Read more about the article Feeding Emmett is getting more challenging 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / Sensory

Feeding Emmett is getting more challenging 

I wanted to share a quick example of why it's so hard to keep Emmett, my youngest with Autism, fed.  Below you will see a picture of a piece of pizza that Emmett wanted to eat this morning. After heating it up however, he began to panic and ultimately decided that he couldn't eat it because it was missing some cheese at the very tip of the triangular slice.  There is absolutely no way to work through this with him.  I'm so frustrated because he's not eating much of anything, as a result of these sensory issues. I don't have the budget left to survive this right now, but Emmett needs to eat.  It's becoming increasingly more difficult to help him find something he's capable of eating.  Can anyone else…

20 Comments
April 15, 2017
Read more about the article Confessions of a struggling and stressed out #Autism Dad
Confessions / My thoughts

Confessions of a struggling and stressed out #Autism Dad

This is going to be a super honest post. I've not written one like this in awhile because I got tired of judgemental and ridicule from people who don't get it.  One of my regular readers has been encouraging me to return to some of my more brutally honest writings because it provides further insight, and it may help others in similar circumstance.  With that in mind, here we go.  My anxiety and stress level have been extremely high recently. Truthfully, they're always high. I'm raising three special needs kids and stress goes hand in hand.  Lately however, things have been getting pretty bad, and rather than write about it, I keep it bottled up inside. In the past, I wouldn't have thought twice about sharing but ever since Lizze…

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April 15, 2017
Read more about the article Why trying to get my son’s new glasses was so frustrating 
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

Why trying to get my son’s new glasses was so frustrating 

I mentioned last night that when it came to getting Emmett's glasses, I ran into a frustrating situation. Here's what happened, but before going into this, I want to say something first.  Not everyone agrees with public assistance and I get that. There are people who abuse the system and that's wrong. There are however, families like mine, that wouldn't be able to survive without it, especially where insurance is concerned.  This post isn't about being ungrateful or feeling entitled. It's about sharing a struggle that some might not realize exists.  Please don't judge those of us that rely on this program to survive, simply because of those who abuse it.  Emmett's on disability for a variety of reasons, meaning he's on Medicaid. Actually, he's on Buckeye, which is a…

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April 14, 2017
Read more about the article You won’t believe what the worst part of the eye appointment was for my son with #Autism 
Akron Children's Hospital / Doctor's / Emmett John / Gallery / My thoughts / Optometry

You won’t believe what the worst part of the eye appointment was for my son with #Autism 

It's been such a long day and I'm sure you're all surprised to hear that I'm exhausted. I feel like I've been on the go for most of the day and spent all my remaining energy along the way. 😁  For this entry, I'm going to focus on Emmett's eye appointment. The rest can wait until later on.  The long and short of it is, Emmett's appoint went well. Emmett did a great job, especially considering how long we were at Akron Children's Hospital today. Emmett did great with the eye drops that dilated his eyes, and great with all the lights shone in his eyes during the exam.  All the things one would think he would struggle with, he did great.  That being said, there was one area he…

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April 14, 2017
Read more about the article Here’s why it’s a short day at school today 
Emmett John / My thoughts / Ophthalmology

Here’s why it’s a short day at school today 

Emmett has an eye appointment this afternoon and I wouldnt be surprised if he needs a much stronger prescription. Even with his glasses, he has a hard time seeing things.  I'm hoping everything checks out okay but he's going to at least need new glasses.  Lizze is going to stay home with Elliott and Gavin, so we don't have to drag them to Akron Children's and back. Emmett and I will go to the appointment and get to hang out for a bit.  While I'm there, I will schedule Gavin's appointment and get his seem ASAP as well. 

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April 13, 2017
Read more about the article Gummy worms make all the difference 
My thoughts

Gummy worms make all the difference 

I was up to 3 AM last night and I'm completely exhausted. Thankfully, even though we overslept a bit, the boys are being super cooperative. Does it really matter that the cooperation is the result of the availability of gummy worms?  At this point in the game, cooperation is cooperation... Am I right? 

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April 13, 2017
Read more about the article Losing weight while being an #Autism parent is tough – Here’s 10 tips that are working for me
Inspirational Posts / My thoughts / Weight-loss Journey

Losing weight while being an #Autism parent is tough – Here’s 10 tips that are working for me

I wanted to share one of the things I'm doing to help with my weight-loss journey. In the time before I had kids or hurt my back, I was a body builder. I worked out seven days a week and loved every minute of it. Fast forward through a major back injury and three kids with very demanding special needs, and I'm no longer in the best shape of my life. 😁  My goal is to lose roughly sixty pounds over the next year and I think that's perfectly reasonable. I want to lose two pounds per week and that's a very reasonable approach. Losing weight too fast isn't always the best thing and I want to give my body time to adjust as the weight falls off.  Trying to…

4 Comments
April 12, 2017