6th Grade Here We Come! {Middle School Vs. Autism}

Wow! The last bit of school was great, the summer was even better, & as I came to the realization that I was about to have a 6th grader this week I did several things. 1st. Melt Into A Puddle Of Dad Sludge  2nd. I put myself back together thanks to the nice people at Blue Bell :) 3rd. I decided it was about time to jump back to the blog! That's when I realized that I hadn't posted, other than small social media posts, since march! Wow!

Things have been good! We took the summer head on with the boys first trip to my favorite place on earth, Colorado! Pikes peak was below freezing, hiking in the Rock Mountain National Park, & having snowball fights in the middle of summer were just a few of the things we did. You can see some highlights from our trip on our photography blog if it tickles your fancy! I think I've just about got my wife convinced that if I can market our studio in CO a bit & book enough weddings as well as portrait sessions we may try to start spending a month or two in the summer there. We'll cross our fingers.

Like I said, 6th grade! How did this happen? I remember him being born, taking a first step, & then BAM here we are. Don't even get me started on the other two boys, Zion (with an anxiety disorder & MERLD) started the 3rd grade & Deano (Completely painfully NT to the bone) starts 1st grade. This summer has been so amazing, it was like we took a vacation from Autism! Granted I know we still did the same things we always do; routines, de-stressing, all of our autism adaptations. The difference this summer was it was all normal for us, no big hiccups or hurdles! We just rolled through. It was great! That's why I think it was even more scarier than I thought it was going to be when it was time to snap back to the real wold & start gearing up for middle school. All of a sudden I was all 'BACK TO THE WAR ROOM' starting to plan strategies for the transition & digging out my big boy panties to make sure we are ready to go to bat for the kid. 

When we heard that the orientation was a 'Drop off the kids, parents aren't welcome till the end of the day' style thing I went into 'Its okay, Its okay, I'll just talk it out' mode but when I couldn't get ahold of anyone to talk to I escalated to Dad-Con 4. My wife put it out on Facebook & what happened? The teachers, staff, & principal from the elementary school stepped up (a lot of them are on our Facebook) to give support as well as advice. The principal even made a call to the middle school personally to talk to them about Jayden & to make sure someone gave me a call to talk about him! It doesn't get any better than that. She really went above & beyond, I don't know what we would do with out such an amazing set of advocates in our corner! I know not everyone has that so I'm being mindful to stay thankful. 

He came from the first day excited. The fact that he has science the first hour of the day & is working on picking what instrument he wants to play in the band is great. We are currently deciding between the xylophone & the snare drum so that should be… interesting… yeah, that's the word I'll use! 

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to keep up to date on Facebook.

I love that this photo captures the boys 100% Zion makes a goofy face (his classic defense mechanism), Jayden makes not a drop of eye contact, & Dean is just as A-Typical as you can get!!

Respect The Pouch! {Children? Or Evil Geniuses?}



     I love my kids, don't get me wrong, but over the years I have been duped by these little monsters so many times that after this afternoon I'm starting to formulate a hypothesis... Just Children? or EVIL GENIUSES!! Dun Dun Dun!!

   Case In Point:

Mom leaves, as is usually the case when we have what has now come to be called a Dad-astrophe. As I walk through the kitchen after getting everyone fed & full I see a Caprisun Juice Pouch on the floor by the trash can.  Jayden looks at me & says "Daddy! Respect the pouch!" So in true dad fashion I smile & STOMP!!!..... IT WAS FULL!! Strawberry Kiwi all over the place. Did he know it was full?  Did HE put it there & lay in wait for the chump {ME} to stroll by!?! Do I get mad at him? Am I child as well that should act like an adult & then these things wouldn't happen!?!

     Well, on a different note, we made it through Jayden's first week of 3rd grade! So far so good but since school started on Wed. we have really only made it three days but who's counting.  Another year in public school make me want to throw up a little just thinking about it & in our small town in Oklahoma, where last year they told us after we notified them he had Asperger's Syndrome a form of Autism that we would "just need to bring his medicine into the office for that", I am as ready as I think you can be to play the three ring circus that is public school. 
     Today I took the boys to the store so we could pick up a few things.  In the freezer section I could hear Jayden behind me saying "It's Cold, It's Cold, It's Cold, It's Cold" as I looked. When I finally looked over my shoulder at him I pulled out my phone to catch a little of what I saw. This is something I have been trying with my 5 year old, Zion, when he has meltdowns. Zion has GAD & MRELD. Why you ask? Why record these little things? I'm not sure other than maybe showing a friend or you all reading this to get a take on it sometimes. I think that's why alot of parents I've had contact with do it, to show & get input that you kid isn't the only one who does this or has an issue with some things. For the longest time I had no idea other kids would start to randomly twirl their fingers in the air! All of a sudden someone showed me a video of an autistic boy doing it & BAM! "Daddy, I only eat my sandwiches in triangles!" then read a blog or watch a YouTube video & see once again, we aren't the only family dealing with the same thing! Kinda nice sometimes.

Autistic, Aspie, Evil Genius, & So Damn Cute!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

     I'm not sure where YOU are right now but here in Oklahoma today my car said it was 118 degrees outside!  We did venture out for a short second to check out the egg + sidewalk = cooked egg  that you always hear about on the new...it worked, kind of, but I wouldn't eat it!
     I've started a new off shoot of the blog I'm calling Sh*t My Aspie Says! I will have a form where others can submit their stories, quotes, & off the wall funnies that seem to always come along with having a kid on the specturm!! Take a look, hope you enjoy!

Irregularly Regular {Adventures in Anxiety}

4th Of July! {It's okay, I'm a medic!}
{I can fix him after the explosion!}

     Is it just Oklahoma or is weeks straight of 100 degree temps making everyone stay home with the blinds shut & the AC cranked up!  I found the picture over there <----- from the 4th of July.  Even then it was in the high 90's but now everytime I get in the car it reads 106, 109, 113!  At ten o'clock tonight it was still 96 degrees, yikes!  Needless to say we have been home bodies. Needless to say the kids are stir crazy.  Needless to say at the end of the day when they kids head to bed wine corks get popped, candy bars get removed from the hiding spot behind the bread box on top of the fridge, & some serious mom and dad issues get worked out via Tetris Party on Wii. 
     If you are a reader you know Zion {5 years old} was just diagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder as well as Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder.  We have been working to change A LOT of the way we live our life to try and really help him now that we know how.  We did the same thing after Jayden got his Asperger's Merit Badge.  Our main thing right now is trying to figure out what to do therapy wise.  Obviously we are working on getting the speech therapy up & running but this kid has meltdowns.  No, wait, this kid has breakdowns, no wait, this kid has...you get my point!  We have been told that CBT would be good for him but where to start is like how to start building the Sphinx with Lego's! Suggestions!?! Ideas!?!  Life Preservers!?! All that jazz aside, life is pretty good over all.  Some exciting things are coming up, so stay tuned to read about a new Autism Project I'll be working on! Thanks for reading!
     P.S. I hope you like the new blog!! I thought I liked the blue one with ships but maybe it's just me but it just didn't fit! Anyway, hope you like the change! Thanks for reading!
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What happens when you leave dad home with the kids? {ERs, Magnets, & X-Rays}

     When mom heads out to get her hair done & run some errands that means I'm in charge! Man of the house, mister mom, head which-wayer, & lead idiot of the Hibben Tibe! In the past I may have had... we will call them "Parenting Fails" for lack of a better term. Jayden has Asperger's, let him play video games unmonitored for to long & he will pee on himself instead of stopping to get up to go to the restroom. Zion has anxiety & MRELD, sometimes he does things & we have no idea why! Sock in the oven & turn the oven on, check! Iron plugged in so it catches something on fire, check! (Yeah, all times when mom wasn't home & dad was in charge! Lets just say I've learned hard lessons over the years) Dean, the "Normal One"! if you can call a kid that came from my gene pool "Normal". As you can see from the photo to the left has had his own chapter added to the book of "Parenting Fails By Tom"
     Jayden got some large super magnets from the Oklahoma Science Museum when we went with his class. All three boys have played with them for a few months now with no problem! Well, the other day when mom left we officially had our problem. I could hear Deano throwing one of the magnets up against the door & laughing like crazy when it stuck. I had done the first round of dad parenting, meaning I yelled "Deano, stop throwing that magnet! Your going to break something!!" from the front room. Apparently after tossing it got to easy Deano got the bright idea that he should put it in his mouth & spit it to the door & let it stick. (No I didn't know he was doing it! I'm not that bad!) About that time he came running into the front room holding his throat yelling "I swallowed the magnet! I swallowed the magnet!!" A trip to the ER later we got our $900 bill worth of medical knowledge..."He'll Poop It Out!" Another lesson learned!

Really!? Two Kids With Special Needs!? {Full Contact Special Needs Parenting}

First Day Of School

When we left the doctor's office last week after the 5+ hours of talking, sitting, waiting, & the unbelievable amount of paperwork I didn't feel any closer to knowing what was going on in my 5 year old's head. After leaving Jayden's appointment we pretty much knew what was to come & after three weeks we had it on paper in front of us. With Zion it was very different! With the meltdowns, the selective mutism, the rituals, & all the other ticks that make up this enigma of a kid I just didn't know what to think & to be honest with you it really didn't even seem like the doctor did either!

Once we got back to the office the next week we sat down & waited for...who freakin' knows what! Some areas he was tested in were really low, some average, & how do you test a kid successfully when the poor lady spent the first hour & a half just trying to get him to open up & say one word to her! After she got him to open up a bit he talked with her & she was able to get a good assessment. What we came out with was....drum roll please....Generalized Anxiety Disorder & Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder. I mean really, what the heck is that anyway! The best I could do was to flip-flop the Receptive-Expressive part so I could abbreviate it MERLD & say Zion had just been MERLD by the doctor! For the most part that's just how I roll! Stressed? Confused? Make fun of the whole situation, that will make it better! :)

Hanging Our In Our Photography Studio!

After reading the 15 page report & reading up on MRELD(the real acronym) I started to understand & see why Zion does some of the things he does. This kid can cut off his arm & be fine but if you don't blow him kisses he is shaking & screaming unable to control himself. From the time he was a baby of about 3 or 4 months old he has had meltdowns at the drop of a hat. Staying up til 5AM trying to calm him from a non-stop screaming fit. As he got older we would be asleep & in would walk Zion wide awake only sleeping an hour or less a night. We are constantly getting more set & strict in our routine & that helps so much for both but if you throw a monkey wrench in that in any way the whole house comes falling down! I'm happy we know whats going on now & while we already have a set of things we do to try & make life chill & workable, we are pretty much changing/re-working the way we do EVERYTHING to try and find a balance between Asperger's - Anxiety - & Parental Sanity! We can now start some speech therapy for him. Has anyone ever done any kind of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or any kind of behavioral therapy for anxiety. Or ANY suggestions you all might have for kiddos with severe anxiety we would love to hear them!
So, this starts a new chapter in our life! All lumped into Adventures in Aspergers, why? Because a second blog called Adventures In Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder just doesn't have the same ring to it!