Planning- There are no quick fixes

At 8:53 J remembered our son is bringing the pancake mix to his school today for both himself and the other GF/CF boy in his class. I had already cooked the last of the eggs for breakfast. Our son was still in his pajamas, and our daughter's preschool was over at 11:30. I had two and a half hours to get him dressed, stop at the bank, pick up the eggs, and mix up the pancake batter. With my neurotypical daughter 45min. would have been more then enough time. With my ASD boy I knew I wouldn't have much time to spare. First I made a mental check list of what steps we needed to do before leaving the house. Anthony needed to help clean-up breakfast, finish his supplements, use the bathroom,change into his clothes, put on his shoes. I needed to load the dishwasher, wipe down the table and counters, clean the breakfast pans, prepare the supplements. I had planned on him help me with cleaning the potatos for dinner, but I knew we didn't have time for that. I knew that if A put his plate in the sink and had access to the water I would lose 10-20 minutes stimming with the water or throwing a tantrum because he couldn't. I opened the dishwasher, blocking the sink and made it harder to reach the faucet. He put his dish in the sink and didn't like leaning over to reach the handle so he moved on to his room to get dressed. One hurdle past. Put on clothes- Daddy I can't do it. I need help. Shirt w/buttons buttoned. Daddy I can't do it. I need help. Top button difficult I-don't need He-needs No, No, No I don't want to. Supplementsready

Autism What is it? A parent's answer.

Autism is one of the scariest words a parent can hear when it is about their child. All of the parents with ASD kids I've talked to spent time denying Autism, many still do. I know my wife and I spent over 1 year chasing other names for what we saw in our son, sensory integration disorder, low tone, hyper sensitivity, PDD-NOS. Ultimately to treat him we had to accept the label of Autism or ASD-Autistic Spectrum Disorder. By accepting the label we found doctors and researchers who are helping kids like ours. Autism is a spectrum disorder, effecting children in different ways. Autism is polarizing, people argue about causes and cures, epidemic vs. better diagnostics, genetics vs. environment, acceptance vs. treatments, behavior modification vs. biomedical, vaccination vs. no vaccination... Autism is frustrating, your pediatrician patronizes you, your insurance company denies you, your family and neighbors tell you you're overreacting, your school system placates you, your child is suffering, you know it, and you don't have answers. Autism is hope. My son's autism has opened my eyes to a new world. A different world. A world where the smallest accomplishments are celebrated. Progress is measured and all things are possible. This blog is going to help me make sense of this world I hope it is useful for others as well.