I wanted to share some insight into how autism thinks: We have a reward in place on Friday for going to school all week. It’s 2 6pk of 4oz bottled coke. That is 48fl oz right? There is a new product out that my son likes better, bottled Pepsi. It comes in a 4 pk [...]

I wanted to share something I’ve learned with my special needs teenager. When he is grumpy, owly, melting down, sometimes a simple thing as making him something to eat, will curb the behavior. Yep. It’s amazing but think about it. He’s a teen, he’s growing, they eat a lot. He may not know or be [...]

Thinking about my grandma and uncle this morning. My grandma was a parent of a special needs person. My uncle is in his 60′s now and lives on his own with the help of a waiver and support people assigned to him. My grandma has been gone about 8 years now. I remember when I [...]

A relative of mine came from out of state to visit this weekend. The boys had never met her before that I recall. D maybe once, but I don’t think he remembered. The boys’ behavior has increased and well, they have gotten clingy to me, for lack of a better word. I remember one of [...]

What is a weekend without a little drama? We had our fair share last night, and today I find myself recapping yesterday’s events and being lazy at the same time. It was an exhausting ordeal. J has pica. He likes to eat non edible items, and at least explore them with his mouth. It’s amazing that [...]

My youngest has been on a nutritional drink for many years to help supplement his poor eating habits and keep him healthy. The company that makes the product switched the packaging with our last shipment. Needless to say that has caused drama. He won’t drink them now. I hate when companies do that. The pizza [...]

I brought a used CD clock radio home today. I didn’t know how it worked and I had J melting down when I got home because he doesn’t feel well. D was expecting me to set it up and get it going immediately. I was able to buy some time and get J out of [...]

I’m on this degree vs. experience kick today. John is almost 11 yrs old. Ive been dealing with autism longer than that (13 yrs by diagnosis, 16 yrs by age with Dustin). I’ve also been consciously dealing with IgA deficiency as long as John has been alive. (Dustin’s had it too but didn’t know before [...]

Bad behaviors are so tough to deal with. I’ve had a little bit of exposure to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in dealing with some of these behaviors. I  also know from common sense and my own childhood about consequences to your actions. I find it very difficult when your in the middle of an issue [...]

I am preparing myself for more drama this morning in the aftermath of another winter storm. We’ve had a couple good blizzards this winter season so far and it has caused schools to cancel. The first storm right before winter break was so severe school was cancelled for 2 days. Mother Nature and human weather [...]

So it begins. Slamming doors, pictures shaking on the wall, growling like a bear, little one screaming there’s a monster. What am I talking about? It’s  what the teenage meltdown looks like and has triggered John’s meltdown. I haven’t even finished my first cup of coffee this morning. All because I told the child no [...]

I’m dealing with a fixation meltdown this morning with the 15 yr old. Teenager meltdowns are so difficult, especially when the child is bigger than you. Fixations are also extremely difficult to deal with. They get focused on one thing that they want and behavior escalates because of that fixation. There is no talking to [...]

I’m sorry that it has been so long since my last post. We have gone through some family changes and have been battling illness for several months. I’m hoping to return back to networking and sharing our autism story on the website after the holidays. I also know some of you have emailed me and [...]

Today was the Homecoming Dance at Dustin’s new school. All week they have been having activities including a homecoming court. He really has been enjoying the festivities this week at school and we have had no fights with him going. Today he stayed the whole day so he wouldn’t miss the afternoon dance and had [...]

I guess I can’t blame my insanity all on autism, but it sure doesn’t help matters sometimes. I’ve said this before about riding the wave. Some people call it a roller coaster, I look at it from a surfing point of view. We’ve been knocked on our butt’s a few times this week. John hasn’t [...]

I have a couple key meetings this week. Awhile back I told you we were getting set up with a new agency here more adolescent and adult service based for SCL ( supported community living ) and social groups. We have our first social group intake this week. Have to do the boys separate because [...]

It’s the first full week of school here. We start it out with John being sick with his respiratory junk. He was doing much better yesterday so hopefully he is on the upswing. He’s been a kid who doesn’t take meds willingly. I’ve had to mask his supplements in his drink. This weekend I was [...]