Coping with Autism

Sleep is a big issue for children (and parents) dealing with autism. Peter seems to have problems in this area more so than Nathan (although Nathan does too-- it's just not as bad). Last night, Peter wouldn't go to sleep. He refused to take a nap earlier in the day so I knew he was exhausted. Daddy went up twice to get him to go back to sleep and the third time out of the bed, I went up. I asked Peter what was wrong and, clear as day, he said "I want to sleep with Gabrielle." So I moved him into Gabrielle's room and let him get in bed with her but because it was different (and, of course, a majority of children with autism seem to have problems with change in routine) he again was having a hard time falling to sleep. And, of course, Gabrielle wanted him to stay because she hates the idea of sleeping by herself. We were quickly approaching midnight at this point and I was getting frustrated that he didn't want to leave Gabrielle but he wouldn't stay in bed ...

My husband went out last night and bought a new gate for Peter's room and as I readied the kids for bed, he tried to figure out the best way to use it. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, my husband is the modern American male and grew up watching too much television. He's often all thumbs when it comes to home improvement. He can, however, beat just about anyone, on almost any topic, when it comes to pop culture trivia. So as he struggled to figure the contraption out, I had to come to his aid. I grew up with a father who insisted that we know how to change a tire, check the oil, swing a hammer and know a Phillip's screwdriver from a common. After adjusting the gate, we discovered to our delight that it fit much tighter than the old one and Peter was at a loss as to how to scale it since it was also a few inches taller. Yippee! For the first night in about a week, we seem to have won the battle. However, the war wages on. Peter will get taller and in a few short month...