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Now Reading: Why Be Normal? 13 Things That Are Untypical About Our Lives On Autism Avenue (w/ pics!)

Why Be Normal? 13 Things That Are Untypical About Our Lives On Autism Avenue (w/ pics!)

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(originally written & published on February 19, 2012)

We have an 8 year old son with severe/ classic non-verbal autism. He is our only child.  So we have untypical lives.  Here are 13 things that are normal/typical for us in our life on Autism Avenue, but not to most others.  Some may be things that parents of babies of toddlers find familiar, but not parents of neuro-typical 8 year old boys…

Do I really feel and live the “why be normal?” mantra. If you’ve been reading this page long enough you’ll know that’s not always the way I feel.  I’d love a typical/ normal lifestyle. But this is the hand we’ve been dealt so i say let’s make the best of it and find humor in the “not normal”, right?  If you can’t beat them, join them…  🙂

So here is is our story and I’m sticking to it…

1) We can’t leave hand soap (or any soap) out in our bathrooms because Kyle like to eat it. He’s really tested the concept of “non-toxic” on product labels!
When guests come over we have to instruct them to unhook the child proof latch below the bathroom sink and grab the soap from down there… and replace it and lock it up again, don’t forget! :-). We went thru a similar phase where we had to hide the toilet paper too cuz he liked to eat it or unravel it, but that phase has subsided…. for now

2) We normally change Kyles sheets every 2 weeks. And somehow every morning after we change the sheets Kyle has an accident & wets the bed and we have to re change the sheets we just changed yesterday…Oh and it’s the usually the only time he has an overnight pee accident. Twice a month, right after the fresh sheets were put on.

3) Up until a few months ago, we always had a big supply of size 5T Pull-Ups on hand.  And a big sale would send this daddy into a tizzy!

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4) We always have 10 boxes of microwave popcorn in Kyles cabinet in the kitchen. When there’s a 10 for $10 sale we get very excited!  And popcorn can be served as a supplement to breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Basically popcorn is an anytime food in this house.

5) We always have lots of baby food bananas on hand. Does Kyle love baby food bananas?  Not really…. But it’s how he takes his pills.

We can put a pill on a spoon with some baby food bananas and he will wolf it right down.

6) Kyle still sometimes needs to be strapped in to his seat when he eats.  He’s got some feeding issues and has had a history of LOSING quite a bit of weight. So sometimes it has to be done.

7) We’ve got a DVR full of Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, and Jacks Big Music Show.  Some are Kyles favorite episodes that we’ve saved from as far back as 2004. And I totally see Kyle still watching these when he’s 34 years old…

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8) He’s got a bookshelf full of the same toddler books.

Kyle’s been reading his same favorite books for YEARS and it’s very hard to get a new favorite into the mix. But he always rips and destroys his favs for his birthday or Christmas he’ll usually receive a gift from someone of new copies of his old favorites….

9) Kyle has an autism service dog. NOTHING typical about that!  🙂

You can read more about “Princess Paula” HERE

10) We still have child gates on rooms we don’t want Kyle in,

child locks on cabinets we don’t want him in, and most amazingly Kyle has NEVER been in our basement!  Basement is unfinished and has WAY too many dangerous things down there.  Basement door is ALWAYS locked…

11) Kyle likes to sit on the bathroom sink and drink the hot water from the sink. 

I would say that 60% of his liquid intake for the day comes this way. A few times a year in our downstairs bathroom he’ll sit a certain way and pull the main pipe out of the wall and they’ll be water all over the floor.  Autism Daddy is not the handiest daddy so I’ll just duct tape the crap out of it…  🙂

12) Kyle has a trampoline and a swing inside the house, in his playroom. 

We have quasi gym flooring in there as well.

Having a meltdown?  Go work it out by bouncing on a ball while bouncing on the treadmill…

13) Kyle isn’t too cool to want to be picked up and held. In fact he goes thru phases when he wants me to pick him up all the time.  He can be very huggy/kissy, probably more than your typical 8 year old.  But I’m not sure how I’ll be able to continue to pick him up when he’s a teenager and weighs ?? pounds.  I guess I should give up running and move towards weight training….

Those are the 13 that popped in my head right away on a Sunday morning at 5:45am while he was eating popcorn for breakfast and drinking water out of the sink.  But there are tons more, so maybe I’ll update this list periodically or come up with a new one from time to time….

What are your things that are normal for your asd household that would be considered untypical to most?
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Written by

Frank Campagna

I’m a 48 year old neurotypical dad with a 14 year old son with severe, non-verbal autism & epilepsy. I created this blog to rant about autism & epilepsy while celebrating my son who I affectionately call “the king” :-).


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56 People Replies to “Why Be Normal? 13 Things That Are Untypical About Our Lives On Autism Avenue (w/ pics!)”

  1. Anonymous

    My son loves to color but crayons are a preferred food source…

  2. Anonymous

    My babe is an eleven year old boy with ADHD and Autism ..I so relate to your posts ..God Bless your heart ..I look forward to more .We are not alone ,just seems like it at times !!!

  3. Anonymous

    Our 13 year old autistic son is the same way with the popcorn and the sink. He also love drinking soda from baby bottles!

  4. Anonymous

    What is it with soap? My son loves it too – especially Dove bars. He is better now than he used to be though. He also used to lick everything especially kitchen appliances and cars- we couldn't go through a parking lot without walking down the middle of the aisle because he would lick all the cars! Life without an exercise ball would be extreme torture for all of us. He used to love trampolines and swinging, but he doesn't anymore. Our Tivo broke – but we had saved tons of Sesame Street videos on it – now he gets his fix from youtube. You have to laugh or we would be crying all the time!

  5. Anonymous

    My (non-verbal) 2yr old son became afraid of eating just about all foods after the first time he got a stomach virus (he had three within months of each other -totally understandable), he will not let us brush his teeth though twice now I bribed him with the faucet water if I could brush his teeth and he let me brush his top front teeth –> yay!!!!, he will have a complete meltdown (which includes head banging) when any cartoon character on tv flies/floats in the air, he loves to throw sand and wood chips above his head (or any toy for that matter), will put just about anything in his mouth, he does not care for me reading to him so he usually takes the books away from me so he can look at the pictures, and using utensils is still a no-go with him… my son is a happy boy and I love him tons and he is slowly but surely showing improvements, his therapist and I will keep working with him : )

  6. 1) Our son loves Disney and Pixar. LOVES them we have to act out certain parts of every movie.
    2) If he poops in his pull-up he will walk up to you and lift his leg like a dog. lol!

    3) If you put his plate on the wrong spot when it's time to eat he gets very upset.

    4) He will wear clothes easily when we are out and about. But the second we're home those clothes come flying off!

    5) He goes streaking naked across our yard in front of neighbors at least twice a week. He knows how to unlock EVERYTHING and I have a second little one so it's not always easy to stop him. My neighbors have gotten a kick out of it, I am usually less than amused.

  7. God bless all the people who have uploaded old toddler videos to youtube. My son is 21 and he finds them all there. He too is typical non verbal with seizures.

  8. Anonymous

    1. We have to answer all questions. If we don't, he keeps asking over and over and louder and louder.
    2. He has to go to the bathroom to do number 2 before and after his bath. Always.
    3. He puts his clothes on in the same order everyday.
    4. He has acne problems and putting any medicine on his face is major. He screams in my face, "Ow that huts" He has an r omission on the word Hurt. I'm a gentle as I can be and I know it is not hurting him. He doesn't like the touching.
    5. His idea of a fun afternoon is driving for hours so that we can sit in the parking lot of a Walmart he has never been to while his dad goes in and makes a movie because he wants to see the inside but will not go through the automatic doors.
    6. He has a routine at bed time. Naked time while he takes his melatonin then 2 minutes of wait. One last trip to the bathroom. Back to bed and brush teeth. We tell him we love him and this is the only time he will say it back then I have to say the prayer and lights out
    7. There is a multitude of Christmas Carols and Old public domain songs that is played by a Mr. Christmas Carousel from the time he gets home until he goes to bed.
    8. He has a favorite toy call the Alphabert. He carries it with him everywhere except school.
    9. He can not make a decision about anything until he has spun the wheel from the Game of Life. He carries it everywhere too except at school.
    Those are just some of them the come into my head. There are also a lot more.

  9. We give our 7 yr old baby prunes with mineral oil every morning to help her poop…which occurs every 3rd or 4th day.
    Our princess sings jacks big music show songs all day in her own language. It's cute actually.

  10. tonja

    talking to the older girls the other night, & remembered how Pey, ASD, could listen to the Disney Christmas music DVD for hours & drive us all insane. We are past diapers, indoor tramp & bouncy ball (OT goddesses we have had), but we remember.
    We recently "rescued" a Sr Golden. She has been so good for Pey. She won't come down stairs in am until he gets her. They cuddle on couch while he plays DS or Ipad. She needed us to get healthy & her patience with him is incredible! no training, she cannot even sit on command, but she is there for him.

  11. aspiegurl

    I watched PBS kids until 15. I have books of all ages, but my mom likes to keep my little kid books. I read (mostly) the books whose age range includes 12 (start, middle or end. I'm 24

  12. aspiegurl

    We don't have an excess of breakable stuff around, but that's all that occurs to me. Unless there's stuff I don't know about, but I'm mild (aspie diagnosed at 4).

  13. i have bouncey balls an min tra,mp i use when fee;omg supper adhiyed

  14. I will try the banana baby food!… we have baby toys out constantly (which isnt so strange now that we have a baby too lol) we also have a trampoline inside and outside our house. I do a happy dance, sometimes literally, when there is a sale in size 6 nappies. I clear the shelf. He isnt coming out of them for a loooooong time! We have to Re paint bedroom nearly every month due to 'poo' art. And anytimes is food time. Long as he eats!

  15. I am right there with you but also add hand sanitizer

  16. Anonymous

    So funny most on the list apply at our home (no service dog or baby food). Sour cream and onion potato chips and diet green tea and every baby Einstein movie that we can get our hands on. Something normal to us is…we have to hide ALL of our socks. Our son is obsessed with pulling them apart – string by string! Awesome blog/page:)

  17. Deb Casey

    My son, Ben, is 34 and he still watches Dora the Explorer, anything on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, etc. We live with his pretend wife (Peggy – she has blond hair and blue eyes) and his 3 pretend children – Dora Evelyn who will be 10 tomorrow, the twins Mercedes Jaguar and Bentley Mazzerati – I think the twins are 6. He also has two pretend cats that are orange – Boots and Chloe. (Not sure why we have them – we have three real cats.)

    He and hisi little family live in his castle in Bentopia! He has a job – working 25 hours a week doing data entry, scanning and filing. He refuses to eat sandwiches – eating mainly pasta, hamburgers and hotdogs (no buns) and pizza. Tonight we are going to the Special Olympics banquet – hoping they are having pasta! Oh, and he loves to go to Cracker Barrel and eat their meatloaf dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, applesauce, biscuits with butter, ketchup for dipping, diet coke and water. and when his plate is clean he would like a hot fudge mug sundae with nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top. Yes, he orders this EVERY TIME we go there – and yes, we go there once a week.

    Oh, the things we do for our ASD kids!

  18. my 12 year old son still wants me to pick him up. luckily, he is so slight–but tall. only around 70 pounds but almost 5 feet tall.

  19. My daughter, now 16 loves Calliou and LIttle Bill. She will watch them over and over, in between episodes of Racheal Ray 30 minute meals. And she would totally let me carry her if she wasn't twice my size.

  20. Anonymous

    I used to wonder how I would lift my nonverbal severly autistic son, too, but as he grows you get used to it. my son is14 yrs old, about 120 pounds & is 5'9" (about 4 inches taller than me) & I can still lift him without too much trouble.

  21. Yep I do the banana baby food and buying multiples of the same favourite books. Also I keep the same Dora episodes on DVR and my mom has a trampoline for Gabi at her house in the living room. EVERYTHING is babyproofed and doorknob locks are superglued so she can't break them open. Alarms on windows and doors and cabinet locks are also superglued. Soap is also under the sink, otherwise it would be smeared everywhere and at least tasted. Everything is non-toxic and if not it goes in a cabinet that I need a step stool for. Not only that but she is still under 50 lbs so she gets strapped into a high chair so food doesn't get played with all over my apartment. She's a picky eater and pizza and little debbie cakes are staples in our household. The bathroom faucet gets the water turned off from underneath the sink so Gabi doesn't attempt to go swimming in the sink. <3 Jess

  22. We typically have the lap top playing one of Harry's favorite shows along with the tv in the living room playing another show and if I turn one of them off it is meltdown time. I have to strap him into his chair for dinner or he wont stay seated and it's hard enough to get him to eat as it is. I have bungee cords holding my cabinets shut and packing tape on the oven door and refrigerator door. The dresser in his room is backwards because he likes to take the drawers out and sit in them. all of our doors are locked at all times because he has no fear and will wander into the road. We also have baby gates across rooms that we don't want him in and the basement door is always latched shut. The one thing that I can say that is not a normal thing in most houses is Harry will chew, lick and suck on just about anything he can put in his mouth. One of his favorite things to bit on is a folding chair that I use during meal time but if not available he will chew on the table or dresser.

  23. Anonymous

    1. Food must be torn into bite size pieces – never cut.
    2. Learn to live with legos, blocks, and mousepads appearing in the most random places. My mousepad has frequently found its way into the dishwasher.
    3. Only put 1 bite on the tray at once. If more is in front of kid, it will ALL go on the floor.
    4. Learn to live on about 2 hours of sleep. The kid will jump on her crib next to your bed until about 4am and mama has to wake up at 6am.

  24. Kristin

    Eating issues are a constant problem around here. Our son lives on baby food in a pouch or pediasure. He can be seen eating a spinach, pea, and pear blend for breakfast often. He will ONLY eat it out of the pouch though. If the same thing is in a bowl it is no longer edible.

  25. rene o'brien-peloquin

    WOW…. my husband and I are in the same boat. Our son, Nelson will be 10 in June and has been diagnosed with Classic Autism (hand flapping, super stimmy, non-verbal). The thing with the soap…. he doesn't eat it but I've gone thru 6 bottles in one week. He likes to pour things…all kinds of liquid…. one afternoon, while helping my daughter with her homework, he snuck outside (by pulling the alarm off the door, climbed up on the shelf where my husband keeps the car supplies and ended up taking a bath in motor oil (his hair was greasy for 4 days)….. and the water….. he likes to get up in the middle of the night and flood the kitchen. We've now had to shut off the valve under the sink…. 🙂

  26. Anonymous

    until recently it was two of the 3 kids sleeping with mom – finally I just couldn't do it any more (he's 9, she is 5) – now (imagine a time lapse where the tears and struggles, head banging, screaming, and many many sleepless nights have magically passed) they have bunk beds, thank goodness that works for now! years before it was a family bed, a nest on the floor, whatever worked. sleep is a major, major issue in our lives and it's all about getting that just right, forget normal! Tracy

  27. mine turns 10 in a few weeks and i still have to make his "milky" (formula in a baby bottle) up to 4 times a day as he wont eat most foods due to texture and sensory issues, but it's more like he never made the transition to solids 🙁 although I've stopped caring about the stares and whispers while in the supermarket while he is repeating every 30 seconds don't forget my milky mum, until he see's it in the trolley.
    he still grabs and rubs tags off clothing or pillow case, as way of calming down when stressed, has done this since he was a baby and I buy tags to keep on me encase he cant find one or loses one from his tops which is often, as they are not exactly designed for being pulled at.
    he is also obsessed with water but doesn't drink it ever. say's it taste like poison but will leave taps running all the time so we follow him everywhere to ensure they are turned off as flooding inside is never fun.
    and yes the same movies he watched as i infant, (Godzilla, only there is like 30 of them) his older brother used to watch them and they just stuck with Carlos and everything in his world is Godzilla or mothra lol, so i explain to people if you want to engage verbally with Carlos it's going to be about this and only this…. spend most of my time translating and explaining to people while Carlos just goes off in his own "Godzilla themed world" the whole time while they are trying to be polite and look interested i'm just Happy that my non verbal child is finally talking after 7 years of complete silence. 🙂

  28. Anonymous

    My son also tears up his books and every piece of paper in the house he can find, so I routinely hide all important paperwork and bills. We have a lock on the outside of many doors in the house so that he can focus in one room and so I dont find myself following his every step all day long. The most important one is on the outside of the bathroom door, he adores floating my hairbrushes in the toilet LOL. We also keep all medicines and cleaning products in the latched bathroom cabinets. Double safety win!! 🙂

  29. Anonymous

    We also have popcorn as a necessity in our house. Our son 9 yrs has a very poor diet. However just recently he has become obsessed with kicking a soccer ball. I've managed to get a multivitamin pill into him by call it a "strong soccer pill". So thats a huge relief. We have loads of quirky rituals in our house to keep things calm, which would so seem odd to others.

  30. Anonymous

    Same in just about every way including the soap AD. Single autism Dad

  31. I let my 4 year old Autistic son walk on our kitchen counters and tables. Being up high calms him. Most people judge… You choose your battles in order to keep your sanity and theirs.

    1. Amen, Bethany! We do the same thing here! "Up high" is a happy place for our son.

  32. Jaedon needs all the doors locked, except the door to his bedroom. We all walk around with a generous supply of door keys in pockets, and guests have to be given keys to use the bathroom (no urgent situations please!). Guests often go home with our keys. Jaedon also beleives everything, clothes, books, toys that are in his room are to be thrown down the stairs. We often have a clump of clothes and other such at teh foot of the stairs, and everything that is light enough to be moved in his room is locked into another room, including his clothes! Fun in the house!

  33. Jennifer Shanahan

    We use applesauce for my son's pills so I can totally relate to that one. Also we have to HIDe any type of bread or cereal that we have because Chris will take a whole loaf or bag of rolls or donuts or box of cereal up to his room and eat the WHOLE thing. He LOVES bread! I have to move the hiding place every so often because eventually he finds it. My kids are always coming up with creative place to hide the bread!

  34. Anonymous

    Our son who is now 11 went through the pica phase and isn't doing that so much.He is nonverbal, but has like 95% receptive language, which is awesome. The only weird thing he does is goes to the freezer, ( if the gates left open, oops) and gets out ice cream and Popsicles in the morning.I figured I'm gonna pick my battles because he is such a healthy eater it's crazy. He loves all fruits and veggies, plus dairy and other healthy things so I don't mind if he eats a treat once in a while. He takes guanfacone for sleep, since melatonin doesnet work for him. That tend to keep him sleepin through the night and has since three years old.It's exhausting enough without having a normal amou tof sleep. NICO loves to spin on his carpet swing but has got to big for it. He can trip around on his trike which makes him quite happy. Otherw

  35. Sandi - PDD Mom

    Your blog puts a smile on my face. While we are not dealing with the same intensity of issues as our PDD-NOS daughter, I relate to some. She eats basically 5 things and I am sneaking baby food into them as much as I can. She has a closet full of clothes but will lose her mind if she cannot wear her favorite pink shirt everyday. I try to get it in the wash every other day. I say she can wear her regular clothes in the morning to school, and during quite time, she can put on the pink one. It's a nice balance that she agrees to. She is, without a doubt, the most amazing person in the world to me and I've learned a great deal from this beautiful 3 year old. You and your wife a great parents!

  36. LOL I wish my little boy unraveled toilet paper and ate soap. Unfortunately, like his Daddy, he likes the water. Now, I draw the line at the beach, but he's totally content with CLIMBING INTO THE TOILET!!

    So know, our bathroom is also on lockdown. I usually have to put weights on the toilet lid to keep him out.

    Never a dull day 'round here!

  37. My son has Aspergers…but he used to eat my cotton balls. I would have to hide them. He said they tasted like fluffy clouds. 🙂 And how would we know what clouds taste like?

  38. Tanis

    Although it isn't as severe, many of these are rather familiar. If we ever run out of popcorn we are in big trouble. I buy the biggest box I can find. We also have a closet full of toys that we aren't allowed to get rid of and shelves full of books that are toddler style. I love reading your blogs!

  39. I love reading your blogs I keep reminding my husband to add it. Our 4 year old son Garrett has PDD and yes just like you our breakfast choice was popcorn this morning too (smartfood of course)We try to keep a good stock of popcorn of any kind in the house especially the one mentioned above. I have just about given up on trying to keep the kids room clean, we have a typical 5 year old boy as well and he usually gets stuck trying to help us clean up the explosion that Garrett has made. Garrett also has a shelf of books that are his favorite and are kept where he can get them the rest we keep out of reach. There are many a day that I wish I had a trampoline and I am sure that my neighbors do too due to the fact that Garrett jumps constantly and I know they don't like hearing him at 7 am jumping on the hardwood floors in front of his TV. I am happy to say that we do not have many meltdowns as of this point Garrett is a very laid back and happy loving little boy and I would not change him for the world he is my Hero!!!!

  40. Sounds pretty familiar. Except we can't keep any balls in the house. Nathan pokes something, anything, into them to pop them. Even if he loves them.

  41. My son does the soap and paper eating thing too. It's not all the time but it happens from time to time. We have had to replace our toilet 2 times and remove objects from it over 15 times, when he was younger. My son self-talks non stop ALL DAY he isn't the easiest to understand, but we are grateful for his speech. However, he seems to have to levels of volume loud and louder and he is always making some kind of sound. Every. Waking. Moment. He doesn't sleep well either. I have been living on an average of 3 hours of sleep each night for the last 13 years. He has an extensive DVD collection of Thomas the train, veggie tales, Wallace and grommet, Barney, mickey mouse, Tom and jerry, scooby doo, lots of Disney, and dream works movies. Usually he will watch a small part of a video over and over again, until we make him stop. When he was young it was all sesame street. We would even song him the songs to help calm him when he got upset , or we were at a doctor's office. Now he is very ANTI sesame street. His two younger brothers didn't get to watch it at all. Also he is obsessed with logos. All logos, from shopping bags to brochures, production companies on the back of DVD's . He also loves previews on DVDs more than the actual movie. And he still watches preschool programming at the age of 13.

    1. Angelrae

      We use melatonin for sleep. Ask the doctor. My 11 yr old takes 6mg, but he is 170 lbs. You can get chewable melatonin online at iHerb.com.

    2. Mommanap

      Wow TamS it sounds like you stepped right out of my house with my Sally boy! As I am typing this I am listening to the same Disney Chanel intro on his iPad for the 20th time! And somehow he keeps getting on YouTube to watch the same fresh video of blues clues cursing. And is now repeating what he thinks is "rock you!". Sally boy repeats episodes of shows/ DVD intros, self-talks All day long. And his diet is soooo poor. He looks sickly with the circles under his eyes. Carbs are his BFF! I have 3 boys and Sally boy is my middle and I am now having to explain to my older sons friends why Sally boy is doing what he's doing or why I am changing a 5 and a half yr olds diaper. So I'm pretty sure my sons friends notice our not so typical house. Luckily he has shied away from the eating every non edible item. And his sleeping patterns, well they suck! And Salvatore to has only 2volumes, loud and louder so when he's up, we are all up! But as non- typical our household is it is our family and I love my boys more then life itself, we may be quirky but we are nothing shy of AWESOME! Well at least in our household we think we are, screw the typical households that don't agree! Lol

  42. My little man eats every thing. All the wooden tables, chairs and even the stairs have his teeth marks. He also only eats sandwiches with cheese and ham spread or jam. Chicken nuggets and sausages are his only meats.
    If anyone knows how to keep a very tall 4 yr old in his seat belt can you please Give me hints. Its a very big issue ATM!

    1. Anonymous

      I have a vest and tether for my eight year old and it is a lifesaver

    2. Anonymous

      There is a place called United Seating and Mobility that I called for my grandson. They are going to help fit our grandson with a safe device. He is also 4 and we cannot keep him in his carseat. They are going to work with Easter Seals. When he was first diagnosed with autism they told us we could get a harness that is for the car it buckles in the back of the child and hooks onto a tether in your car.

      They say it takes a village to raise a child. I help my daughter alot with her son, she is a single mom raising 3 children. The middle child has autism. He is 4 and his sister soon to be 3, it's about like having triplets when it comes to those two.

    3. http://www.perfectlysafe.com/92205-bucklealert.html This lock is very inexpensive and works very well. My son was not able to unlock his seat belt.

    4. We had looked into seat belt locks when our son was younger, but we never ended up getting them. They were pricey and I was afraid what would happen in the event of a accident… We just struggled through it taking away things that were important to him until he got it. Such as going to the store for a new DVD. If he unbuckle the belt at any point before it was ok, then we would turn around and go home. if he did it on the way home. Then he didn't get to watch the DVD. The whole time explaining why seatbelt were important and that he had to wear it. It didn't take long for him to understand.
      We did twist the bottom connector of his 5 point harness of his car seat so the button to push to open it was facing his body to make it harder for him to open.

  43. I've considered weight training myself.;-) We have enough toys for a small daycare, but 1 child, who's very picky about what toys she'll play with. I guess my husband & I keep buying new ones thinking that maybe she'll like it so much that it will spark something that will cause progress. That make sense?

    1. I've just gave a whole pile of toys to charity. My son just loved to spread them all over the floor then scream that they "dirty". Hate to think about the amount of money I've wasted.

  44. I can't believe how many things we have in common:

    baby food bananas…check
    same toddler books…check
    trampoline………..check
    locks on cabinets….check

    things I want:
    service dog…would LOVE to have one

    1. Mel

      Two Aspire boys here …age 17 and 8 and yep…..NO SLEEP!

    2. Anonymous

      I have 3 Aspergers Boys, and the one thing that is normal in our house is NO SLEEP! Excellent Blog. xx

    3. Anonymous

      1. Jack hates alarm clocks we turn our alarm clocks around or just palin hide them! we finally just started using the ones on our cell phones!!(he hates the noise they make)2.We always have some orange chips on hand(doritos) its the only kind he'll eat as long as they're shaped perfectly! 3. He sits on the middle couch cushion and NOTHING can touch it or be around him, this is where he likes to rock and bounce while watching tv:)…the list goes on….:) Thanks for sharing your story , hearing ti makes ours seem "normal" 🙂