Good morning folks. We have absolutely nothing going on today. Well, Lizze has a 9 AM appointment, but that's about the extent of our outside obligations. I'm still going to go walking and will definitely visit my Grandma, but I'm okay with not having anywhere else to be today. I have a few writing deadlines I need to meet, as well as some laundry that needs to be done, but that's about it. A quiet day sounds perfect.
I need to put all the Autism and Special Needs Parenting stuff aside for a little while tonight. I need to instead focus on the very human side of my life. This is the part of my life that isn't influenced by things like Autism. It's actually rare to find things in my life that aren't influenced by all those challenges, but this is a bit different. Tonight we celebrated my last remaining Grandmother's, 94th birthday. She's actually my last remaining Grandparent period. The nursing home reserved the common room for us, and we had a pizza party and watched the Cleveland Indians play. My Grandma loves the Indians, and we all watched the game with her. She was having a rough night and wasn't sure she was up to…
Gavin's bloodwork went well and I want to give Gavin props for how he handled himself in the parking lot while he was there. As I mentioned in the precious post, my morning walk was rain delayed, and when I dropped Gavin off for his bloodwork, it was pouring down rain. As he was running to get into the building, an elderly woman was making her way to the same door and doing so with the assistance of a walker. She was moving very slowly, and Gavin isn't always super patience. That said, Gavin stopped dead in his tracks and politely let the woman go first. The whole time he was waiting for her, he was also standing in the rain. Gavin does not like getting wet. Once she was…
We have a jam-packed day, and it's not off to a good start. I was supposed to go walking, but as I am pulling away from my house, and heading to the park, this happened. Instead of scrapping the morning, I decided to get Gavin's bloodwork done right away. Perhaps the rain will subside by the time he's done, and I'll be able to go walking before lunch. It wasn't so much the rain that stopped me from going but rather intense lightning. After lunch, Lizze has the dentist. I'll have all the kids with me in the car while we're waiting for her. It's too far for her to drive herself and it shouldn't take too long. As an experienced Autism parent, I know when I'm walking into a…
We're having a pretty decent day so far. I've spent the morning taking pictures of review items and preparing to work on the write-ups for each item. The boys have been playing together and playing together nicely. I can't explain how nice it is to see that. They don't get along very well because of them being in different developmental places. I'm thrilled to see them playing together. 😀 Gavin's been incognito for most of the day. He must be running missions and saving the world. As bad as it sounds for me to say this, I'm grateful he's otherwise occupied because if he weren't, he'd most likely be driving me crazy with his constant talking. Sometimes I need a break from his voice, and while it may sound harsh,…
Today was one of those take the good with the bad kinda days. Gavin's appointment at Akron Children's Hospital went well, and he doesn't need to go back for one year. That assumes he doesn't have any problems between now and then. This is incredibly positive because Gavin has historically gained doctors and not been able to semi-remove them from his life. I have put this firmly in the win column for him. 😀 Lizze was a total trooper. She made sure she went with us to Akron Children's Hospital, even though she was far from feeling up to going. We've had some crazy weather for the last week, and the barometric pressure changes cause her and many others living with fibromyalgia, a tremendous amount of pain. She's not been…
My wife and I have about 20 years of Autism parenting experience. Gavin's going to be 20 years old in January, but our journey with him was anything but typical, even for an Autistic kid. The reason I say that is because now that Elliott is a teenager and Emmett's not too far behind, we're finding it a completely different experience than we had with Gavin. In many ways, it's very much like we're going through all of this for the first time because our frame of reference with Gavin not proving to be helpful. Gavin functions at a much lower capacity than the boys, and that presented us with a unique set of challenges. Elliott and Emmett are very high functioning but struggle in many ways that Gavin didn't.…
Gavin's appointment at the always amazing Akron Children's Hospital went very well. Most of his gastro symptoms have subsided, and he does not require regular medication in that area of his life. While he's not really gaining weight, he's maintaining where he is, and that's a good thing. His doctor is happy with his progress in the weight department. Gavin spoke up a few times, but it didn't cause any confusion during the appointment. Sometimes it does because of Gavin wanting to say what he thinks the other person wants to hear. Accuracy is not his thing and makes things more confusing than it has to be. He did an excellent job today. He doesn't even have to come back for 12 months. After that appointment, if all is well,…