Creating #Autism Awareness and Providing Support Through Honestly and Android
Gavin’s World
Gavin is our 12 year old little man. He loves anything to do with Lego’s and Hot Wheels. He is extremely creative and loves his family very much.
Gavin was diagnosed with Aspergers back in 2005. Since that time he has been diagnosed with several other health/mental health challenges that impact his daily life. Some of the challenges Gavin faces include:
Schizoaffective Disorder
PICA
Primary Immunodeficiency
Degenerative Neurological Disorder (as of yet unidentified)
PTSD
OCD
ADHD
Gavin has experienced continued regression since the age of 3 or 4. While is life is challenging, he never complains. We love him dearly and will continue to fight to help him.
One of the things that Gavin love to do is write. He has written several stories and we are working on getting him a laptop or netbook to he can better organize these stories and build his computer skills. Below are some of his stories.
Enjoy 
Mario Party 9: The adventure through two places (Game/Story Book)
Part 1
Part 2
Rob, I see a lot of families struggling to LIVE with autism. You have done a wonderful thing by actually giving Gavin a father. Those relationships are so important to all kids , especially children with autism who usually form the best bonds with their parents. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers that things continue to improve for your family. Keep doing what you're doing. I really like this site and I will check it often!
Thank you very much…..
Just discovered your blog through a friend on facebook. Love reading your blog, and sharing it with friends! I truly admire you and wife's strength!
-V. Jennings (San Jose, CA)
My 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder one year ago. Over a two week period she went from a typical child in a mainstream classroom with average grades to having sudden severe autistic symptoms. This regresssion occurred in May of 2010. She forgot the names of family members and pets, she forgot how to read and write, had toileting accidents, etc. Sometimes she would not speak at all. Previous IQ test results before the regression indicated an IQ of 93. After the regression, in September of 2010, her IQ was at 42. she is very aggressive with her younger sister to the point that we have to keep her separated from her sister at all times. Sometimes she has insomnia and is up all night, despite taking medications to help her sleep. She cries and has frequent rages, despite being on medication. You never know from day to day what type of day you will have with her. So we just take it day by day. I understand what you are going through and you will be in my prayers….
In the event that Anne (above) has subscribed to receive follow-up comments… Anne, you may want to look into PANDAS- it has sudden onset like you mention, and all of the symptoms you mention, and is related to an undiagnosed strep infection. (Sometimes the child will not even exhibit a sore throat, only behavioral and cognitive symptoms.) My daughter is one of the most severe cases that I know of, and is in remission (for 2 years now!) and is currently being treated for Lyme, as we feel that she has chronic Lyme congenitally, and this is what caused her autoimmune reaction to strep in the first place. There is a huge support network- just google PANDAS or P.A.N.D.A.S. + strep and you should come up with a lot of resources– we have been fighting to spread the word for the past year.
My recent post Candybar Trail Mix
absolutely critical advice…thank you for saying it …so many people do not know about this..I was going to ask doctor OZ to share this on his show as he has so many followers..so glad you said what you said …respectfully Michaela Lojet
[...] Gavin’s World [...]
I saw this awhile ago and just recently shared it with my 7-year-old who has Asperegers. He loves Mario games so he could relate to it and really enjoyed it. I was able to explain to him that Gavin has Aspergers like he does. It meant a lot to him! After the viewing he immediately wanted to start writing his own stories. He now has a large collection of stories that he wants me to make into books for him. (I volunteer at his school to type and bind books the kids write) The best part is that he use to hate to write and was really struggling with it at school. Now he looks forward to it! Thanks for sharing your story with us Gavin!
Thank you so much for sharing this! My son is nineteen now and this really brought me back. Gavin strikes me as a wonderful, charming boy, a testimony to his loving family!!