Question of the Day: Does your child with #Autism struggle with Sensory issues? 

This is a very simple question but the answers can be anything but simple.  When a child is diagnosed with Autism, there are often comorbid diagnoses that go along with it. Some are noted right away and others creep up over time.  One of the most common comorbid diagnoses is Sensory Processing Disorder.  Sensory processing disorder is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. ... Some people with sensory processing disorder are oversensitive to things in their environment. Common sounds may be painful or overwhelming.                                                                         …

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Would you take your child with #Autism to a funeral? 7 things to think about

I know this will sound like a weird question but Would you take your child with #Autism to a funeral?  The reason I'm asking, is because it's one question that I'm commonly asked, and I thought it was important enough to discuss. There isn't an easy answer to this question, but I do have a few thoughts.  We've not been in this situation for a long time, but when Gavin was little, there were several deaths in the family and we chose not to take Gavin to the funeral.  That wasn't an easy decision, but after speaking with his mental health professionals, it was deemed to be not in his best interest to go. At that point, Gavin was roughly five or six years old I believe, and not emotionally equipped…

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The 6 appointments I need to make today

I have so much to do today, and I'm kinda excited to get it done. I have a new article to write and that outs money in the bank. The biggest thing I have to do today is schedule a ton of appointments.  Gavin needs to see his neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic. This is for his Autonomic dysfunction, as well as his Epilepsy. We also need to get him into gastroenterology and rheumatology. He needs the gastro for his tummy issues and rheumatology for his joints.  I also need to get Elliott and Emmett into the dentist. Elliott needs his last cavity filled and Emmett just chipped his front tooth.  I don't know how soon they will want to get him in, but I imagine they'll want him sooner…

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Worst morning in a very long time

We had the worst morning in I can't remember how long. Emmett was having the worst morning ever. I'm not sure what was going on but he couldn't tolerate any of his clothes.  Emmett's issues with clothes, extended well beyond the usual struggles with his shoes or socks.  He was unable to tolerate his crocs, shorts and shirt today.  The screaming was unbelievable and went on for almost an hour. By the time 8:30 AM rolled around, I decided to take Elliott to school and then finish dealing with whatever Emmett was going through.  Leaving him behind wasn't something I wanted to do but Elliott needed to get to school and we were already thirty minutes later.  The idea of being left behind, sorta jarred d Emmett enough to put…

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Bad News

I'm going to start with the most important thing first and that's Emmett. Apparently, Emmett was climbing on a metal folding chair that Lizze sits on when she's reading to them at night.  While he was climbing, he slipped and smashed his mouth into the metal frame of the chair.  This resulted in him chipping his front tooth. Of course, this is an adult tooth. It doesn't appear to be that bad of a chip but we will call the dentist in the morning, get him and Elliott in for their checkup and whatever Emmett needs.  He's not in any pain and I think the dentist will just sorta grind it down a little bit and leave it. It could have been much, much worse and I'm very grateful it…

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It’s a weird day in my house

It's a weird day here in The Autism Dad household. Everyone is in kind of a weird place today. I don't think anyone's in a bad mood per say, but everyone's a bit grumpy.  Lizze didn't sleep last night and I didn't get much sleep last night. It was simply one of those nights where sleep remains elusive.  Thankfully, the boys seem to be finally feeling better. I still hear the occasional cough but nothing major, and no fevers. That's the big one. No fever is a really good sign. ☺  I'm needing to hit the grocery store today cause the boys need stuff for their lunches.. I'm not sure what I'm going to find for Emmett. Last week I got him to eat pepperoni sticks, apple sauce and a…

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That didn’t go as planned

We sent the boys to hang out with Lizze's parents today, so we could attempt to round up Greysha. This cat is impossible to find and even harder to capture.  Lizze and I literally spent hours this afternoon trying to catch her.  Frankly, I don't know if we will ever be able to round her up. I wish we had a better solution but she just never adjusted to being around people. If we look at her while she's walking around, she freaks out and runs away. We've tried everything to help her adjust, but it's been a few years now and the older she gets, the more feral like behavior we are seeing. She's now getting very aggressive with our older cat. She's even gone after the ferrets.  We…

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How we used our Ping Camera by Vivint Smart Home to protect our cat 

This is an unorthodox use of our smart home technology, but I'm always looking to share the creative things we've been able to do with our smart home technology by Vivint Smart Home. We've been having a problem with one of our cats. Our oldest cat Cleo is being bullied by our younger one named Greysha. She and her brother Blue were adopted as feral kittens, three or four years ago. Over the years, Blue has adapted well and enjoys his life as part of our family. Greysha, on the other hand, hasn't. She's always been easily frightened. She's retained her feral instincts, and we will only be seen when she wants to eat. Lately, she's been appearing more often, but when she does, she's very aggressive. We've spoken to our…

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