My thoughts – Page 279 – The Autism Dad

Many people will take for granted that their kids wear clothes, but not this #Autism Dad

It's been a roller-coaster day here in The Autism Dad household. We started the say off with a bang or rather an enormous meltdown (see Autism Parenting Confessions: Does anyone else ever feel like giving up but won't?). It's wasn't fun. Poor Emmett couldn't tolerate his clothes and there was nothing we could do. The school pants he would wear are in tatters and we've been unsuccessfully trying to find replacements that he'll tolerate forever. After things settled down a bit, I told Emmett that we would try looking for pants again today. We ended up at Sears, which incidentally is shell of its former self. I'll be honest with you, I didn't have much hope that would find something because even Lizze's Mom has taken him out looking for…

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January 22, 2018

Contributed / My thoughts / Sponsored Post

Top Tips To Help Kids With Autism Be More Active

This is a collaborative post and doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of this blog or its author. Many families that have children with autism will agree that exercise and activity is a great outlet for them. There have been plenty of studies surrounding the benefits of exercise with autistic behaviors, and that exercise is a great outlet for those behaviors to reduce or even for children to learn discipline and gain self-control. However, it can also be a challenge to not only get your children to take exercise, but also for them to be excited about it. So I thought I would share with you some of the top tips that can help children with autism be a little more active.Image source Making sure you have the right gear to…

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January 22, 2018

Contributed / Link / My thoughts / Sponsored Post

Looking After an Elderly Relative Who Has #Autism

This is a collaborative post and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of this blog or its author. There is plenty of good, sound and helpful advice to be found on this blog regarding being a parent of a child that has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, but now it’s time to look at the other end of the age spectrum. As your loved one gets older, they may also need help moving around the house. To find advice on this matter, make sure to read on. Image source First of all, consider just how autism can affect the elderly The first thing to do when putting a care plan together to look after an elderly person who is autistic is to consider just how the condition affects them. And,…

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January 22, 2018

Autism Parenting Confessions / My thoughts

#Autism Parenting Confessions: Does anyone else ever feel like giving up but won’t?

This is by far, one of the worst mornings we've had in a very, very long time. Emmett was in full meltdown mode over his clothes. Emmett's only been able to wear this one pair of pants for the last two school years. Unfortunately, the knees are blown out and are beyond repair. I've stitched them up so many times there's nothing left to hold a stitch. Iron on knee patches aren't an option for Sensory reasons. I wish I could say that I handled this morning with grace but I ran out of patience. I should say that me running out of patience means that I might raise my voice and that's it. This morning, 8 definitely raised my voice and that only made things worse. The big issue…

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January 22, 2018

My thoughts

Should Special Needs parents be worried?

There are a few things I have going on over the next week but in light of the government shutdown, I'm not sure if they're still going to happen. On Friday, Gavin has a meeting with SSI. He's due for an update and we have to figure out the whole guardianship thing. I don't know if the Federal Building will even be open this week. I know they said SSI checks would still go out as scheduled but they didn't say anything about the local offices. On the following Monday, I have an appointment with HEAP/PIPP. We have to update our income and recertify for continued access to the program. I don't know if this will be impacted by the shutdown either. With any luck, our ridiculous government leaders will…

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January 21, 2018

Emmett John / My thoughts / Photography

Behind the Scenes – Downtime with my youngest

There are times where the only thing I can do to help Emmett is to simply stop everything and snuggle. Emmett hasn't been feeling well and on the edge of a meltdown for the last couple of days. Many kids with Autism don't like to be touched but Emmett is someone who responds positively to affection. No matter how upset he is, I've always been able to call him over and hug or snuggle him. It usually helps him, at least to some extent. This is from the other day when Emmett was really struggling.

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January 21, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

Sadly, he’s hearing voices again

Gavin had a pretty good day, at least physically. On his first full day of being an adult, he spent a large part of it hearing voices. Gavin's was officially diagnosed with Schizophrenia a few years ago. This is far from the first time Gavin's heard voices. In fact, he sorta lives in a perpetual hallucination. He has friends that only he can see and he goes on dangerous missions with them on a daily basis. These are the typical voices he hears. Unfortunately, what we're seeing now is that he hears us talking to him when we aren't. He's constantly keeps finding us because the says we called for him. I'm not sure what's going on with this but it's not something that's been very common over the years.…

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January 20, 2018

My thoughts

Trying to get exercise while doing chores around the house

I'm pretty proud of myself. Our dryer has been broken for a couple of weeks now. I tore it apart a week ago and discovered that it was simply the belt that was broken. I was able to order one on Amazon and it finally showed up today. Emmett, Gavin and I went into the basement and replaced the belt. It literally took less than five minutes. Gavin and Emmett each held a part in place for me while I put the new belt on. Emmett even used his little tool kit to secure all the screws again. They were both a big help and we are finally able to use our dryer again. ☺ I hate doing laundry but I'm excited to get the floors in as I take…

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January 20, 2018