Category Archive: Autism

I’m totally aware that the meltdowns are not their fault. I also know the difference between a meltdown and a tantrum.

What I don’t know, is how much more I can take today.

Good lord, it feels like it’s been one meltdown after another.  Emmett’s been a constant stream of screaming and melting down,  over God only knows what. 

Trust me, if I could identify the stressor, I would do horrible things to it and make it go away and leave him alone.  Of course, if the stressor is one of the other boys, that would make me a monster so scratch that idea. 

The ugly truth is that even though I know, these meltdowns aren’t his fault, they are quite literally driving me crazy. 

I can feel myself cracking on the inside and so I had to go wake up Lizze who was trying to get some rest, after giving me a nap. 

As I’m writing this, I can hear him freaking out.  I’m hiding upstairs right now so I can collect myself.  Sometimes, even grown up have to put themselves e’s into time out so that they can get themselves under control.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by your Autistic child.  This is however something wrong with letting yourself get so frustrated that you snap and say or do something, you will later regret. 

Look, I’m human and have an entire friggin buffets worth of crap, all crammed onto my tiny plastic plate. 

I know what it’s like to feel frustration, exhaustion and even anger or resentment because of behavioral issues related to my special needs kids.  In fact, at times, I’d swear that I have the market cornered. 

Having said that, those feelings are just a part of my biggest weakness.  That weakness, is being a human being tasked with super human responsibilities. I would probably be more worried if I never felt these things.  It would make me feel like I was a ticking time bomb. 

Personally, I’ve chosen to embrace these feelings and not best myself up over them. 

I love my boys more than anything in the world.  Feeling frustrated or even resentful of their behavioral issues doesn’t change a damn thing. 

All it does is show that I’m still only human….

This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me.

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me.

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.

Let me just share how the last 12 hours have gone.

The Cat

Last night,  Lizze and I were watching a movie and we heard this really loud noise.  It sounds like someone was trying to kick in one of the bedroom doors. Maggie and Bella heard it at the same time and they followed me upstairs.

To be honest, I don’t know what I really expected to find but it was a bit creepy.

When I got upstairs, I couldn’t see what was going on.  Next thing I know, I see my bedroom door shaking  and I hear this howling.  The dogs were going nuts but I finally found the source of the commotion and shouted for Lizze to come upstairs right away.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of this, as it would be easier to explain with a picture.

Apparently, Blue (Emmett’s cat) was accidently locked in my bedroom. While attempting to squeeze under the door, he got stuck.  His head was sticking out from under the door but he couldn’t fit the rest of his body out and couldn’t pull his head back it. 

He was stuck and going absolutely crazy.

If I tried to open the door, I couldn’t cause his body was wedged under it.  We had to do this really slowly and as a team.  I opened the door very slowly and lifted up as hard as a could.

Blue began howling as Lizze carefully slid him toward the edge of the door.  She was able to slide him out as I was opening the door.  Blues fine and I both hopeful and yet quite doubtful that he learned his lesson.

The Dog

I love Bella, we all do. With that said, she got to be among the dumbest of God’s creators as she never learns. She always seems to get into things that she shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter how clean the house is or how much I try to keep things out of the yard that she would be dumb enough to eat.. She eats anything and everything that she can.

She’s perfectly healthy and not under fed.

She’s just stupid and the Vet says that he doesn’t have a vaccine for Stupid.

Anyway, she’s really into eating sticks.

She’s has tons of toys and even a toy stick that she can chew on but apparently, nothing beats the real thing.

Now that the weather is nicer, she’s getting lots of exercise. She just likes to eat sticks.

Anyway, when she ears a stick, it never agreed with her and she waits until she comes back into the house to vomit. Now she’s vomiting from both ends. Lots of fun.

Friggin dogs……..

The Kid with RAD

Gavin’s having an interesting day and by interesting day, I mean a rough one.

It began while taking his meds. Lizze handed Gavin his 7.5 pills for his morning dose and instead of putting them into his mouth, as he normally would, he blew on the pills and they scattered all over the kitchen.

Gavin then freaked out.

In have no idea what he was thinking. I don’t know if he did this on purpose or if it was an accident. It’s important to remember that a child with RAD, goes to great lengths to create chaos within the household.

Having said that, while Gavin has on many occasions, done things like this to cause problems, I truly don’t know what happened.

Lizze says it looked like he just blew the pills right out of his hands.

The chaos ensues as we try to find each and every pill, before anyone else does. These meds are very dangerous and we can’t stop until they are all recovered.

You know, there’s no way to know for sure what his intentions were at the time. Overreacting will play right into his hands, if this was done on purpose. And if it was truly an accident, you don’t want to overreact to something that he had no control over.

The joys of raising a child with RAD. You never know what’s going on inside their heads but it’s pretty safe to say that on many occasions, it’s nothing good.

Feel free to think what you like but unless your living with one of these children with a serious, serious mental illness like RAD, you will just have to accept that this is the case.

I’m already spent, don’t have much of anything left and this is only the last 12 hours or so.

It’s like a bad joke, a cat, a dog and a kid with RAD walk into a bar…….

This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me.

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me.

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.

Emmett is going through something and it’s remarkably similar to the terrible 2′s. With Emmett, the terrible 2′s were awful the first time around. 

This isn’t any better.

He’s really struggling right now and my heart breaks for him. The reality is that we are dealing with sensory related issues and there isn’t a whole lot we can do to help him. 

I have no idea what the triggers are and why he’s so upset but he’s definitely upset. 

He’s already been screaming for the last 20 minutes and at the time of writing, it’s 7am.

While Emmett is definitely paying the higher price, this is destabilizing to the whole family. Now with Gavin back in the mix, we need to keep things as stable as possible. 

This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me.

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me.

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.

Today is going to be one of those dreaded days.  Lizze can’t stay awake and so I’m on my own with Emmett.  This will be a day that nothing happens, at least around the house. 

Lately, Lizze has been doing really well and her sleep disorder hasn’t been playing too big of a role in her life.  Sometimes though, it creeps back in and takes up residence once again.

Unfortunately, it’s snuck back in and I don’t know how long it’s gonna stay this time. 

Our guests name is hypersomnia. 

This basically means that Lizze’s body requires significantly more time asleep to feel rested.  In her particular case, for her body to function, she needs about 15 hours of sleep per day. 

Most of us can get away with 6-8 hours of sleep and be able to take on the day ahead. 

Unfortunately, for Lizze, her body requires 15+ hours of sleep to derive the same benefit.

Lately, she’s been napping during the day but not to the extreme that she normally would.  Regardless, this is a challenge for both of us as parents and one of those things that make our situation a bit more complicated.

Hopefully, we aren’t heading in a direction that’s going to make things anymore difficult. 

This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me.

Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed by me.

For more ways to help the Lost and Tired family, please visit Help the Lost and Tired Family.