Caregiver Burnout Archives - Page 308 of 319

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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April 23, 2017

Family Pets / My thoughts

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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April 23, 2017

My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

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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April 22, 2017

My thoughts / Op-Ed

Op-Ed: When a 10 year old with #Autism is arrested for assault

If you haven't already heard about this story, you can read in on CNN by clicking here. After reading the article about John Haygood, a 10 year old little boy with Autism, being arrested for assaulting his teacher, I was at a loss for words. As a father of three boys with Autism, my gut reaction is one of anger. Based on the article, it seems that John had been experiencing behavioral problems of varying degrees, not all that uncommon for kids on the Autism Spectrum. The incident that apparently sparked this entire situation took place last October. John was being disruptive in class, throwing paper balls at classmates, and was asked to go to time out. He refused and it appears the teacher went to physically move him and that's…

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April 21, 2017

My thoughts

The massive morning meltdown

It was a rough morning and Emmett was not easy to get off to school. He woke up in what's amounted to a horrible mood. He said he was tired and I'm not here to say he wasn't. The problem was all the fricking screaming. Lizze was making lunches and I was trying to get Emmett dressed. The operative word in the last sentence is trying. He was very anti-clothing, which usually means he's struggling with sensory issues. I eventually succeeded in getting Emmet dressed, but to be completely honest, I'm not sure how I survived this morning. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful that he made it to school but no I'm completely drained.

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April 21, 2017

Good News / My thoughts

I received some really awesome news tonight

I wanted to share some really amazing news. If you recall, I submitted my very first article to a company that hired me to write. This was basically a trial run and if all goes well, this could lead to more articles. This is a big deal because this is really good money and great exposure for my blog. I was really nervous because I really wasn't given much restriction and I wasn't sure what to expect. As luck would have it, they absolutely loved my article and after one round of editing, it appears to be good to go. This is a pretty big company and it seems that I'm a good fit thus far. When this article goes live, I'll be sharing the link and asking you all…

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April 21, 2017

Gavin / Major Update / My thoughts

The painful truth about my son’s condition

I've been working on this update for a little while but haven't been able to keep my thoughts together. If you take one thing away from this entry, let it be that I'm very worried about Gavin. Lizze and I both are very worried about Gavin. Let me begin with the fact that Gavin's heartbroken. His beloved Master Sword broke yesterday and it's like his entire world has crumbled around him. [videopress yBQWDnIr] Every single morning, Gavin trains with his visibly challenged, group of super best friends. This is one of the many teams he commands. These teams help to defend the Universe from evil villains like Eggman or Shredder. Just so we're on the same page, these are all Schizophrenic hallucinations and are only real to him. Anyway, every…

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April 20, 2017

My thoughts

Our plans for today

Today has been somewhat of a waste because I was so exhausted I ended up falling asleep for most of the morning. The last week or so that the boys were sick really took its toll on me. I'm feeling much better now and able to take on the rest of the day. After I pick up the boys from school today, Lizze and I are going to take them to the park for a little bit. It's 80°F and aside from a cough, they're doing well. We're think some fresh air might do everyone some good. In the mean time, I'm working on an entry to explain all that's going on with Gavin. It's a relatively bug update and is taking me some time to get my thoughts in…

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April 20, 2017