The End of an Era and New Beginnings

Charlie had his very last day of preschool today.  Ever.  And it finally hit me tonight.  He has been going to preschool since he was 3 years old.  Since he qualified for special education services due to developmental delay he was able to start early and we took that opportunity.  We didn't want him to be behind.  Looking back I'm not sure how I held it all together.  He was so little, just a babe.  And of course- Tank was with him while he waited for the bus.

A boy & his dog

Getting off the bus on his 1st day with a big smile

And he's had the same special ed. preschool teacher from the start, Ms. Ruthie.  She helped us when no one else thought there was a reason for help.  She has helped Charlie, and our family, in countless ways over the years and we couldn't be more grateful.  She has help Charlie overcome obstacles, learn new (and sometimes difficult) tasks, taken him on play dates (and given mom & dad some respite), given him a comfort zone to be himself, always- ALWAYS-has a smile and a hug for him, cares for him like her own, has advocated for his needs, given him confidence, shown him patience, and has loved him whole heartedly the entire way.  I'm not really sure where we'd be without her.  She's simply amazing.  She has become a very important person to our family, one we surely won't forget. 

Thank you Ruthie Bailey-Holm.  You have no idea the impact you've made on our son.  Our whole family for that matter.  You are truly an amazing person with a heart of gold.  

Quirks

Over this long weekend together I tried to document as many instances of Charlie's Autism "quirks" as I could.  This last week was a particularly difficult one with many meltdown's, tons of disregulation, destruction and sleep disruption.  Most times we can describe Charlie's behavior to others and they can't even imagine what we're talking about because they never see these things happen or can't grasp how serious it really is saying "yeah, my son has tantrums too."  Well, I'm sure he does, but Charlie's are magnified times 100 and can last for hours.  He often destroys entire rooms, will hurt himself, has a history of putting holes in our walls and countless belongings have been broken during meltdowns.

But the biggest thing to keep in mind is that he doesn't do these things to be defiant, he is trying to communicate with this behavior, trying to tell us something isn't right or that he's hurting, uncomfortable or needs something.  Yes, Charlie is verbal and can talk, but when he's this worked up he can't physically calm down enough to tell us with words what is going on or to even form the words in his mind and then speak them to us.  And I'll admit, I need to remind myself of this often too.  I need to remind myself that he's destroying his room and taking apart his bed for a reason.  And most days, the most difficult thing to do is to figure out WHY.

Some instances we can figure it out by watching what he was doing and taking a leaping guess as to what is wrong.  Many times we have no idea what set him off and have no idea how to make things right.  Friday was a particularly tough day for some reason and it was basically one continuous meltdown all day long with small 10 minute intervals where he would be ok before it started all over again.  Friday he destroyed his room- which usually happens a couple days/week.  But Friday I was exhausted.  It had been a long week by then and I just didn't have it in me to clean it up knowing he was still so disregulated.  You can see in the picture below a small portion of his room that was completely upturned.  You couldn't walk into the room and could barely open the door.  I'm holding a bottle of essential oil called Peace.  Both Charlie and I got a good dousing of that oil before I decided to tackle the bedroom- I got a dose to help keep me calm while cleaning and he got a dose to help him calm down in general.

Anyone need Peace?! I did before starting to clean this tornado of a mess

This picture below shows another time this weekend he dismantled his room.  It was less destructive than the Friday incident, but shows how he likes to take apart his bed.  At least he kept the mattress protector on this time!  Small wins!!

He often takes apart his bed

People with Autism have specific characteristics in behavior, social and communication.  Behavioral differences, like I described above can be one example.  Repetitive behaviors are another example such as rocking or spinning, lining objects up or even grouping items into colors or shapes.  Charlie often likes to line up his toys- mainly his trains or other small pieces of toys he's playing with.  Most of the time he likes them to be in a specific order or grouped together by colors.  The picture below, Charlie is lining up all of his stuffed animals.  He did this for hours on Sunday after we got home from church.  He had to have them in a sequence that made sense to him (totally didn't see a sequence that made sense to me- but to Charlie it made sense).  I think this was also very calming for him because it was something he had control over since our trek to church that day was a total last minute decision and did NOT go well at all (I'll talk about that in a bit).

Lining up his stuffed animals

Because he has a certain way he wants them and knows exactly what he wants them to look like, he normally doesn't involve anyone else- because they might mess up his plan.  However, I was surprised to see that Charlie let his twin brother Christian help him yesterday.  But if you look closely you can see Charlie is pointing and giving Christian specific instructions on where that animal needed to be placed and how.  Christian lost interest pretty quickly when he couldn't do it his own way, ha!

Showing brother where that animal needed to sit

Structure and routine is a must for Charlie, and many others on the Spectrum.  This helps him maintain predictability in his environment.  Charlie likes to be in control of every situation, so if he knows the plan and what to expect, he feels in control.  Throughout the week we discuss numerous times a day what will be happening next or what's coming up the next day.  We did not do a great job of that on Sunday.  Our morning plans had changed suddenly and we decided we were going to venture out to church.  Now, going to church isn't out of the norm for us.  We usually go every weekend.  But we hadn't originally planned to go since we had something else lined up.  Our plans changed quickly and with little notice to the boys.  Easton and Christian got upset momentarily, but Charlie's whole world was thrown off.  It was disastrous.  He kicked and screamed the entire car ride to church and then refused to go into his Sunday school room.  He was being so disruptive to the teachers and other kids in the room who were trying to listen to a story that we had no other option than to keep him with us until he calmed down.  We brought him into the entry area of the church where there are couches/chairs and can see the service happening from a TV.  You can see in the picture below that he got to sit with dad, had some water and calmed down.  Tyler was eventually able to take him back to his room where he spent the remainder of church.  However, because of that quick switch in plans, Charlie's entire rest of the day was thrown off.

Transitions are extremely difficult for Charlie as well.  Switching from task to task or leaving from one place to go to another is something that does not come easy for Charlie.  Each time we are met with resistance and lots of screaming.  Think about it.....how many transitions do you make in a day? Waking up and getting ready for the day, leaving the house to go to work or school, transitioning throughout the day at work or school, stopping what you are doing to eat lunch or dinner, and then resuming what you were doing before lunch or dinner, leaving work or school to go home, getting ready for bed at night, etc.  And I'm sure those are just a few transitions you make in a day!  These transitions, no matter how big or small, are extremely disruptive to Charlie's day and may take him awhile to recover from.  This is why knowing his schedule and having a routine is helpful for him.

Calming down with dad at church

SOMETIMES- it's something we work on with him daily- sometimes he is able to identify what will help him feel better and will do those activities to help him calm down.  Today, he rolled himself up in a blanket with numerous stuffed animals and laid on the living room floor for well over half and hour.  I kept checking on him to see if he'd fallen asleep since he was completely still and quiet.  Being rolled up like a taco helps provide deep pressure and tightness that feels good to his sensory system.  This made him feel secure and really helped to calm him down.

Blanket roll-up sensory tool

We look forward to having Sunny join our family later this year to help in these instances.  She can help Charlie feel secure and to calm down when he's having a meltdown and hopefully have less instances of a destroyed bedroom.  Sunny will be able to go with us into the community where she will provide reassurance to Charlie in uncertain moments and help him transition from task to task.  She's working on training right now to be able to do these things for Charlie.

We don't share these stories to gain sympathy, rather to help people understand these are more than just "tantrums" and also to spread awareness of what Autism can look like for some families and to let others know they are not alone in their journey.

As always, feel free to share our story and our journey to get Charlie a service dog.  Leave comments, ask questions, we'd love to hear from you!

Fundraising for Sunny:

Custom Designed T-Shirt (ends June 5):  https://www.booster.com/charlies-service-dog-fundraiser

Online Crowd-funding Page:  https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310

Joy

I've thought a lot about what I'd write about this week.  It usually comes really easily to me.  And in fact there are a ton of things I could talk about this week.  I could write about how we've had some really tough days this week.....like really tough, or how Charlie seems to becoming more and more rigid in his routines and preferences as each day goes on.  I could write about how exhausted Tyler and I are, how confusing and frightening it is to get all our ducks in a row for an important meeting in a couple weeks (prayers are appreciated for this).  I could write about how frustrating it is when your picky eater suddenly has zero focus to eat and you're just worried about getting any sort of nutrition into him (bring on the smoothies!).  Or wondering how he'll get through the summer at daycare when he's having more and more meltdowns there each week. I could write about how defeating it is when you can't do seemingly simple family activities like playing games or going for a bike ride without it turning into a complete stress fest.  There is so much I could say.

And then there is this....

All 3 boys playing fetch with Sunny

Christian & Sunny

Sunny getting a lesson in mowing from Charlie

Instead of writing about the tough stuff today, I'm going to write about joy.  Because even after a tough couple of days, a tough night, my boy ended the night with joy.  Joy with Sunny and joy in being able to wind down in his crash pad watching a favorite cartoon while snuggling with mom.  Tomorrow may be hard too, but for right now.....just joy.

We Appreciate YOU

I've said this before and I'll continue to say this through this entire journey.....THANK YOU!!  Everyone's support for Charlie and our family through this journey has been amazing and we are completely humbled by everyone's generosity!  The cost for a service dog is very high and we can't do this alone.

We have launched a new fundraiser where people can order a custom designed t-shirt.  All proceeds will go towards the cost of Charlie's service dog.  There was a lot of work that went behind designing this shirt and we really hope you like it.  We need to give a shout out to our friend Kristin who helped make this design a possibility.  We couldn't have done this without you Kristin, thank you!!

Order your t-shirts here:  https://www.booster.com/charlies-service-dog-fundraiser


We also still have a fundraising website set up where people can donate as well.  That website can be found here:   https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310


I just found out there will be a multi-family garage sale on June 23-24th in Harmony, MN where proceeds will also go towards Charlie's service dog.  If you'd like more info on the sale and address of this please email me at kayla.king17@gmail.com and I'll be sure you get the info you need to be there.  Thank you Kari, Gina, Kris and Karen for this fun idea, we are so blessed by all of you!  I'll be there to help too!

And as always, please share our blog with others so they can follow our journey!  Thank you everyone!

No Doubts

You guys.....I have no doubt in my mind that we are doing the right thing by getting a service dog for Charlie.  Tonight was Sunny's night to visit.  Right before she got here Charlie began to have a meltdown.  It was mild and just starting but when Sunny came in, she came upstairs and laid on the floor next to Charlie.  Charlie immediately quieted, and it took a few minutes, but he eventually began petting her and calmed down pretty quickly!  I was actually tearing up seeing the interaction and realizing how helpful this sweet girl already is for Charlie.

Charlie and Christian got to have fun giving Sunny a bunch of treats (Easton was with dad at a school event tonight).  They even did some fun tricks with her- putting the treat on the top of their head for her to find or even having Sunny eat the treat from their mouths (I know, some of you may think...eeewww!).  The boys thought it was so fun.  And I admit, fun to watch.

Already finding some tricks to do together

The boys thought it would be a good idea to give Sunny the grand tour of the house.  Before today, she had really only been in the entry way or outside with us.  The first stop, their bedroom to show her where she will sleep some day with Charlie.  She jumped right into bed and made herself quite cozy!

Charlie was so excited to show Sunny his room

Ha, Sunny looks like she's laughing!

Oh, my heart!

Hmm...not sure both boys AND Sunny will fit in one bed- might be tight, she's a big girl!

After their room, they took Sunny downstairs to show her where they hang out sometimes, where Charlie's new swing is as well as the "crash pad."  If you're not familiar with our crash pad, it's a gigantic foam mattress that can be stuffed into a cover to create a bean-bag type chair or you can take the cover off and use it like a big....well....crash pad.  We started calling it the crash pad because before we got the cover for it Charlie would free fall from the couch to the pad on the floor over and over again.  We go back and forth between using it as a bean bag chair and taking it out of the cover and using it as a crash pad.  Charlie used to spend a lot of time snuggling with Tank on the crash pad.

Charlie and Tank

Charlie and Tank

Sunny trying out the crash pad with the boys

This week Sunny has been learning to track.  She will be able to track Charlie if he wanders off or-in more common cases- hides in the house and won't answer us when we call for him.  This has happened several times and it always makes this mama's heart drop when we can't find him.

Thank you for following our story.  Please feel free to share our blog or invite others to follow along.  We want people to see our process of getting a service dog for our 5 year old son and continue to follow as we navigate Autism WITH a service dog.  If we can help 1 person to know they are not on their journey alone or help others understand the purpose and need of an Autism support dog,  then our work on the blog has been worth it.  

Please also share Charlie's fundraising page:  https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mamas out there!  I am fortunate enough to be able to celebrate this day because of my 3 beautiful babies.  Okay, I know, they aren't babies any more.  I actually can't believe I will have a 1st grader in just a few short weeks!

This weekend was a hard one.  We had 2 days of various activities and it wasn't hard to see it was too much for Charlie.  He was way overstimulated both Friday and Saturday and his body just couldn't figure out how to regulate, sending Charlie into massive meltdowns.  These moments are really hard on Charlie and difficult for Tyler and I as well.  Dealing with meltdowns is exhausting- both emotionally and physically.  To give you a picture- there is usually screaming, head banging, scratching himself, throwing items, unloading entire bookshelves or toy chests, tearing beds apart.  This weekend there was also meltdowns in the vehicle (not uncommon) which included stopping numerous times because he will get out of his 5 point harness in his car seat, trying to keep him from banging toys on the window and potentially breaking the glass, and keeping him from kicking the seat/door.  We hate to see him go through this and it's exhausting- for all of us.  When we got home Saturday night both Tyler and I were beyond stressed.  The hard day turned into a hard night because of bed time troubles.  I'll be honest, the day left me feeling like a failure.  Like I couldn't do enough to help my boy.  Like no matter what we do or say, Autism wins.  After praying for strength, patience and a new look at a new day, I finally went to bed completely depleted.

Today started with sweet "good morning mama" and "happy mudders day!"  I was presented with those amazing hand-made projects the kids make in school that totally melted my heart.  I was told by Tyler that the day was mine.  Whatever I wanted to do we would do it.  A hollow feeling started in my chest because in reality we wouldn't be able to do whatever.  I had a list of fun things to do running through my mind, but I knew we wouldn't be able to do them.  There is no way we'd be able to do any of those things without huge battles, without numerous meltdowns, without becoming completely exhausted.  We talked about it and agreed it would be best to just stay home and try to have a mellow day- or basically recover from the last 2 days.  Tyler told me to take a few hours and get out of the house by myself and do what I needed/wanted to do (best gift he could have given me since he knew I was on the verge of burn out. Thank you, love!).

Coming home a bit more refreshed, I walked in on Christian and Charlie napping (that rarely happens anymore) and Easton having quiet time.  Dad had tired them out.  They ran around outside, played in the pool, the sprinkler and helped put up Charlie's new swing.  Remember when I said Charlie has more sensory needs than most people?  Well, we've been looking into some equipment that we can have at home for Charlie that can help give him the sensory input he needs- and we were even lucky enough to qualify for a grant that can help us get this much needed equipment.   The first item we got him is an indoor swing.

This swing will allow Charlie to climb in and use it when he wants/needs to.  It will give him sensory input from the swinging or spinning motion and also cocoons him if he needs a small, secure place to be if he needs some quiet time.

Charlie absolutely loves it.  When he wasn't outside today he was in his swing.  And maybe that was all the difference today made from the rest of the weekend.  You see, this Mother's Day wasn't what I had pictured, the day didn't go as I had wanted.  It actually turned out better.  Today turned out to be exactly how it needed to be for our family.  As the boys played outside in the sun, as we sat down for a family dinner I realized the day couldn't have been more perfect.  Everyone was calm, relaxed.  I was able to lay with my boys as they fell asleep tonight, feel their soft skin as I rubbed their backs and smelled their hair...I felt like the luckiest mom on Earth. 

Happy Mother's Day.

Let the Training Begin

I know, you're probably all wondering where the heck we went the last several days.  We've been busy helping the boys finish up AWANA for the season, completing much needed projects around the house (boy or boy are there plenty left!), and enjoying the sunshine when it's around.

Sunny came for a visit today!  Charlie has been waiting to see her and was so excited when she got here.  Sunny gave some much needed snuggles to Charlie. We will plan to meet with Mike and Sunny weekly to be a part of her training and so Charlie can start bonding with her.  She's as sweet as pie so it's hard not to love her.

Sunny loves to have belly rubs!

All of the boys got to spend time with Sunny and get to know her a bit better.  Even Easton joined in this evening- before now he hasn't been too interested when Sunny comes by.  But I think tonight he enjoyed some Sunny Love!

Easton getting some Sunny kisses!

I think they will all become fast friends

Sunny has officially begun her service dog training.  Mike reports she is learning to lay in a bed and will eventually learn to sleep in a bed all night, as well as learn to lay on someone's legs in bed to help Charlie with his sleep and deep compression at night.  Sunny has also been learning to run along-side a bike since she will need to accompany us on family bike rides!  Mike sent us a video of Sunny in action and she's looking good!  We also gave Mike an alarm clock that matches Charlie's.  Sunny will learn to respond when the alarm goes off in the morning and help wake Charlie up (he is SO not a morning person).  Charlie was pretty proud that Sunny needed an alarm clock just like him.

I have also been in contact with our school district to let them know we will want Sunny to go to school with Charlie in the Fall.  They have informed me that they have never had a student with a service dog so this will all be new to them, but seem willing to work with us on it.  We'll be getting a meeting set up in the next several weeks to go over what it will look like for Charlie to have Sunny with him at school.  

We continue to work on other fundraising options as we still need to make monthly payments from here until the end of Sunny's training (Fall/Winter 2017).  Please continue to share our fundraising page in the time-being.  We will update when other fundraising opportunities are available.  And as always, please share our blog so others can join this journey with us!

Fundraiser page: https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310

Share the Love

We are overwhelmed by the love and support we've seen from our family, friends and even strangers as we've begun the long process to get a service dog for Charlie.  However, we've heard that a few people were wanting to donate to Charlie's dog, but couldn't find how to do so.

Right now we have a fundraiser page set up that people can give to.  That fundraiser page can be found at:
https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310

Simply click on the link and it will take you to the donation page.  Please know that there is a small processing fee that the website will take from the total donated.  Some people have not liked that a fee is taken and have opted to send a check directly to us, which is another option and completely fine.  Any checks can be written out to Tyler or Kayla King.  We have a separate bank account that all donated funds goes into so all of the money is separate from our family budget.  If you'd like to send anything our way please contact me and I will give you our address.

We are also working on designing a t-shirt that we intend to sell as a fundraiser as well.  This will just be another option for people if they choose to go this route instead of using the fundraising site.  Here is the link you can follow to order a shirt https://www.booster.com/charlies-service-dog-fundraiser

We are also looking in to the possibility of a community fundraiser such as a pancake breakfast or spaghetti dinner or sorts.  This would likely take place further down the road- this summer some time.  We will also update people if those fundraisers become reality.

If monetary donations are not possibly for you, that's totally fine- we understand not all budgets can do this!  We would love your help and support by sharing our blog and our fundraiser with anyone you know.  We would love for others to be able to follow our journey so people can become educated about service dogs and raise awareness about Autism and hopefully be support and light to others who may be facing similar difficulties in their lives.

All of my posts on Facebook are public posts and can be shared by anyone on there as well.  If you'd like to share this blog, please have people go to: www.charlieandhisdog.blogspot.com.  If you'd like to get updates when we write new blog posts, you can sign up for email alerts on the blog so you can be updated anytime a post is made.  You can do this by entering your email in the "Subscribe & Follow" section on the right hand side of the blog.  If you are following from your phone, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "view web version" so you can see the entire webpage and find this subscribe location.  Please feel free to comment on any posts so we know you're following us.  And ask questions any time!!

Thank you for your support!!!

It's Official!

Yep, it's official!  We signed the contract to begin working with Mike Burkel from Walkn' Your Dog to have a service dog trained for Charlie.  We are so excited to have all the paperwork done so things can begin.  I can't believe it has been less than a month since I first heard about Mike and made contact with him. We are so fortunate that Mike is willing to take us on.

Signing the contract means we also made a downpayment tonight.  Thank you to everyone who has donated so far.  Your generosity enabled us to make the downpayment possible!  Sunny will officially begin her training next Tuesday May 9th.  Mike is hoping to bring Sunny over or meet us somewhere each week so Charlie and Sunny can spend time with one another. Estimated time line is 6-9 months before Sunny will complete her training and be ready to be Charlie's service dog.  The plan is to continue to make monthly payments to Mike with the goal to entirely pay the total by the time Sunny is ours.  We will plan to keep the online fundraiser open at this time in case anyone wishes to still donate.  Donations that come in from here on out will help us make our monthly payments.  So, again, thank you to everyone for your generosity and support.  Even by sharing our blog or our fundraiser page with people you know, you are supporting this endeavor!

Charlie was a little bummed that Sunny wasn't with Mike tonight.  Sunny was spayed last week and has been enjoying some downtime while she heals.  However, the boys were able to play with Tango, a 12 week old German Shepherd puppy that Mike has started working with for another client of his.  The boys had fun giving him lots of treats and running around with him.  Tango will surely be a big boy when he's grown, already weighing 28lbs (only 2 lbs lighter than Charlie!)!!  Until next week, this picture of Sunny and Charlie will have to hold you over.....

Such love!!

Almost Famous

Check this out!  If you're in the Fillmore County area perhaps you've already seen the column.  If not, you can read it here.

The columnist who wrote the article is a dear friend of ours, practically like a mom to me as her daughter (my best friend) and I grew up together and still remain close.  Her husband was fortunate enough to get a Diabetes Alert Dog (Gilbert) a few years ago to help him detect changes in his blood sugar levels.  Whenever we are with them it's not hard to see that Charlie gravitates towards Gilbert.  When Gilbert is relaxing Charlie is able to hang out with him and chill.  And that's exactly what happens....Charlie gets to chill, he's calm, relaxed and seemingly has no worries.  Much like we saw when our own dog was still alive.  So there's no doubt in my mind that we are doing the right thing for our boy by going through the long process of getting a service dog for him.

Where Things Stand
We've completed the application process and waiting to hear next steps from the trainer.  We do know Sunny will be spayed soon so she will need to take it easy for a couple weeks following that to heal up.  We'll keep everyone updated as the process evolves.  Because it is a process!

Cuteness overload!

Left: Christian, Right: Charlie.  They were 14 months old

Don't Forget the Kid Inside

Happy May Day!  I knew it was May 1st today, but actually celebrating May Day with the boys didn't even cross my mind.  Not until I picked the boys up at school anyway.  They were excited about celebrating May Day in school today and learning all about sharing it with neighbors.  You know the drill....make up cute little goodie baskets with treats, sneak over to the neighbors house, leave it on their doorstep, ring the doorbell and run so they can't catch you.  Me and my siblings did this as kids but it wasn't at the top of my mind today.

Charlie came home today with a hand-made May Day basket in his bag and was so excited about filling it with candy and leaving it at the neighbors house.  I admit, I admired the cute little basket, but then I immediately dismissed it and went on with the tasks I was working on in the house.  Seriously, it has been cold, rainy and windy all day and I had been out in the dreary weather more times than I'd prefer.  Plus I had a list of things to get done; finish the application for the service dog, 300 loads of laundry (ok, maybe not that many but it felt like it), cleaning bathrooms and getting dinner ready.
But like many things, Charlie had this on his mind and he wasn't going to easily forget about it.  He begged to leave it for the neighbors as he told me over and over again the steps that would be required to pull off the perfect May Day surprise.  I reminded him that the neighbors have 3 children and he only had 1 basket.  He didn't see the problem.  I also informed him that once he left the hand-made basket at the neighbors house he wouldn't be able to get it back.  Again, he wasn't concerned, but I know how he works and I knew he would be upset about a half hour later when his basket was gone for good.  I knew he wasn't going to give up so I offered to help him make up some baskets out of colored plastic cups that we could leave as May Day baskets.  No turning back now.

The neighbor kids are all younger so we talked about snacks/treats that would be age appropriate for them.  Charlie helped fill them and mom wrote a message on the cups.  Easton wasn't interested in helping but Christian said he would help deliver them.  We put on our shoes and jackets and snuck next door.  We found a dry spot to leave them, rang the bell and ran.  Now, I have to admit that I giggled the entire was home.  I felt like I was playing ding dong ditch on our wonderful neighbors. And I'm sure they saw us run away, wondering what the heck their crazy neighbors were up to now.  Back at home the boys laughed, I laughed and the joy on their faces were priceless.  I was blissfully reminded that we sometimes need to put our to-do lists aside, go run in the rain and remember the kid inside all of us.

*To our neighbors: if you are reading this, I apologize for ringing the doorbell when I know there was a chance one or all of your littles were napping.  You see, they obviously talked about how to leave a May Day basket at school today and one of those steps must have been to ring the door bell vs. knocking.  There was no way he was going to knock on the door when he was told to ring the door bell.  Autism rigidity in it's finest!


Also, don't forget we have an online fundraiser to help raise funds for Charlie's service dog.  The cost is upwards of $12,000 and we can't do this alone.  Find his fundraiser here https://www.youcaring.com/charlieking-801310
And always feel free to share our blog or the fundraiser page with anyone and everyone you know!