I forgot to tell you folks that Elliott lost another tooth the other day. He's missing his two front teeth and now two on the bottom. 😁 He's been handling this really well. He normally panics at the sight of blood but he pulled the tooth out when it was ready, all by himself. 👍
I want to take a few minutes and share a pretty big victory we celebrated tonight. The world at large probably won't understand the significance of something like this but I know at least some of you will. Elliott struggles with extreme anxiety. He takes medication to improve his quality of life but it doesn't really help. The boys and I walked the track tonight. Elliott wanted to explore the banks of the creek but I had to tell him no because we were racing the weather and I didn't want to be caught in the rain. Elliott wasn't happy with that and kept pushing and pushing to be allowed to go. My answer didn't change and he was getting really frustrated. I stood my ground because I knew…
Something I'm don't know if I've shared before is that Gavin has connective tissue problems. Apparently, his Mom has a connective tissue disorder but that was diagnosed after she left and so I'm relatively in the dark on that. Gavin is extremely hyper flexible. Some of the things he can do are actually cringe worthy and hard to watch. I've known about that forever and that's one reason why he was in OT/PT and is currently back on the waiting list. The problem he's been having recently is that his shoulders and hips pop out. It's very painful and just sorta happens randomly. He could be running around and be just fine but he could have his shoulder or hip pop out while climbing out of bed in the…
As a father to 3 boys with Autism, feeding issues are nothing new to me. I've faced those challenges almost 3 times a day for 15 years. Typically this envolves making a different meal for each child and then remaking it several times, until it's sensory acceptable. It's a long and often wasteful process but kids with these problems with sooner starve than eat something that's offensive to them in sensory level. Of my 3 boys, Emmett is by far the most sensory sensitive and as such, the most challenging to feed. Lately, it's getting more and more difficult to ensure he's eating. It's frustrating for both of us because I worry about him losing weight and he truly is hungry. What ends up happening is whatever I do…
It was a little bit after 7am and Elliott and Emmett were already awake. They had gone downstairs and we're playing the Xbox. That's not a big deal but apparently, there was a disagreement over something. That disagreement led to Emmett melting down and screaming at the top of his lungs. Of course, in the moment, I had no idea what was going on and so I awoke in a panic, only to find that everything was indeed okay. No one was getting stabbed or shot. Someone just wasn't getting his way. Let me tell you somethine. That's not the best way to be woke up, especially on a Monday. lol I put an end to the problems they were having and shut the game off. Since then, everyone's…
Being a special needs parent can be frustrating for a multitude of reasons. I bet if I asked random people, what they thought the hardest part of being a special needs parent was, there would be some pretty interesting answers. In the almost 15 years I've been a special needs parent, I've fought many battles. Some of those battles were school and IEP related. Some were insurance related. Let's be honest, many of them were insurance related. Battles were fought just to get my kids to eat a meal or wear clothes. There's the stress, anxiety, meltdowns, overstimulation, communication challenges, loss of friends, a complete implosion of your social life and a lifetime without sleep. I've faced off with each one of these challenges and more, on countless occasions, as…
The boys have about 20 days left of summer break. On September 1st, they will be returning to the classroom and frankly, I'm getting a bit anxious for that to happen. I love having the boys home but since there's only one of me and three of them, it's proven to be quite taxing. I'm ready for them to go back. I mean, I'm ready for them to physically go back. I still have a ton of shopping to do as soon as I can. Summer break is a mixed bag for a special needs family. I've found that it's much, much harder to take care of myself or anything else for that matter, when I'm taking care of the boys 24/7. While they're in school, they get to socialize…
I'm getting concerned about Gavin. While he's still doing really well, he's also cognitively slipping. I'm not sure how to really as plain what I mean... Okay, let's try this.. Gavin's current level of functioning is lower than it was 3 months ago. It's still relatively subtle but I'm noticing things throughout the day that are concerning. He's unable to perform more than one or two step tasks at a time. Even with that, he's often either not finishing or simply forgets what he's supposed to be doing. He fell going up the stairs today because he was trying to take 2 or 3 steps at a time, even after I reminded him not to. I seeing a great deal of impulsivity, where he's acting before he thinks. Originally,…