Thursday 29 September 2016

Guess How Much I Love You

How much I Love You Snuggle Book

Books have always played a big role in our home. From helping our autistic boys access their imagination to immersing the all our children in words - books provide a source of education and fun for our family. We use basic books to label items to help increase vocabulary.  One of the greatest opportunities is that of shared attention or activity.  The joy and skill of doing something together and what better way to do that than with a snuggle book.

Wednesday 28 September 2016

WonderfulWednesday: Life is good..we are a happy neurodiverse family

What I want you to know is that life is good. There is no tragedy in this house - thank goodness - we are so lucky. We have our ups and downs like any family, and our particular ups and particular downs might be different from yours, but in the end what I want you to know is that we a happy neurodiverse family

I found my wonderful Wednesday share this week via Autism on our house Facebook page who published this image via Respectfully Connected.    It's a quote from Meg Murray that highlights how, just like our kids are 'different, not less', so is our family.

Tuesday 27 September 2016

An interview with Anthony - the bigger ones tag

Anthony with autism in the park

My kids see the world differently to me.  Even Jane who currently doesn't seem to be on the autistic spectrum (won't rule it out though) is just three years old, so must see it differently too. I am always looking for new ways to gain an insight into the way they think, and now I have another one to try.

Thursday 22 September 2016

4 days being sick - is this what it's like?


After two days spent crawling from the bed to the toilet continuously and two more days laying limp on the sofa, I'm finally feeling a bit better.  Honestly I've not been struck down by a bug like this in years.  Now, on the road to recovery, I learned something I didn't expect about my son's difficulties.

Wednesday 21 September 2016

WonderfulWednesday: On our way to independent writing


This week's wonderful Wednesday share is from Life with ASD and the Rest and is about getting over hurdles with writing.

Thursday 15 September 2016

Learning through play - how do you play chess?


By tomorrow all three of my children will be in education. Jane will start half days at pre-school, David will be repeating his reception year and Anthony has just entered year 4. It has flown by.  But of course having three kids in education as I've described actually means only one of them will be sat at a desk for most of the day.

Wednesday 14 September 2016

WonderfulWednesday: Intimidation in the playground


This week's wonderful Wednesday share is from Mad House Mum and is about when a parent feels uncomfortable at the school gates.

Monday 12 September 2016

Will it matter or make a difference?

boy with autism and girl sitting on a bench

Will my actions matter? Will pretending to be a speech and language therapist everyday make a difference? And even lately, will this post, a letter to Tess Stimson, result in something more than just a few page views?

Wednesday 7 September 2016

WonderfulWednesday: A medal for Daisy, thanks to Parallel London

inclusive event sights at Olympic park

This week's wonderful Wednesday share is from Was This in the Plan? and is about Stephanie (a truly amazing woman) and Daisy (one of her four amazing children) taking part in a 5K run at the Olympic Park in East London.

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Why I don't mind hanging around on street corners (with my son who has autism)

Boy with autism copying letters on street sign

I spent more than a few minutes last year hanging around on street corners... with my kids.  And mostly because of our son David, who has autism and a wonderful thing he's started to do.. on street corners.

Saturday 3 September 2016

Spectrum and SEND Sunday #32

Spectrum and SEND Sunday #32 graphic

Hello, and welcome to Spectrum and SEND Sunday #32,  the place to share your autism, special educational needs and disabilities posts. If you are new to linkies, you can look at my guide on what they are and what to do to join the #SpectrumSunday linky in a bit more detail.  If you are unsure about all this adding badges and commenting malarkey then have a look here for further explanations.

Friday 2 September 2016

An apology to those disturbed by my autistic kids in public

apology letter from mum of autistic child

This post was written is response to an article by Tess Stimson on Femail "After a woman was vilified for telling a disabled girl to be quiet, one FEMAIL writer told off a noisy disabled boy - and wasn't ashamed of her actions."  The writer responds in the comments.

Thursday 1 September 2016

What would you ask of the school your SEND child attends?


Ever wanted to tell the school your #SEN child attends something but been too busy with the paperwork to do it?  Have a #SEND story of praise? What have you learned about what you want the school or LA to understand?

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