Autism – Page 439 – The Autism Dad

We just received the @nest PRO learning thermostat today

Vivint was out today and they installed the nest PRO thermostat in our house. Supposedly, this will help us save 10 - 15% on our heating and cooling bill. That savings can go right to our grocery budget. I'm pretty excited because I just love new technology and I love saving money. The nest integrates with the Vivint Smart Home system we have, as well as with our Amazon Echo. I can simply tell Alexa to set living room temp to whatever I want and she'll do it. I can also control the nest from the nest app, as well as the Vivint app. I haven't had a huge amount of time to work with it just yet but as I do, I'll share my experience. I had talked about this a…

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January 10, 2017

OMG… He won’t stop talking O_o

I'm so tired and Gavin just won't stop talking. Look, I'm so grateful that all my kids are verbal and I know how hard it can be when they aren't because Emmett was nonverbal until he was almost four or five years old. We were told he would never talk, so to at least some degree, I get it. Gavin is one of those bipolar kids that talk incessantly when they are manic. My God, this kid hasn't stopped talking today. He'll disappear to his room for a bit and I get a reprieve but when he comes back, and he always comes back, he's got all this stuff pinned up and then unleashes a flurry of scattered thoughts at me. He's in the kitchen right now making a sandwich.…

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January 10, 2017

My thoughts

You won’t be surprised to hear this

I know you're going to be shocked but I'm exhausted this morning. Poor Elliott was up all night with a really bad headache. Mr. Elliott woke me up about 1:30 am because his head hurt so bad that he was crying. Rather than risk waking up Emmett, I brought him downstairs, got him some Morin and made him comfortable on the couch. It took some time to get him back to sleep up it did finally happen. I'm so glad he was able to fall asleep and I was able to comfort him. The downside is that I lost a tremendous amount of sleep as a result. The boys got off to school without much problem. Now I can try and grab a nap because if I don't, I can't…

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January 10, 2017

Elliott

Elliott’s not feeling well

Poor Elliott woke up in the middle of the night work a really bad headache. He was in tears when he woke me up about 1:30 am. We went to the kitchen for some Motrin and to let him rest on the love seat while I played with his hair until he fell asleep. Lizze has chronic migraines and I wonder if it's maybe a genetic thing. The only reason that's even on my mind is because he's been getting these lately. Hopefully, he'll feel better when he wakes up..

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January 10, 2017

My thoughts

BIG UPDATE: You won’t believe what happened

This will be quick and painless because I'm planning on taking full advantage of this. After the boys did awesome at the grocery store, Elliott did amazing with his homework. We had a relatively peaceful evening before sending the boys to bed. This is where it gets truly amazing.. They both fell asleep without a single issue and within 15 minutes of going to bed. This is the best night we've had in a long time and I'm going straight to bed.. ☺

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January 9, 2017

My thoughts

We took a pretty big risk and here’s why

Financially, things are very, very tight this month. It wasn't the best way to start off the new year but it's temporary and things will be vastly improved by next month. In order to make a meager grocery budget make it this month, we took a pretty big risk and decided to shop at Aldi's. Historically that hasn't ended well because the kids don't like the change in the packaging, taste or texture of the food they sell. Frankly, I notice a change in taste and texture but I just deal with it because I'm not struggling with sensory issues. We really didn't have a choice this month and so we took the boys with us. We're hoping that by including them in this shopping trip, they will feel differently…

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January 9, 2017

Meltdowns / My thoughts

It’s easy to underestimate the impact a meltdown can have on a parent

This morning took so much out of me that for the first time in awhile, I crashed after dropping the boys off at school. I did get some writing done prior but I was just no longer able to function and needed sleep. I feel much better now, although I'm still tired. It's pretty easy to underestimate how much a morning full of meltdowns can impact a parent. The amount of emotional and physical energy expended is immeasurable. On the positive side of things, once Emmett works through the sensory issues in the morning, he seems to recover much faster than I do and has a good day at school. Truthfully, if given the choice, this is how I would want it to go. Experiencing a sensory issue like Emmett…

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January 9, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

It’s not his fault and yet he blames himself

Yesterday was a rougher day for Gavin. I should clarify. He was well behaved as usual, but he was physically struggling a bit. Aside from the incessant talking, which only bothers those he's talking to, it was almost like his body was failing him. Let me explain. There were several times where Gavin legs just sorta gave out on him and he either fell or almost fell. Unfortunately, this seemed to only occur while he was walking up the stairs, which made this even more dangerous. Gavin was very frustrated with himself but there wasn't anything he could do about it. It wasn't something he had any control over but he still felt like he was doing something wrong. It really sucks because life is hard enough for him without blaming…

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January 9, 2017