A whirlwind of confusion
A while back a client of mine was telling me how she felt when she first got her son’s ASD diagnosis… She explained that she felt about 20 different emotions all at once… Worry, Sadness, Guilt, Frustration, Emptiness, Anger, Pain, Concern, Defensiveness, loneliness… She said that she felt helpless and didn’t have a clue what…
“I can heal your child”
Recently I have seen a few programmes and companies advertising their services by using their autism success stories. And as an experienced professional working with families and children on the spectrum, this frustrates me. Because what these companies are saying to families is that huge, powerful, emotionally fuelled promise …. “I can heal your child.”…
Sports Day!
Last weekend I was talking to my partners Dad, Terry, about Sports day. He told me about how a few weeks ago he went to watch one of his sons, Lance, competing in his school sports day… Shortly after he arrived, he saw Lance at the starting line for one of the races… It was…
Children with autism and their sensory perception
Let’s talk about sensory perception… As you may know children with autism can be totally overwhelmed by the sensory input in their environment. Even things that you and I may not even notice could be so loud, bright or uncomfortable for a child with autism to tolerate. I watched a documentary a while back…
The things parents and carers of children with autism say…
Last month I read a post on Facebook that said… “R.I.P British Summer Time May 6th – May 9th.” Although I’m sure the person that wrote it was trying to be funny and get “likes”, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at it’s ridiculousness. First up, it was the beginning of May, which…
Lessons from a fairy tale for parents and carers of autistic children
There’s an old fairy-tale called “Peter and the magic thread” … In the story Peter was a very lively little boy, full of energy and life. His teachers, friends and family all adored him… But Peter did have one big weakness… He could never live in the moment. When he was in school,…
“All autistic children”
This week I had an alfresco lunch in the sun… Which, is one of my most favourite things to do as it involves both food and sun. Complete bliss! I could’ve easily sat out there all afternoon. But other half, Drew, on the other hand sat with me for about 3 minutes before disappearing inside.…
One autistic boy and his jacuzzi.
Over the weekend I was talking to the parents of one of the boys I work 1:1 with. They had recently been on a long weekend away with their son Isaac. They told me all about their challenges with Isaac on the journey there… Then all about how he loved running in the open space……
What Game of Thrones and autistic children have in common.
Most of us have seen ‘Game of Thrones’ to some extent. As you may know the new series started last night and it’s good to see the show’s not lost any of its grit. When I first started watching GOT, what struck me was how quickly the main characters got killed off… Literally no one is…
Overnight success and autistic children
Had a mini success yesterday that I wanted to share with you, I say ‘mini success’ but in the scheme of things it’s pretty huge. For a year and a half I’ve been working with a boy called Robbie who is autistic. When I first met Robbie he spoke and engaged with others very little.…
