Shopping Autistic {Do other parents buy 7lbs. of ketchup at a time?}

So I went shopping today....ugh!  One of the awesome things about me working a regular job was that I got to miss out of fun stuff like grocery shopping but since the big change when I left health care & went full time at our studio I can't dodge that bullet anymore. Off to Sam's Club we headed today! Who knew that little grocery elves didn't stock our kitchen over night!?! It was my wife the whole time! As we walked the isles I started to realize that this place is 1.) A must visit for parents of special needs kids who only eat a limited variety of foods. 2.) Its flubbin' ridiculous, at least I thought it was!!

As I strolled through I found myself looking at things, making off handed sarcastic comments, then realizing that's something we need! 

• "7 pounds of fancy ketchup, what kind of person buys 7 pounds of ketchup!...well, shoot, we go through a sick amount of ketchup!"
• "6 pounds of peanut butter! What? Oh yeah...I'll just put that in the basket!"
• 72 pop-tarts!!! Really...72! Wait...3 kids eating pop-tarts for breakfast every morning, IF..IF they don't sneak a pop-tart as a snack or open the two pack & throw one away because when they open two 2 packs for 3 kids they can't think of anything to do with that 1 extra pop-tart than to throw it in the trash for some reason!! aaaahhhh!!! Anyway, at that rate they will last about...drum roll please... 3 & a half weeks!! 

$200 later I was informed that we really just got a "few" things & will be going back to the grocery store shortly because apparently my kids eat a 2005 Dodge Magnum full of food every couple of weeks! (Yes, that's how I'm measuring from now on! All that food filled up the back of the car so that's how I'm measuring now!) 

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So...this pic should get across the full scope of my life! If I was fancy...If I was an artist....If I hung the  photograph below in a gallery...It would be titled....PARENTHOOD

The Scene Of The Crime {When An Aspie's Hard Work Is Destroyed}

Okay, so I wanted to tell you about something but couldn't really bust out the camera during the moment it happened & lets just face it, I'm to much of a photographer to publish a blog post without pictures so forgive the lack of photos but read this anyway!!

If you read the blog then you know all about Jayden's favorite app PaperCraft that I posted about. Jayden's papercraft creations are pretty important to him but I had no idea! You know, just when you think you have a hold on the depth of autism that's when you get a slap in the face!

Jayden came to me while I sat at my desk last night with a devastated look on his face. Not an upset face, the "Just Shot Ol' Yeller" face! He said he needed to talk to me about something very serious in his room. I went in to find the scene of the crime! A brother Unnamed Suspect had been in Jayden's room & spilled a bottle of water on the desk, all over the papercraft figures. I immediately went into "Save The World Mode" trying to calm him down before the massive apocalyptic meltdown came on. I let him know that we could make more & I would help & I'm sure it was unintentional & anything else I could think of. Samantha, who had come in to help, & I both were sorely unprepared for what was about to come out of his mouth! With all my "Glass Half Full / Mr. Positivity" talk I think he may have thought I just wasn't understanding how big of a deal this was as his face was buried in his weighted blanket crying. "It's going to be okay, Jayden! We can overcome this & get through." He raised his head from the blanket, looked up at me with his massive blue tear filled eyes, & said words that I will never forget as long as I live! "You just don't understand! Those papercraft figures that were destroyed were like my sons!" Pardon my french but I almost lost my sh*t! I'm actually pretty proud of myself & how I kept a completely straight face, reassuring him that I understood how important they were & how much work went into them. When the tears were dry & he was headed off to the restroom to brush his teeth....that's when we both lost our composure! Really!! Like my sons!! It was like a scene from a bad movie! Maybe the single saddest & funnest moment in my life to date! I was a great dad for having so much empathy & compassion but then at the same time a horrible parent for finding the whole thing so freakin' funny! So I guess on the Good-Parent-O-Meter I'm zeroed out. Oh well!

Our New Web Show!!

 I thought it would be a cool thing to do a new video. We have done one or two in the past & people respond to them very well. It helped me a lot when we first started going through diagnosis to see other kids that were just like my son. So after we talked to him about it a bit he not only liked the idea but liked the idea of doing several. After hashing out some details on what to talk about. (Not to autism/aspergers heavy) he wanted to call it Around The World With Aspergers! I loved it! Below is our first video like this. A bit about what he thinks about having Asperger's; the good as well as the bad & a bit about one of his favorite subjects.....minecraft! Yeah, you other aspie parents feel my pain there right? yeah....minecraft but he loves it! There will be more to come with not only loads of talk about everything from Skylanders to Science but about autism related talk & maybe even go over some of the questions we get in our inbox from time to time. We hope you enjoy!

He's Cured! No More Aspergers!{DSM-5 Eliminates The Aspergers Diagnosis}

     So......Yeah......I get it, really I do! Autism is a tricky bitch to play cards with & you want to make sure you have her sized up before you call. I get it.  I read everything I could & as far as I can tell, for the moment anyway, no one has to run out and seek re-diagnosis under the new DSM. The DSM-5 will recognize Aspergers Syndrome as a lable no aspie is magically dubbed.....normal?....non-autistic?...un-aspergersy-ish?...you get my drift! As far as schools are concerned no one is really out & out talking about it. Its all sort of a 'Well, the new DSM5 is published in May so we will see after that what happens.' So what your saying is school lets out in May so you're going to think about it over the summer & let me know as I'm trying to enroll him orrrrr? I read about the new Autism overflow catch all that Asperger's & PPD-NOS was, called Social Communications Disorder. BUUUUUTTT there is nothing in place for that whole mess yet so if you fall into that lets hope that gets fixed ASAP before next school years IEP paperwork comes around because I can remember telling the school he has Aspergers & getting dumb looks so I can't event start to imagine what I'd get if I threw that at them.
     For the time being, my son still has aspergers & if bucked on the fact he has High Functioning Autism. The sad but true reality is you will probably be fine if you educate yourself on all that you can, speak with confidence, & have that 'I'm the parent of a kid who is smarter than the teacher but would also play in traffic if turned my back for a second & if you question me or try to pull services I will beat you down with a Bayblade Rip Cord' {anyone Else's life hell thanks to Bayblades? Yeah..} look in your eye.  But really, if someone bucks you before you know what the heck is going on just be confident & let them know that while Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis it is still a recognized label & it has been absorbed into the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis of which it was already a part of. So yes, my kid has High Functioning Autism. See, that sounds all legally & medical-ish right!?! That will keep 'em at bay for a smooth minute while you figure out what the heck to do! My master plan is to drop a line to the Doctor that diagnosed Jayden in the first place to get her opinion on the whole mess. I'm sure it will be okay & I will keep you posted on what happens. Believe me...LOTS more to come on this subject as the months go on.

DSM5 Cures Aspergers By Taking Away The Diagnosis {More Importantly, What Do I Call My Blog Now!?!}

Dear American Psychiatric Association,

     I just wanted to say 'Thanks! Thanks A lot!' I'm not saying thanks for causing head aches for thousands of families. I'm not saying thanks for potentially screwing thousands of little kids out of school & public services that they really need. Nope, I'm not even saying thanks for fixing 'Autism Epidemic by narrowing so that some kids don't meet them there by lowering the diagnosis rate. Putting to rest fears that somehow as Ma & Pa sleep they don't have to worry about an army of Evil Autistic kids amassing on the outskirts of town waiting to terrorize the suburbs by being loud in movie theatres, making the schools spend money to be able to handle special needs kids, having melt downs in the Dollar Store, & worst of all....expecting to be treated like humans instead of just staying home so you don't have to acknowledge they exist!!! Dun! Dum! Dum!...NOPE! I'm not thanking you for any of that awesomeness you have now imposed on us. I mean really what else was I doing, not like I have a kid with special needs or anything. What I wanted to thank you for is completely screwing me when it comes to the name of my blog!! Yeah! Now what!?! Adventures In Possibly High Functioning Autism but if not maybe Social Communication Disorder & if not that you're shit out of luck....it just doesn't have the same ring to it!! I'm just sayin!

Thanks,

Tom

According to FOX my autistic son has super powers! {So why are his shoes on the wrong feet?}

     Before I even start I have to say thanks so much for the over whelming response to my last blog about the changes to the DSM!  E-mails, messages, comments, Facebook 'Likes', & I even got a call from CNN.  Since the story in the New York Times broke the other day Autism/Asperger's has been on the front page of ever news site I've visited.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?  I'm not sure!  Nancy Grace even got on the air & blasted it as the complete wrong thing to do! 

     On to today!  The video on the left is from our ride home from school.  Jayden speaks very well most of the time but when he starts to get over loaded, like at school, he stutters & stammers alot. It's hard for him to even get two words out of his mouth.  Today I thought to pop out the iphone to get a short example & although today was apparently a very good day at school you can still get a taste of how it is.  This was a good day so you can only imagine how it is on a bad one, it's debilitating on those days.

     TOUCH. Need I say more? I'm not going to go all soap box autism dad on you right now because I didn't watch the first episode tonight but I mean come on, why do autistic kids or autistic people in general have to have super powers!?!  I'm not going to put my "Come On, Really!" stamp on it until I catch an episode myself but if I understand correctly we are looking at a mom who died in 9/11, a dad trying to connect with his non-verbal autistic son who sees the world in a way that allows him to see the future or something to that effect, & let the touching awesomeness ensue! Really? Okay, I'm going to watch it before I talk crap!  This show really isn't to far off my life, granted my wife is alive & well but right before I do anything at all Jayden tells me what I'm about to do. 

I'm cooking mac & cheese, Jayden walks in the kitchen & looks at the mac & cheese then looks at me....."Let me guess...Mac & Cheese for dinner?"



I've got a camera in my hand, my coat on, & the door open about to walk out. Me: Jayden, I'll be back in about an hour" Jayden: "Let me guess.... going to take some pictures?"



Yep! Scary!  I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we are out solving mysteries together! Thanks for reading & don't forget to click on the right of the page to "Follow" this blog!