Piece by piece

Many children with autism find verbal communication challenging. And because of this a lot of the time children on the spectrum speak using only key words… For example; “Want juice” or “Down slide” or “Go swimming”. Helping your child extend these sentences can be difficult. Especially if in the past you’ve given them what they…

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Shouting out in frustration

I’m working with this child at the moment who has been struggling with using the correct pronouns in his talking. You may be thinking… ok big deal? But the thing is, whenever you correct him or help him out with it, he either shouts out or worse still stops talking altogether. Let me give you…

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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…

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“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.”…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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Autistic children and prioritising.

Something I really enjoy doing is organising. Whether it’s a party, a cupboard, a meal, a day out or a sock drawer, I love it! I tend to make a lot of lists and prioritise each little thing, then get to work. When my partner Drew and I moved house a few months ago and…

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Why parents of children with autism should be a pain in the arse

We live in a world where most of us do or don’t do things because we worry about what other will think of us. Whether it’s wearing a certain outfit. Making a certain decision a work. Going to an event we don’t want to go to. Or agreeing to something we didn’t want to agree…

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