Gavin / General Medical Stuff / My thoughts

An important Gavin update 

​There are too many thing to talk about with Gavin anymore, but I will briefly touch on how he's doing overall.  Gavin's such a good kid. He tries so hard at everything in life and unfortunately, he's struggling. We're seeing more and more regression lately. Things like memory (especially short term), simple tasks and even walking have become more challenging for him.  He's very easily confused and that frustrates him a great deal.   On the positive side, his actual behavior is still a shining example for his little brothers. He caring, kind and gentle. He worries about everyone and always wants to help. Honestly, Lizze and I couldn't be prouder.  ☺  Everything else is par for the course when it comes to the things that make up Gavin. They're…

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November 30, 2016
Bullying / Elliott / My thoughts

A very important Elliott update 

​This week has been focused on the kid at school who's bullying Elliott. We spoke to his teachers and the principal but if today was any indication of how this is going to play out, we're going to have a problem.  While at Dr. Pattie's tonight, we spoke with Elliott about this and learned that there were more issues with this kid at school today.  Apparently, aside from smacking Elliott on the back thoughout the day, he's also throwing pencils at him during class as well. Elliott was hit in the leg today and when he told his teachers, they basically said they didn't see it happen, so they can't do anything about it.   Was Elliott hurt by the pencil? No he wasn't,  but is that really the point? …

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November 30, 2016
Emmett John / School / Sensory / Shoes and Socks

Sensory issues kept my son home from school again

The boys were up early once again. Everything was fine until it was time to get dressed and ready for school. Correction.. Everything was fine until it came time for Emmett to put something on his feet.   Lizze and I worked for at least an hour to help Emmett tolerate something on his feet.  We tried countless shoe/flipflop/slipper/crocs combinations both with and without socks. Nothing worked.   Lizze worked to desenitize his feet with deep pressure and spending some time in the rice box. We have a large box fill with dry rice and Emmett likes to stand in it. It has helped in the past but not today.  He wanted to go to school so badly but his body was fighting him at every turn.   Part of…

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November 29, 2016
Bullying / Elliott / School

My son is being bullied at school and here’s what we did about it

It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm just going to jump right into things tonight.  Lizze and I met with Elliott's teachers this morning in regards to our suspicion that Elliott might be getting bullied at school. We were concerned but didn't want to jump the gun because it was possible that Elliott was misinterpreting what was happening.   We just needed to get our facts straight before deciding how best to handle this. As it turns out, Elliott is indeed being bullied by a kid in his class. It was also the same kid we had suspected as well. What we hadn't prepared for were the teachers to know already about it.  That part caught me off guard because I had assumed if there was a problem, they would…

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November 29, 2016
Bullying / Elliott / Parenting Advice / School

We suspect our son with #Autism is being bullied at school and here’s how we’re handling it

We've spent a bit of time speaking with Elliott this weekend. It would be fair to say this has been a rough couple of days for him. It's pretty obvious that something is upsetting him but getting to the bottom of what that is can be tricky. Elliott will list things that bother him but they aren't necessarily what's bothering him. Does that make sense? Long story short, while we were discussing going to the after school program in December, Elliott mentioned that he's getting picked on at school. This wouldn't be the first time we've heard this but it's really the first time that I'm beginning to suspect that there's more going on than we are aware of. Elliott's a really sensitive kid and so he can take an otherwise innocuous comment…

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November 28, 2016
My thoughts

Breaking new ground as a family

One of the things that we want to begin this week is some new Christmas traditions with the boys. We've never really done anything major over the holidays and especially leading up to them.  Ever since Lizze and I went through our separation and subsequent reconciliation, we've gained a new appreciation for things like this.  I'm not sure what we're going to do but when I was a kid, we used to make a big deal about the holiday TV specials. Lizze and I were kicking around the idea of making a special night out of this and having caramel popcorn or something like that. Lizze wants to do some Christmas light chasing as well. That's free and fun. :-) We want this to be less commercial and more about family.  The…

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November 27, 2016
ADHD / Elliott

Could he be anymore hyper?

Do you ever have those mornings where your kids are hyper and fuck? I'm definitely having one of those mornings today. The guilty party is Mr. Elliott and this kid is bouncing off the walls and anything else that has a solid surface. I've often wondered why some mornings he wakes up super calm and other mornings he just can't sit still. I know ADHD is a factor but there doesn't seem to be any correlation. So far this morning, Elliott's been jumping on and off the couches, talking incessantly, kicking his feet in the air and just about every other stereotypical hyperactive behavior you can think of. Maybe he didn't sleep well last night. Perhaps it's fallout from the holiday weekend or maybe this is just a biochemical thing. What I…

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November 27, 2016
Inspirational Posts

Why teamwork is crucial to #Autism Parenting

One of the most important lessons I've learned as an Autism parent is that this shit is hard. I used to run into burning houses and rescue people from horrible car wrecks for a living. I'm here to say that all those things pale in comparison to any given day as Autism parent, at least in my experience. Having done the Autism parenting thing as a single parent for almost two years, I can say that I have nothing but respect for those who walk this journey alone because they are easily among the strongest people I can imagine. Having said that, this post is not focused on single parenting. There are huge advantages to sharing the load when it comes to being an Autism parent. If you're among those…

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November 26, 2016