This #Autism Dad is very much overwhelmed with life

I mentioned in the previous post that I was in a weird place. I also said I would talk about it in the next post because I needed to sort my thoughts and find my words. Here's the thing, my thoughts are all over the place right now and the words to describe where I'm at are still elusive. I'm far from the only person going through this and I'm constantly being told that I express what so many others are feeling but never say out loud. My hope is to help those of you who may read this read this and relate, to take comfort in the knowledge they aren't alone in their struggle. To everyone else, I hope the insight helps you to better understand how special needs…

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It’s just that kind of day

It's been sort of a blah day today. No one's in a particularly good mood and everyone seems to be dragging. I've only even seen Gavin once because he's been sleeping all day and that's really unusual. While there's nothing on the schedule for today, there are still things that need done. I've got to get the yard under control. It's only been a week since I cut the grass but it's already out of control because it's been raining so much. I also need to buy a new weed eater because ours is no longer works and can't be fixed. I had to choose between buy g a new weed eater or getting the boys shoes. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know I didn't choose the weed eater.…

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Do you know how much fun shoe shopping is for two kids with #Autism?

Ha.. That's a trick question because it's a fricking nightmare. After we left the cookout, I took Elliott shoe shopping. Emmett decided that he wanted to try shoes again as well. I wasn't really in a position to do both right now but with Emmett, I can't not take advantage of his willingness to try shoes again. That opportunity almost never comes around. In fact, it's been about two years since the last time he was willing to try. Elliott actually isn't too, too bad. He's more indecisive when it comes to shopping. It's not usually that big of a deal but it depends on his mood and how stressed out or overstimulated he is at the moment. Emmett on the other hand is never easy. His tolerance for anything…

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It was a really bad migraine day

It's been a rough day for Lizze. She always has a migraine but there are days where it's way worse than others. The weather's been changing over the last 24 hours and that tends to make things much worse for her. The boys and I spent the late afternoon/early evening at my sister's house for another family cookout. Lizze was in one of those places where light was her enemy because it made the migraine worse. She stayed behind, closed the curtains and benefited from the quiet. She was missed but everyone understood and wished her well. I hate seeing her like this and pray that her new neurologist is able to not only get her in sooner but actually help with the migraines. Nothing up until this point has…

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#Autism Parenting: It’s time to give yourself a little credit

Autism Parents have to be many, many things. Unfortunately, one of the most common things they are is hard on themselves. The average Autism parent is about a million times harder on themselves than anyone else possibly could be. We tend to hold ourselves to an impossible standard and blame ourselves for the struggles our kids with Autism often face. There's even a part of us that feels insane amounts of guilt because we can't take away the struggles our kids face on a daily basis. We often beat ourselves up for things we have absolutely zero control over because... Well, truthfully, I don't know why we do that but I do know it's wrong and unhealthy. We'll tell you all the ways our kids are amazing without any trouble…

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The Did You Knows of #Autism Parenting: The Price of Admission

I hope this helps people to A) realize they aren't alone in their struggle, if they feel that way currently and B) to better understand what goes into making decisions that on the surface may not make sense to them. Autism parenting is very difficult and the decisions we are tasked with making can be even moreso. Feel free to share this with anyone who will benefit. Every share helps. ☺

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An important truth about being an #Autism parent

As an Autism parent, life is exceptionally stressful and that's on the good days. When things in life get rocky, for whatever reason, my body and mind simply want to shutdown. It's a self-preservation thing and unfortunately, being an Autism Parent doesn't leave a whole lot of room for shutting down. There are challenges in our everyday lives that I simply haven't been able to overcome and sometimes, that knowledge weighs heavier on me. I turn forty in August and I'm almost compulsively evaluating my life. There are things that I've accepted will never happen and things that need to happen, regardless of the challenge involved. I'm okay with the things I've accepted won't happen but I struggle with the things I've failed to yet accomplish. I'm not sleeping or…

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Preparing for a crazy Summer in our not-so-safe neighborhood with @VivintGivesBack

Sometimes I share my experience with Vivint Gives Back in regards to helping prevent wandering. There's also another side to our Vivint Smart Home System, provided to my family, and that's security. We live in a neighborhood that has on countless occasions, proved itself to be very unsafe. We've been involved in drive by shootings, people have been stabbed in front of our house and we hear gunshots almost every single day. Our car was just recently broken into again as well. It gets scary, especially for the kids. As summer approaches, we are working on some commonsense safety measures (that I'm not getting any into in this particular post) but aside from commonsense, we rely heavily on our Vivint Smart Home System to help keep us safe. We have…

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