Family Archives - Page 225 of 553

Special Needs Parenting – What it feels like to watch your kids suffer

I've been working for almost a decade to help people better understand what Special Needs Parents go through. Whether it's Autism, ADHD or even fragile health, there's a story to be told and insight to be gained by reading it. Every family's experience can and will be different. Even families dealing with the same diagnostic challenges can and will experience different problems, even though their kids share the same diagnosis. I wanted to attempt to explain what it feels like having to powerlessly watch my kids suffer. The most recent experience I've had, I'm stilling actively living through, and it's in regards to Emmett. Emmett has been living with a very rare fever disorder known as PFAPA. The disorder means that Emmett runs idiopathic fevers. Idiopathic means that the fevers…

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January 29, 2018

Emmett John / My thoughts / PFAPA

Please keep Emmett in your thoughts and prayers

I mentioned that Emmett would be home from school today. The reason for that is rather bad fever flare. I'm pretty sure it started on Saturday because that when the physical symptoms began. At first, it was just one sore on the inside of his lip, but as of Sunday evening, he's got several more. The poor kid is in a lot of pain and isn't eating much as a result. He doesn't eat enough on a good day, and this makes things worse. Right now I'm making him milkshakes and mixing SlimFast powder in for some nutrition. These are cold and numb his mouth enough that he can relax a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn't last forever, and he goes right back to being miserable. There isn't much we can…

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January 29, 2018

Family Pets / Gallery / My thoughts

Super Adorable Pictures of Our Furbabies

I wanted to take a few minutes and share some of the latest pictures of our furbabies. Animals are a big part of our life and they play a vital role in the day to day with our kids on the Autism Spectrum. It's been a long time since I've shared any pictures but I was able to get some awesome pictures of them today. Check out the super adorable pictures below. [foogallery id="72610"]

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January 28, 2018

Elliott / My thoughts

Elliott is too distressed to sleep

Elliott and I are having a campout in the living room tonight. He's been unable to sleep, and so I thought maybe spending some time together would help me get to the bottom of what's been causing him so much distress. I hate seeing him struggling, and Elliott doesn't always like to open up. He's much like Emmett in the sense that he doesn't do well when it comes to expressing how he's feeling. Anyway, we spent quite some time playing in our Minecraft Realm together. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but much of his distress is related to school. I know that much, but I'm not sure how to help him figure this out. Lizze and I will be meeting with Dr. Pattie next week…

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January 27, 2018

My thoughts

Homework on the table and pajamas at school

Everyone made it to school today, but we ended up having two small problems after the fact. Shortly after Lizze arrived home from dropping them off, we realized that Emmett's homework was on the table. In all the rush, it never made it into his folder. I know that his homework is his responsibility but Emmett's never forgotten his homework before and I know how he would end up reacting when he realized it was still at home. For that matter, I know what we went through last night trying to help him finish it, and I won't let that be in vain. I was able to email the homework to the school, and it wouldn't be a problem to get it to Emmett. While I was on the phone,…

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January 26, 2018

My thoughts

Sometimes change is good

There's been an unexpected change of plans today. I've had to reschedule the SSI appointment because I wake up not feeling well. I'm the only one that can take Gavin because I'm the payee. It also turns out that there is some paperwork that I didn't realize I needed that makes rescheduling the best thing to do anyway. I hate last minute changes in plans, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Sometimes it also proves to be the best possible thing. 😊

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January 25, 2018

My thoughts

Gavin’s showing more signs of regression

I thought it would be a good time to do an overall update on how Gavin's doing. I've already mentioned a few times recently that Gavin just turned 18 last week. That means we now have an adult with Autism in the house and that's a first for us. That's not exactly true. Lizze is an Aspie, but it just seems different because its one of our kid's who's now an adult. Gavin's got quite a bit on his plate for someone so young. Lizze and I were talking about this the other night as we were trying to plan out this whole guardianship thing and we ended up discussing how we thought he was doing. It evolved into comparing what our concerns for him were and things we've noticed…

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January 25, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts

#Autism Parenting: The Transition to Adulthood has Begun

It's going to be a slightly stressful day today because I have to meet with social security in regards to Gavin. Part of this is merely a routine review, but the other part of it is going to be dealing with Gavin turning 18 and me retaining my payee status over his account. I'm not worried about Gavin qualifying because he qualifies. I've just never had to do this before. It's the first time we've had to have one of these meetings as they only happen every so many years. Hopefully, this will be done in under two hours because otherwise, I'll be late getting the kids from school. Meeting with social security is the first of many steps we will have to take because Gavin has turned 18. The…

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January 24, 2018