3 items are helping my son with #Autism gain independence  

I've spoken about this a few times before, but I wanted to share something we've done, to help our low functioning teenager with Autism, gain a bit more independence. Gavin is seventeen years old and struggles in most areas of his life. He's unable to remember things, and his cognitive ability is in a slow, unending decline. One of the things that we've recently done to help him better manage his daily life, weekly schedule and bedtime routine, is introduce some home automation into his room. I've been working on automating our home over the last year or so. For whatever reason, Gavin was resistant to being included in this process but a few days ago, he decided he'd like to give it a try and that's pretty exciting because…

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….and this is how life is treating us today

The goal for today is to get the kids to a movie. It's Elliott's birthday and we want to do something special to celebrate the actual day.  Lizze didn't sleep last night but I actually slept quite well. I woke up a few times but I'm not sure why. I feel pretty good and I suppose that's what matters.  Gavin's doing well after his IVIG infusion last night and that's always a good thing. Sometimes he feels under the weather, has a headache or feels nauseous after an IVIG infusion.  At the moment, I'm spending some of my energy on housework, in an attempt to make some progress. If it wasn't so fricking cold outside, I'd find us something to do in the outdoors but alas, it's fucking cold. 

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Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather 

With all the warm weather we were having, Lizze and I have been getting the boys to the park as often as possible. This is from the a few days ago, before the weather turned nasty once again.  If I recall correctly, it was about 60°F when we were exploring the garden center, earlier in the week.  Below are some of the pictures from our little adventure... ☺ 

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I had a tough time corralling my kids tonight 

Gavin had his IVIG infusion tonight and everything went well. I think start to finish, it took roughly two hours to complete.  Elliott and Emmett played quietly in their room until bedtime but were a handful corralling when it was time for bed. They're pretty overstimulated from this evening festivities.  I'm not having a good time trying to get the cooperation I need to get them in bed.  Lizze has been having a rough day with the weather and went to bed after we celebrated Elliott's birthday. She's usually the one that puts the kids to bed at night but I thought I would give her the night off so she can rest.  I may end up with a super quiet house tonight and that means I can get some…

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Gavin tried hopping out of a moving car today

I'm really struggling with Gavin today. He's been off since waking up this morning.  When I took him to get his bloodwork done, he totally freaked me out. I had just pulled into the parking lot and was pulling into a parking space. The car was still moving forward, when Gavin rips off his seat belt and tries hopping out of the car. WTF Gavin? I instinctively yelled at him because I needed to stop him from continuing to try and let himself out of a moving car.  He was very apologetic and I don't think he even realized what he was doing. He was so focused on getting his bloodwork done, everything else just faded away, including the fact that the car was still moving.  A guy can only…

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Why I’m so proud of my son today

It was a rush rush kinda morning. Everyone slept pretty well last night but we have a big day today.  Emmett has a field trip today and we weren't sure how that was going to go because he must wear his shoes and socks if he wants to go. He really, really wants to go visit the chocolate factory and worked extra hard to get his shoes and socks on.  I'm really proud of him because he pulled it off today and is currently at school, getting ready for his field trip.  There was a bit of struggle at first but he talked himself through it, and that doesn't happen very often at all.  What would be amazing is if this were a sign of things to come... ☺ 

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I’ve put myself in grownup timeout

It's not going to be named easy morning. Neither Elliott or Emmett are cooperating in regards to getting ready for school today.  Emmett's freaking out because he has a field trip and he has to wear his shoes and socks if he wants to go. He wants to go but the shoes and socks thing is major obstacle.  Elliott on the other hand, won't even get out of bed.  We have places to be this morning and I'm already frustrated beyond belief. I've put myself in grownup timeout, in order to collect myself.  Thank God Gavin's having a good morning... 

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