the family over their own personal needs. This does not have to happen but it does. The sad truth is, if you ask, most special needs families will tell you they have lost friends and/or family over the years. This is the topic of discussion today. I want everyone to understand what goes on behind the scenes so maybe these losses can be avoided.. Here…

Any child getting sick is a rought situation. An Autistic child getting sick, or in my case 2 of my 3 Autistic children getting sick is a nightmare. Elliott just spikd a fever of 102F and pretty worse for wear. Emmett has been super clingy today which is his way of saying he doesn't feel well. We just spent 25 minutes trying to get Elliott to take his antibiotics and motrin. He has a "thing" with colors and the antibiotics are white. They are flavored but not dyed. Plus he's coughing so badly that everything that goes in his mouth comes shooting right back out. You know how when you get sick, your head hurts? Maybe the lights hurt your eyes or your clothes hurt your skin? Imagine having major…

We have begun to enter crisis mode with Gavin once again. Gavin has become very unstable. He is experiencing auditory and visual hulucinations again. We have a call into his doctor but I'm wndering if the best thing would be Akron Children's Hospital. He needs evaluated and medically stablized ASAP. We just had another meltdown that wouldn't have happened a few weeks ago. Did I say long weekend already?  Posted via midNIGHT powered Epic 4G by lost and tired

It's now day 6 and Elliott is still sick and actually getting worse. We just got back from the doctors and he has bronchitis. He hasn't slept in over 40 hours and his fever is back.... Can you say "long weekend"........

Audio Fixed This is a little video montage I put together for Elliott. These are all clips taken from his birth up to his 1st birthday. We are grateful everyday that we didn't lose him....   [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOn_xfeu8E8[/youtube]  

Elliott spent the better part of a month in the NICU. Both his lungs collapsed and he was very sick. He almost died. It was the scariest time of my life. I'm so grateful for him everyday of my life..

Gavin is in decline and we learned some bad news again....

It's been a while since I have just update everyone as to how everything is going. Honestly, since the "bare handed man" post I have just been struggling to write anything meaningful. There are a few reasons for that but the biggest is just that my thoughts are a mess. I have so much I want to say but just can't string the words together lately. So if you read this please don't expect anything "profound" as you will most likely come up empty handed. Instead I thought I would just try to share what my life is currently like in a very honest fashion. I know it's depressing to read but I just think it's important to show the world what our lives with Autism are like. This is…