Last night on my Autism Daddy Facebook Page I opened up the
floor for all of my followers to ask me simple yes/no type questions. This was a
chance for y’all to ask me all those things you’ve been dying to know about me,
wifey, and Kyle.
It was a lot of fun and I answered tons of questions, but
with the way FB comments work it got very unwieldy and out of hand very
quickly.
So below, for your reading pleasure, I’m going to repost all
the questions from FB along with my answers.
And if you have any other “simple” questions for
me please ask them in the comments below this blog post and I’ll try to respond
directly to your comment as quickly as humanly possible.
I know I normally don’t always respond as much or as quickly
as I should to comments / questions on FB & the blog. I wrote about the
reason why
HERE. But this time I promise to respond as much as possible.
Ok, without further ado, here are the 31 questions.
1) Does the
stimmimg drive you mad?
Depends on the stim…, but yes many do…
2) Do you love
your life?
4 days out of every week yes, 3 days no… 🙂
3) Can you
always tell the difference between behavior that is a result of autism, and
normal childhood behavior?
Nope
4) Did you
decide not to have more children out of concern that there is a genetic link to
autism?
YES , I wrote about that
HERE
5) Does Kyle do
any therapies?
YES
6) Does the
autism ever “spoil the mood”?
YES, autism ruins the mood a lot around here… ☺
7) Does it ever
get any easier? (from an exhausted, emotionally destroyed and overwhelmed mom
of a 2.5 year old on the severe end of the spectrum)
Yes it gets easier… Then harder, then easier
8) Does your
wife ever come on the blog?
Yes my wife reads the blog and FB page and even comments
every once in a while.
9) Does Kyle toe
walk?
Yes, sometimes.
10) Have you ever
fantasized about Princess Leia in the gold bikini?
Yes of course!
11) Do you have
any other pets besides Paula?
Nope, just Princess Paula.
You can read more about Paula
HERE
12) Do you ever
day dream about what your life would be like without Autism?
Yes I do.
13) How much guilt
do you have about not doing enough for your child?
Lots of guilt.
14) Do you realize
that all of us women have a secret crush on you???!!!
(blushing) Yes… ☺
15) Has kyle ever
been suspended for aggressive behaviors at school?
No, not for aggression.
He was thrown out for holding his breath too much. Read about that
HERE.
16) Does your wife
get jealous of all the time you spend on here?
Jealous, no. Annoyed,
maybe. ☺
17) If you could
cure just Kyle of one thing, autism or epilepsy, which would you choose?
I’d cure the autism over the epilepsy every day of the week.
18) Do you listen
to Howard Stern?
I LOVE Howard!
19) Did your son
ever smear poop?
He hasn’t gone thru a poop smearing phase… yet…
20) Has kyle ever seen
you have sex?
No…
21) Have you ever
had any dreams where Kyle could talk?
Nope
22) Have you ever
considered Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment to treat the autism sypmtoms and
epilepsy?
We tried the HBOT years ago, before the seizures and del it
did nothing for the autism… and is way too expensive to try again… but the
seizures have been better lately…
23) Do you wonder
what Kyle will be like when he gets older and if it will get easier or more
difficult?…
Yes I wonder and I expect things will get more difficult
24) Do u think pot
should be legalized?
Yes!
25) Do you watch
Touch?
No
26) Do you ever
purposely take extra time to get home, so you can have a longer break from the
craziness?
YES!! Before my antidepressants i used to do that a lot…
not as much anymore… but some days, yes
27) Are you young?
You guys seem young with all you do with him. Lots of energy. I used to be like
that!
I’m 42 years young… but in my brain i think I’m about
25…
28) Do you have a
special needs trust or will in place?…
Yes a will and a special needs trust. I wrote about that
HERE
29) Have you ever
been to a dan dr.?
Yes… we spent 3 years trying lots of diffeent dan dr stuff
with no improvements… we are taking a dan dr break right now… we may go
back some day…but for now a nice break
30) Does Paula
sleep with King Kyle?
Yes
31) Do you think
it is harder to have a non verbal child ….or a child that has so many words
but cant communicate at all … ?
As a parent of a non verbal child of course i think non
verbal is harder…. i just want to hear my kid talk… just once!
That’s all I answered last night. So now, it’s your turn. Any more questions for me?
🙂
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Follow-up to question #4: So are the "four days you love your life" Tuesday through Friday? :)
Ha ha :)
No I just meant sometimes I love my life, sometimes I don't but the love times outweigh the nonlove
Knowing how hard it is to care for one special needs kid, what advice would you give to parents with multiple special kids? And how long has Kyle been taking melatonin for?
Do you ever find it hard to be friends with a parent of a neuro typical child?
Not hard but lately we have more fun with other autism parents...
I have a couple questions
1. Do you ever wish Kyle didn't have autism?
2. Are you jealous of other neurotypical families?
3. Are you ashamed to bring Kyle to normal activities?
1 yes
2 yes
3 not ashamed, but we pick and choose our battles of which normal activities to do
Would you ever consider 'outing' yourself fully and letting your readers know exactly who you are, or would that be too much spotlight or overwhelming?
I'll out myself when I write a book or when the movie version comes out. Basically I'll out myself if it involves a big payday for ol ad. Otherwise I'm staying in the closet. :)
I love reading all these! You have a fantastic sense of humor!!!
Kathy
What is a dan Dr? I'm a single mom to almost 3 year old boy/girl twins & my son is on the spectrum. We are new to this and appreciate your knowledge & advice. Thank you for your boldness in willing to share what you all go through. You have been an inspiration
Here's some info on DAN doctors.
http://autism.about.com/od/alternativetreatmens/f/dandoc.htm
I love this! I love this! Great idea. I love "Do you find it hard to friends with parents of NT child?" Sometimes I do, and I have an NT child too!
When you and the wife go out for your "selfish" time (Which is awesome I do it as well lol) what are your cocktails of choice?
Beer for me and Malibu on the rocks for wifey
Hi AD love your work! I've just started on those magic white pills :-) so far much better than ssri's. My question, have you had a problem with insomnia?
I think in the beginning I did a little. I had to watch my caffiene intake along with the wellbutrin but after a while it settles in nicely.
Glad it seems to be helping you!
Does Kyle sleep through the night (by himself)and is going to bed an easy thing? What is his bedtime routine? We have tried Melatonin but I was finding that my 4yr old daughter would wake more when taking it. Since she started school it has gotten better but she often wakes screaming/crying and will only go back to sleep with me. Sometimes we are up for a few hours. We have started letting her play with my andriod phone in bed til she falls asleep. (of course me next to her) (hoping to get an ipad but with a husband who is on diability with a broken back and me at home taking care of things and two other young kids one of which may also get an autism Rx things are beyond tight) Anyways just looking for some tips on getting some extra zzz's. Thanks......Vall.....p.s. Love your page and attitude you have a beautiful family!
yes he sleeps thru the night... he went thru stretches where the melatonin would only work for a few hrs and he'd be up at 3am, but we continually tweak the dose and it + other meds he takes for seizures have him sleeping 10+ hours a night lately!
My son has some words, but has no communication skills. Most of what he says doesn't have anything to do with the here and now. Mostly things that are circling in his head from any earlier experience (I think). So he screams/yells ALOT. Wether he's happy, sad, mad, whatever. I've seen some videos of Kyle "eeeing" is that all that he says or does he also scream/yell?
no real screaming or yelling.... just eee-ing and other related sounds... he's been pretty mild mannered the past few months (knocks on wood)