Read more about the article Trying to help my adult #Autistic son find independence is challenging
Autism Parenting Struggles / Gavin / My thoughts

Trying to help my adult #Autistic son find independence is challenging

Gavin had a pretty rough afternoon/evening and it culminated into a decent sized meltdown at therapy tonight. The problem is that Gavin either isn't recognizing or is unwilling to admit he's making mistakes. Mistakes are something that Gavin simply doesn't tolerate, especially in himself. When something happens and we try to point it out to him, he very often will either deny it happened or happened the way it did. He can become very, very upset. We had a situation arise at therapy tonight and it led to a decent sized meltdown. It wasn't a big deal but it was a great example for Dr. Pattie to see, so she can help guide us through it. All that happened was Elliott handed Gavin a cup of goldfish crackers and for…

4 Comments
March 27, 2019
Read more about the article A quick update because it’s been a few days
General Update / My thoughts

A quick update because it’s been a few days

It's been a couple days since I've really written anything because I've been recovering from surgery since last Friday. I'm doing pretty good and haven't experienced much, if any major levels of pain or discomfort. That's a good thing and I'm incredibly grateful. While pain hasn't really been an issue, generally speaking, I feel rundown. I think I'll resume walking on Monday morning and try eating more regular foods later this week. It's been a lot of soup, yogurt and things like that. The boys are doing pretty good, although I wish I were in a better position to take advantage of Spring Break. I would have loved to take them hiking or something fun like that. Gavin is doing okay as well. We're not seeing any changes as he's…

0 Comments
March 26, 2019
Read more about the article It’s been 48 hours since my surgery
My thoughts

It’s been 48 hours since my surgery

I wanted to drop you a quick line and let you know how my surgery went. As you may or may not know, I had oral surgery on Friday morning and I was not looking forward to it. I'm not sure anyone looks forward to something like that. Anyway, this was a huge deal for me, and I hardly ate anything on Thursday and barely managed 2 hours of sleep Thursday night. I took a Valium at 8 AM, right before my Mom picked Lizze and I up. I was concerned that the Valium wasn't going to help but by the time I walked into the office, checked in and sat down, it was definitely working. I felt pretty chill and a little dizzy. The staff knew how terrified I…

5 Comments
March 24, 2019
Read more about the article Last update before surgery
My thoughts

Last update before surgery

Alright folks, I've got a shit load of nervous energy right now. I'm leaving inside the next 30 minutes and heading to the oral surgeon. I'm not going to lie and say I'm feeling awesome because I'm not. At the same time, I'm far more chill than I expected. I will be taking something in about 20 minutes, so that as I enter this procedure, I'm relaxed. I'm going on about 2 hours of sleep and I haven't eaten anything since noon yesterday. I've just been so nervous, I couldn't eat. Depression is making this whole experience so much more difficult than it probably should be and I'm incredibly anxious to begin my new antidepressant. I can't live like this. I'm told I'll probably sleep the rest of the day…

11 Comments
March 22, 2019
Read more about the article This Week’s Pod: Bittersweet Victories
My thoughts / Podcast

This Week’s Pod: Bittersweet Victories

In this episode, I talk about what many of us face from time to time. Bittersweet Victories are the kind of victory that comes after a loss. In the case of my family, Gavin is losing significant skills and while we are heartbroken to see this loss, he still managed to do something for the first time. While any loss is a negative thing, any progress is worth celebrating.Hence, Bittersweet Victories. Please take a moment and share this Pod.. ☺

1 Comment
March 21, 2019
Read more about the article We had some incredibly violent outbursts
Gavin / My thoughts

We had some incredibly violent outbursts

We had some very violent outbursts last night and yesterday. Gavin was making some mistakes and not coping with them well at all. The two main ones were at dinner time and revolved around issues with his food. The first one was in regards to his Ramon Noodles. He made Ramon for dinner, used cold water and realized that when he went to eat it, it was cold. Our water cooler had been out of water over the weekend and when it's empty, we shut it off. We forgot to turn it back on yesterday when we refilled the water jugs and as a result, the water wasn't heating or cooling. He didn't notice that the water coming out was cold, which is weird cause it's pretty obvious due to…

9 Comments
March 19, 2019
Read more about the article Gavin had a HORRIBLE night
Gavin / My thoughts

Gavin had a HORRIBLE night

This will be quick because we've not had a good evening. Gavin has been freaking out all night. He self-injured and hit the wall, quite hard actually. I'm exhausted but I wanted to let you guys know what's going on with his meds. It's been decided that Gavin will stop Clozapine. We're doing this over the next 3 weeks and while we are concerned about what this potentially means, it's clear that it's in his best interest. I'll talk more about the issues we had tonight, later today. For right now, my head is pounding and I'm so fucking stressed out I can't take it. I need to go to bed and try to sleep this off. Stay tuned.

4 Comments
March 18, 2019