We're about an hour into the tournament and Emmett is one of the last to go. He's always in the last group. I'm sure how they group the kids, but I don't think it's alphabetically. Anyway, Emmett is waiting patiently.
Emmett is so anxious about his Martial Arts tournament this morning; he's been up since 4 AM. His mood is a bit all over the place, and it's been a super fun morning thus far. We're leaving in a few minutes, and we will probably be there for most of the day. It's going to be pretty cramped in the gym, and there will be lots of people who smell like cigarettes. Unfortunately, this is not a good thing for Lizze. I can't stand that smell, but it will make her migraine so much worse. It's going to be a very long day for all of us, but we're all excited to see Emmett do his thing. 😀
It's been a long day here in The Autism Dad household. We had Gavin to the Cleveland Clinic, and he ended having a surprise EEG. His doctor is concerned about his level of confusion, and I guess this will provide him with some insight. Gavin did great, but we won't have the results back for a little while. His lab work is trickling in though, and there are some abnormalities, but it doesn't look to be anything crazy serious. I'm sure if there's a problem, they'll let us know. The rest of the day was pretty standard. I'm heading to bed because I'm exhausted and Emmett has his Martial Arts tournament in the morning. It's about 45 minutes away, and it's going to blast most of the day. Emmett is…
Alright. We made it to the Cleveland Clinic right on time this morning. Traffic was very cooperative, and that always makes things a bit easier. Gavin's appointment went pretty well but based on what we see at home in regards to confusion; his neurologist got him in for an EEG right away. We need to know if something is wrong, but it's also a convenience thing as well. We're already here, and if they can get us in, it saves a return trip. It also gets the results to his doctor right away. Gavin just went back, and we have about 90 minutes to sit here and wait. Hopefully, everything will be normal or at least typical for him. I'm exhausted and starving, but it's going to be a little…
The boys got off to school okay. Emmett had another rough start, but he got through it. Lizze and I are left a bit frazzled, but he was feeling better when he walked into the school.😀 We have a day of driving ahead of us. Gavin has to be at the Cleveland Clinic for a visit with his neurologist. It's one of those frustrating appointments, only because it will be a 3-hour drive for a 15-minute consult. His doctor is fantastic, and it's essential that we get him there. It's just a lot of driving in a car that's not doing well. Anyway, with any luck, well be back in time to get the boys from school. If we're not, Lizze's Mom will grab them for us, and we'll pick…
I got the boys off to school and went walking. When I got home, I was sitting in the living room with Lizze and Gavin. After a few minutes, Gavin jumped up out of his chair, picked up an invisible phone, said it was an emergency and ran into the kitchen to take a call. He had a very brief, but loud conversation before coming back into the living room and informing us that Ash (from Pokemon) was in trouble and needed his help. So to recap, he had an emergency call from an invisible, fictional person, on an invisible phone, sending him on a dangerous, imaginary mission. Did you get all that? He was pretty worked up by all this and had a sense of urgency in his voice.…
Tonight's therapy was focused on Emmett and his struggles with frustration. There are a ton of moving parts to this situation and to further complicate things; we can likely add puberty to the mix as well. We think that we may have to adjust his ADHD meds as well. He's so incredibly impulsive, with excessive amounts of energy and it's becoming a bigger problem. It's not uncommon to require medication adjustments, especially during puberty. It's something we have to talk to his doctor about. What I want to do for the moment is to tighten things up at home. Emmett does so well in school, and I suspect, like many kids with Autism, the structure school provides a big help. We can mimic some of that at home. Perhaps that…
The boys had a great day at school today and that great day day quickly went downhill after arriving home. Lately, Emmett has been struggling in the coping with frustration area of his life. He goes from zero to full-on rage in nothing flat. While he has legitimate reasons to be frustrated, the issue at heart is his inability to cope with said frustration. I think part of the problem is that while he loves school and does remarkably well, it's also very taxing on him. When he gets home from school, he sorta crumbles. What we have to do is find a way for him to more constructively manage these emotions. We have some tools at our disposal and we need to get him back into using them on…