Helping my son manage his anxiety by exploring nature

It was another anxiety filled day for my middle minion Elliott. We've had more challenging days in the past but we've also had better.  My efforts to help him manage his anxiety were met with success today once again.  When Elliott reached a tipping point with his anxiety, we went out side to explore some of what nature has to offer within the confines of our own backyard.  I've found that encouraging and supporting his natural curiosity when it comes to animals and nature has proven to be a very healthy way for me to help him manage his anxieties.  When he's exploring, he relaxes and just focuses on the possibilities of what he might find during his adventure.  Regardless of the why's, he finds relief in a healthy, non-self-destructive…

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We’ve had a successful first day :)

The Autism Dad blog has just finished up its very first full day of operation. I took a big risk when I chose to leave the past behind me and move on to bigger, better and more positive things.  At the end of the first full day of officially being online, I'm really excited to see how well this new site has been received.  There is still some web development stuff that needs to be worked on but I've scaled way back from Lost and Tired and instead taken a more simplistic approach to everything.  So far it's paying off and I feel like this change may prove to be successful endeavor.  At the time of writing, I've had roughly 1,500 hits for the day and I think that's pretty…

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Art By Emmett: #Minecraft

i wanted to share this picture that Emmett, my youngest of three with Autism, drew for me. 😀 As with most kids, Emmett is very much into Minecraft and loves drawing pictures that reflect his interests. He just decided to draw this for me as a surprise and I just love it.. ❤️ As always, please feel free to leave your positive feedback below.    

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Trying to maintain balance as a single parent of 3 with #Autism

It would be dubious of me to say that I haven't spent the first part of the day sleeping in the couch. The truth is, I have been passed out on the couch, awake when the boys needed me but otherwise down for the count.  The reason behind this is something I know many of you face with your child that has special needs.    I was pretty excited last night because I went to bed around midnight, which is actually pretty early for me. Unfortunately, Emmett woke up about the same time my head hit the pillow.  Unfortunately, Emmett never went back to sleep.  I tried to get him back to sleep but I think he had a bad dream or something and was just a wee bit stressed…

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How I’m helping my son with #Autism manage his #anxiety

Every once in awhile, I come up with a way to help my kids learn to better manage their inherent anxiety, in a healthy way. This doesn't happen all that often but whenever it does, I feel pretty damn good.  I've been trying to help Elliott manage his extreme anxiety but that's proven to be quite difficult because he's an emotional roller coaster and the reasons for his anxiety are completely understandable.  For the last few days, I've been breaking up Elliott's day by taking him outside and letting him explore nature within the confines of our property.     When I was a kid, I could have spent all day, turning over rocks, exploring fields and walking creek beds in search of Mother Natures little creatures. When it comes to…

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The Best News I’ve Received In Forever

I recently went to dinner with my Dad and my cousin, while the boys were with their Mom for a few hours.  Raising three special needs kiddos on my own doesn't allow for many night out, so I was excited to have that opportunity.  We went to our favorite Chinese buffet where I ate way too much but I did walk 3+ miles afterwards, so it's kinda okay I guess. lol Anyway, we each recieved a fortune cookie as we were leaving the restaurant.  I never put much thought or weight into the random, generalized statements often found written on the tiny strip of paper, buried within these cookies.  This time was different.   The words written on the paper within the cookie I received, really hit home. Frankly, it…

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Something stinks here :(

I meant to share this last night but it just never happened. I was up all night building this brand new site from scratch. It must have been about 3am when I finally called it quits and went to let Maggie outside before I dragged myself to bed. In hindsight, I'm actually really lucky that things played out the way they did because this could have been much worse. As I was opening the front door, I saw this huge skunk walking across my front steps. Thank God Maggie wasn't paying attention or she would have busted through the front door and chased it. As it turns out, I think the damn thing is living under our porch because I watched it go down my front steps and then squish…

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Welcome to The #Autism Dad Blog

There comes a time in everyone's journey, that a fork in the road is reached. When that time comes, a decision is often required before you're able to continue moving forward.    I've realized that Lost and Tired has reached that fork in the road.  There were a number of reasons I've found myself here but there's only a few that really matter.  For those following Lost and Tired, you're likely aware that the issues with Facebook essentially crippled the site.  While this wasn't the only reason for moving on, it was a catalyst.   When I began Lost and Tired over 6 years ago now, it was at a time in my life where I felt completely lost and without a direction to go in. It was fitting and something…

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