My Family's Experience with Autism: Tired.....Oh, So Tired

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Tired.....Oh, So Tired

I thought this was done and over with. Since January and the twins starting their new schools, sleeping has been so much better around here. Then things changed.....

.....and it's not them (mostly). It's me. I've been waking up waaay to early (in the neighborhood of 4 or 4:30am) and have been unable to get back to sleep. Then, there's no time to go back to bed until after 10:30 and it takes 20-30 minutes to fall asleep. Then I'm up again at 4.

That's just not enough sleep, and it's starting to take it's toll. My patience is shot and I'm always finding myself doing a silent 10-count to prevent myself from saying or doing something that I'll later regret. And I'm having the hardest time staying awake in the afternoon after they get home from school. You'd think that would translate to being able to fall asleep at night, but, of course it doesn't.

Am I more stressed out about Simon than I realize? Am I worried about Daniel starting kindergarten? Am I overly-concerned about Rachel's recent sudden outbursts? Am I fretting about doing a good job taking care of Domino? Is there something else running through my mind that won't allow me to settle down?

Who knows.....but to paraphrase a friend's Facebook Status, "Sleep....Oh, where have you gone?"

No comments:

Post a Comment

A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)