Autism – Page 697 – The Autism Dad

Did you know my oldest son doesn’t have a functioning immune system?

Gavin's infusion is underway as is our day. For those who don't already know, Gavin mysteriously lost his immune system a few years back, when all his fragile health issues suddenly began. To counter his lack of a functioning immune system, he receives IVIG twice a week. The process is simple but painful. It involves placing two small needles into his belly area and infusing GAMMAGARD or donated antibodies. This gives Gavin's immune system the soldiers it needs to fight of foreign invaders. Today is the second of his twice a week infusions. It's not the best situation in the world but it is working for now and his immune system hasn't gotten any worse in at least a year or two. Generally speaking, both Gavin and his body handle…

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August 28, 2015

Autism / My thoughts

One of the ways #Autism is challenging in everyday life

One of the more challenging aspects of being a special needs parent to three boys with Autism, is meal times. I haven't been able to get Emmett to eat much lately. It's really frustrating for me because I want my son to eat and it breaks my heart to know that sometimes, despite my best efforts, he just won't eat. This morning however, Emmett wanted to try Ritz Crackers and peanut butter. I made him four little sandwiches or which he actually ate two of them. That's a total of four crackers and bit of peanut butter. At this point, I'm grateful for this tiny little victory and hope to expand upon it in the future.

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August 28, 2015

My thoughts

Special Needs Parenting is all consuming

As I'm laying in bed at night, sorta pondering the day I just finished up, I have these grandiose plans for the following day. All these things that I'm going to accomplish, like laundry, cleaning the bathroom or simply making the needed phone calls that are on my list of to-dos.. It seems so possible for those things to be tackled the following day and I feel a surge of motivation. When the following morning arrives, I usually haven't slept well and I can't for the life of me figure out where the previous nights motivation has run off to. That pile of laundry that I was totally talking shit to the night before, is just way too intimidating now and that bathroom I swore to myself I would scrub…

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August 28, 2015

My thoughts

Challenging day but a better night

The boys and I had a rough afternoon. Well, the boys had a rough afternoon and I was driven completely bonkers. I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to take 3 kids, 2 unwillingly, to the park because Daddy needed to get the crazy train back on the tracks. We did just that. The boys and I met my parents at the Garden Center and we walked around there before walking the track. Elliott had a rough time because he couldn't do everything that he wanted to but we found a compromise and he found a bit of peace. 😊 I carried Emmett on my shoulders for a good while and when we made it back to the car, it was dark. The boys were in…

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August 28, 2015

My Crazy Life / My thoughts

There isn’t enough junk food in the world to keep my kids from driving me crazy today

We started out having such a good day but all good things must come to an end. 😫 The boys have been fighting for last few hours and I'm reasonably sure that my sanity hopped the last train to crazy town about 30 minutes ago. The fighters are Elliott and Emmett. They are just pushing each other's button like a boss. Gavin is driving me crazy for a much different reason. He's forgetting everything and I'm so tired of repeating myself this evening. I'm essentially having to micromanage Gavin's life during the day and I hate doing that. Gavin's level of functioning has been significantly reduced over the last couple of months and we lost much of the progress that's been made this past year. 😞 The boys and…

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August 27, 2015

My Projects / My thoughts

Teaching my kids a valuable lesson today

It's been a pretty good day so far in The Autism Dad house. The boys are in a good mood and we're spending some time this afternoon, cleaning up the house. I might try my very first Periscope broadcast as the boys put the toads they've raised this summer go back into nature. We'll be taking them to Stadium Park and going on a little hike to find the perfect spot to release them. The boys did a really good job of taking care of the toad family they rescued. Setting them free is the final piece of the puzzle and hopefully, that will happen this afternoon. My goal with this little project was to help teach my kids a valuable lesson about life and just how important/precious life is,…

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August 27, 2015

My thoughts

How far would you go to save your child’s life?

ABC News put out an article today about a man named Brian Randolph of South Lyon, Michigan. He was arrested and charged with armed robbery and bank robbery. Apparently, on August 12, 2015, Randolph entered the Vibe Credit Union in South Lyon, Michigan and handed the teller a note demanding the money. He also indicated to the teller that he had a shotgun hidden in his clothes although never actually showed the teller because he was in fact, unarmed. After he was arrested, he explained that he robbed the Credit Union out of desperation. As it turns out, his 1 year old daughter Brailynn Randolph has cancer, more specifically, retinoblastoma.. This is cancer that forms in the eyes. She's receiving chemotherapy every four weeks and due for her next treatment…

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August 27, 2015

Divorce / My thoughts / Visitation

It was a really rough visit for the boys and they came home early

Last night the boys went to have dinner with their Mom and Grandma. It's a two hour break, every other Wednesday and it was a disaster. The boys were home about an hour after they left. Emmett was having a rough day. For some reason he was really, really anxious before he even got into the car. He was overwhelmed and already a donkey on the edge. Grandma and I calmed him down and he ended up going off without a issue after that. At some point, Emmett got upset again and wanted to come home. They went to visit nearby family and Gavin ended up kneeling in dog pee. Needless to say, he was none to happy about that and so he wanted to come home.. I was…

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August 27, 2015