Major Update: We saw the psychiatrist today

Many things have happened today but in this entry, I want to focus on what is arguably the most pivotal.  I spoke previously about Gavin having his Lithium dose cut in half, with the potential of being totally removed in the near future. The near future has arrived and we met with Dr. Reynolds this afternoon about this very subject.  The focus of today's appointment was to discuss how things were going on the current (reduced) dosage and then decide where to go for here.  Lizze and I both agree that Gavin is or at least appears to be manic. Is this the result of the decreased dose of Lithium? My personal opinion is that it's probably not.  The reason I say that is because Gavin's been on 900 mg/day…

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I want to know what your pet peeve is

We all have them and they drive us crazy when they happen. I'm talking about pet peeves. This isn't necessarily related to special needs parenting or even parenting in general. It could be anything..  Maybe the sound of someone chewing drives you nuts. Maybe seeing someone driving around with their young child not in a car seat puts you over the edge.  I'm wanting to know if you have a pet peeve and if so, what is it and why? 

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Do you ever have one of these days? 

If you're a special needs parent, struggling to navigate this challenging life you been given, you are not alone. I've had a particularly challenging day with my three kids with Autism, so I get it.  Today was one of those days where I could feel myself cracking at the seams and I had to dig down deep, just to make it through.  Our day was plagued by sensory issues and it resulted in both my youngest staying home from school today. It was less than ideal but it was the right thing to do.  I did take Emmett to occupational therapy because obviously he needs it. While we were there, I showed his OT the video of Emmett struggling with his shoes and socks before going to a movie. There…

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Sensory Processing Disorder: Unless you live it, you probably won’t get it

This morning was the stuff of nightmares. It's picture day at school, and both Elliott and Emmett are dressed up, looking quite spiffy. Both were excited about pictures and very much looking forward to going to school. Then it became time for shoes and socks. Emmett went into it with a fantastic can-do attitude, as did Lizze and I. Unfortunately, all the great attitude, positive thoughts and hopeful outlooks in the world, can't seem to counter the nightmare that is sensory processing disorder. We worked with Emmett for almost one hour and forty-five minutes but were unable to work through it. Emmett kept wanting to try different options, but even flip-flops were feeling too funny to tolerate. Poor Emmett was so upset that he was going to miss pictures and…

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A few reasons why I’m so proud of my kids today

Both Elliott and Emmett were in rare form today. I definitely had my moments where I thought I was going to go crazy but I ended up pulling through just fine. Perhaps a few more grey hairs but that's sorta par for the course. 😁  I do want to say that I'm super proud of both Elliott and Emmett because they came home from school and tackled their homework. Not having to fight the homework battle, especially with Elliott, is always a positive thing. I never take these types of moment for granted because you never know when they're going to arrive.  Elliott and Emmett even played nice today, except for Emmett kicking Elliott in the testicle. That wasn't nice and we had a talk about that.  Lizze put the…

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I’m not sure how I’m doing in regards to my Depression and here’s why

I wanted to put out a brief update on how my tumultuous relationship with Depression is going.  In case you've not read any of my past posts on depression, I'll sum it up for you. Depression fucking sucks and unless you're living with it, comprehending it's impact in a truly meaningful way, is not easy.  That's pretty much the status quo for anything, not just Depression. It's tough to understand without first hand knowledge.  My war with Depression has been going on since my early teens. I go to therapy, take my meds and see my doctor whenever I feel changes have to be made.  Lately, I've been doing okay, but not great, at least as far as I'm concerned. I'm not always the best judge of this because I'm…

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#Autism Parenting: Whatever doesn’t kill you….. 

Whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. If that's true, I should be in really good shape after the morning I've had.  My God... You would think that we were trying to cut his feet off, when all we were trying to do was help him get something on them that would allow him to go to school.  Every time it feels like we've made progress, something always comes along and yanks the rug out from underneath our feet.  The reality is, raising kids on the Autism Spectrum is like living in Ohio and complaining about the weather. If we just wait ten minutes, the weather will change.  In many ways, that's true in regards to parenting a child on the spectrum but not always in the sense that…

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The heartbreaking reality of sensory processing disorder (video) 

I've been talking about sensory issues in regards to my kids for years. The story always seems to revolve around shoes, socks, and school, especially in Emmett's case. Almost every single morning, we spend upwards of an hour or more, trying to help Emmett tolerate his shoes and socks. There are times that we succeed in overcoming these obstacles and there are days in which we don't even come close. The examples I've given have mostly revolved around Emmett missing school because he can't tolerate his shoes and socks. No matter how many times I've tried to explain that Emmett's not trying to get out of going to school, there's always that doubt in people's mind because it seems like getting to stay home is his ultimate goal. As I've…

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