u/Key_Prize_1317

I’m a stay at home dad (disabled) and my wife works a job that relies on tips. Last week has been rough. Trying to buy dinner for us, including a specific brand of puree pouches that my autistic son can only eat. I said Walmart gift card so you’ll know I’m not spending the money on anything random. Thank you for your time.

Hey all! I’m on the path to finally cracking through my chronic and treatment resistant depression. And I’m curious if my trouble with executive dysfunction will be further improved because of my healing? I take medication for ADHD and it helps for sure but I still struggle with getting into motion.

I was really surprised when the psychologist I was working with for my autism diagnosis also added on cptsd when assessing me. I knew I had ptsd, sure, but I always assumed the people with cptsd had gone through really horrible things for a long time. And that’s probably true for a lot of you. But I just had a rough childhood with an emotionally unstable mom, coupled with the social and emotional struggles of growing up with undiagnosed AuDHD. It never occurred to me it could be bad enough to warrant that kind of diagnosis. But my psychologist is a very accredited woman whose opinion I trust after the detailed assessment she gave me.

I don’t know. I feel like I’m somehow faking it? And trying to pretend I’m worse off than I am. Especially since my past wasn’t something that inherently screams “repeated intense trauma.”

This is a brag post! You’ve been warned lol.

My youngest is 20 months old and I feel like every day I’m blown away by the things he knows. I’m a stay at home dad, so I’m with him all the time, and he still manages to catch me off guard! Everything he knows now, he knew at 18 months, but it keeps evolving and growing right in front of me. If you’d like to hear a proud (perhaps too much) parent list their toddler’s milestones, feel free to keep reading.

Words: He had over 100 by 18 months and at this point I genuinely can’t keep counting. I know it’s at least 200 but that’s as close as I can get to an accurate answer.

Letters: I know he started grasping this one before 18 months for sure—maybe 16? But as of now, he knows every letter in both capital and lowercase. He also knows the sounds they make and can list words that start with that sound. I often hear him saying, for example, “B! Buh, ball! Bird!”

Numbers: This is the first thing we noticed he understood more than average. He was playing with his blocks and naming the numbers! We experimented a bit and learned he could understand what number correlated to each finger when holding them up. And could recognize 1-10. Now, he can go to 20. He can count backwards from 10 and is attempting to try from 20. He also can count objects up to…I think 7 is the most I’ve seen? He does it with his toys and pieces of food.

Shapes: He knows square, circle, triangle, oval, rectangle, star, heart, diamond, and apparently octagon. I got shown that one a few nights ago.

There’s other stuff, like the animals he can name, the sentences he says, things like that. But those get hyper-specific so I’ll leave them out lol.

Besides his ability to grasp concepts earlier, he’s definitely a normal toddler. Tried to eat a rock today and threw himself to the ground when I didn’t let him. Begged for cheese then looked me in the eye and started tossing it onto the floor without taking a bite. He just has this really cool thirst for knowledge that I’m so happy to nourish. I have no intentions of trying to shove him into school early or start giving him IQ tests lol, but he enjoys flash cards and books so I do those. And point out numbers and letters with him when we find them. Basically, I just play and engage with him at his level.

And I don’t think I’m the reason he’s like this! Definitely don’t believe I deserve credit for it lol. It just seems to be the way his brain works so I try my best to meet him where he is. I also appreciate every other milestone, like taking a good nap or learning how to shove his arms through his shirt. I don’t want it to sound like I’m only proud of his brains or anything, because honestly I’m proud as can be just by the way he smiles at me in the morning. All this other stuff is extra. But I think it’s really cool and I enjoy sharing with others!

I’m almost completely sure it’s a texture issue, as he will eat blended versions of most fruit. But all of the quick meal ideas like fruit and cheese trays don’t work for him. (Cheese is also not liked unless melted.) Veggies are limited to…I think he ate some pieces of corn recently?

Honestly he’s in a phase where eating is a struggle for him in general. Even the unhealthy toddler staples like chicken nuggets, fries, and Mac n cheese are difficult.

I just really wish I could hand him a banana or apple slices when I’m worried he’s still hungry. Has anyone run into similar issues? What meal/snack ideas helped?

Listen, I’m not an expert on this stuff. I only barely understand the difference between the protocols. So I’m sorry if this is a dumb question.

But I’m wondering, since the protocols are software-based, could the HD model be updated to it? Or is it something they’d have to change manually?

I think the family life tag fits? Not sure what else to call this.

Anyway, my son is turning 4 next month, and one of the gifts we bought is a play kitchen. He’s become really interested in helping us cook. We made sure it looked semi-realistic any everything because we want to foster his interests in any way we can. (This is not a post about medical stuff, but he is severely autistic and doesn’t usually enjoy “regular” kinds of play)

We also have a 2 year old. My initial thought was that we could put the kitchen in the living room so both boys would have access to it. But would that be wrong? It’s technically my oldest son’s gift. I’ve never had to navigate this before so any advice would be appreciated!

I have a Kobo Clara BW that I loved when I first bought it. I read 17 books in four months when my last book before that must have been in high school. But now when I look over at, dusty on the shelf, I feel trepidation. Like the act of turning it on and reading is some sort of challenging task instead or relaxation.

The reason I’m posting here is because I’ve considered a possible solution to be purchasing the xteink x4. It’s small and less “intimidating” in my head, and reading a bunch of little pages instead of staring at a wall of text might help me actually pick up a book.

Does anyone have experience with a similar problem? And what helped?

EDIT: Thanks so much! I got a lot of good advice

Maybe I’m dumb or blind, but I can’t seem to find an option to apply cropping to all. Also, cropping leads to black borders instead of the clip resizing in total. Can anyone help a newbie?

I’m not sure it’s possible to get through it since not a single one I’ve tried has worked. I can use the pro features when editing but none of the AI tools that require credits. Anyone know if it’s just not possible?

I’ve been writing stories all my life. I used to make little books in grade school and tape the pages together for my parents to read. Writing is one of the hobbies I can genuinely say I’m good at.

But, no matter how much I try, I can’t sit down and write a book. My brain gets caught up in the details, and whether or not this plot point is too similar to someone else’s, and a million other little things like that. And having ADHD to top it off makes it feel impossible to ever publish a book, which has been my life’s dream.

Recently, I’ve toyed with the idea of writing something similar to those cheap romance novels you see on Amazon for 75 cents a pop. I don’t feel stressed or overwhelmed at the idea, and I think it’d make me happy to create my own little Edwardian love story. But I’m worried it’s a stupid idea.

Most authors don’t aspire to see their book on a discount shelf. They want to write something unique and impactful, something that will leave a mark on everyone who reads it. But I really just want to have fun, and accomplish my dream in a way that feels accessible to me. I like cheesy romance, I like writing cheesy romance, so why not publish a cheesy romance?

I bought a kobo Clara bw on Mercari a while back. And one of my cousins recently decided to take a nail file to the front shell, and essentially sanded it down. Obviously I don’t have a warranty, and this wouldn’t be covered if I did. I can buy the parts myself on ifixit but I’m in no way tech savvy and definitely couldn’t pull it off. What do I do?

I have autism, though certainly lower support needs than my level 3 son. My brother is undiagnosed but shows many classic signs of autism as well.

Because of this, I figured any kids I had would have a good chance of being autistic. Was not at all surprised when my first child began showing signs. I find that me having the same neurodevelopmental disorder as he does actually helps me parent him better. I understand what meltdowns feel like. I get overstimulated in the same way he does. Routine changes bother me just as much.

But you know what bugs me? When I talk about my son, especially to acquaintances, they all assume his autism came from thin air. Like it’s this huge mystery. And perhaps that’s the case for some parents, but not me. When I explain that I also have autism, so that’s likely the reason, they just…can’t wrap their minds around it? A parent passing down traits to their children is not a novel idea. But a lot of people do not seem to understand that people with autism can become adults and have children of their own, who then may also be autistic.

It just gets under my skin. If you’re an autistic parent, what kinds of things bug you about it? Or actually help you when it comes to understanding your child?

Today, I went to wipe his thumb because I saw dirt on it. And it *was* dirt, but it was caked onto an open wound. I checked both hands and both thumbs are like this. The skin is red, completely dry, scaly like a lizard and cracked open in some places. He has severe eczema and sensitive skin so it’s easier for him to do damage to his skin than other toddlers.

I have no idea how to fix this. Any sort of cream would be immediately licked/wiped off, and I’m sure he could also yank off a bandage. If someone has advice, please help.

Location: South Carolina, USA

Method: AI

I am a trans man married to a cis woman. We have two donor-conceived children already but are looking to find a new donor for our last child. I am the carrier, and I am white, as was our last donor. So our children are also white. But my wife is Indian, and we really want at least one of our children to resemble her as well.

We aren’t currently TTC, and won’t begin until April of 2027. But I believe it’s important to make connections ahead of time so we won’t be scrambling when the time comes.

If you are a serious, genuine donor, feel free to reach out. Thank you for your time!

I know this is a question a lot of us have, but I can’t help but to ask it myself.

I have a 4 year old boy with “level 3” autism (not fond of level system). He just finished his first year of special ed

Currency: USD

Budget: $100 or less

Criteria:

I’m no audiophile. Grew up using SkullCandy earbuds with a volume enhancer app that left the music sounding…crunchy. So my standards aren’t particularly high at the moment.

I want headphones that sound decent and won’t leak too much noise. I have a smaller sized head as well, so I’d like to avoid anything known for being on the bigger side. And they have to be available on Amazon, since I’m using their credits towards the purchase.

I’d appreciate any recommendations!