Just wanted to add that, after the third difficult day on vacation, God gave me a Love and Logic inspiration. Love and Logic recommends that parents have “private” conversations now and then, within the hearing of the child that they are discussing, in order to praise what s/he has been doing well or working hard on.

I tweaked this a bit in a difficult moment on the morning of day 4. I pulled Blue Eyes aside and said, in a stage whisper, “Joseph has been behaving so badly. I know he really wants to go to Las Vegas on the way home, but I suggest we skip it.” Blue Eyes immediately caught on and replied, “I don’t want to go to Vegas. I agree!”

At which point Joseph began pledging good behavior from there on in…and that is exactly what happened! The rest of the trip was much more enjoyable.

I might add that Vegas is not really a place for kids with autism. Joseph found it terribly overwhelming and overstimulating. Afterward he said, “I made a bad choice wanting to go to Vegas.”

So we we struggled and we enjoyed and we learned. Much like life itself.

Blessings.