Monday 30 January 2017

#CapturetheKindness photo round-up

#CapturetheKindness 4 photos from the competition

It's been two months since my #capturethekindness photo competition finished.  This competition, in collaboration with The Clangers and their #clangersforkindness campaign, was about capturing those special moments of kindness and sharing them.  After the mess of Christmas and the New Year back to school chaos, I've had some time and gone back through all the photos to pick out some to share in a round up.  Here are just a few of my favourites.

Saturday 28 January 2017

Using motor skills to make lanterns

Chinese Lanterns

We did this great activity yesterday at the Me Too & Co play sessions making lanterns for Chinese New Year. This is a great motor skills development activity for kids at any stage looking develop them.  It works on cutting and bilateral motor skills with gluing and sticking.

Friday 27 January 2017

My son is losing weight so he can concentrate at school

Autistic Anthony on his way to the clinical psychologist

I've haven't grown upwards in years - outwards yes, upwards no.  And thats normal. Most girls stop growing taller at 16 and boys at about 18.  21 seems to be the general cut off for height.  So, it makes perfect sense for my eight year old to be slowly getting taller.  The problem is he is also getting lighter.

Wednesday 25 January 2017

WonderfulWednesday: @presenterwayne made me Happy

WonderfulWednesday - Happy

Sometimes I just want to share something that makes me smile on my wonderful Wednesday posts. This week certainly counts.  I've recently found Wayne Barrow's Facebook page. Wayne has become a bit of an internet sensation for his signing performances of popular songs. Recently this has included Whitney Houston's 'I wanna dance with somebody' and 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams (above).  It had me dancing in the kitchen.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

My Liebster Award (it's not an award)


The Liebster Award is not an award but is a way of finding out about others. ‘Liebster’ is Germanic in origin and can mean sweet, kind, lovely, and other various affectionate adjectives.  So I guess it's a way of getting to know some things about each other.  Knowledge is power people, the more I know about, the better I understand.  That's why I blog about autism all the time. So it can be better understood and my family and others may be accepted and loved. Celebrating our differences is part of what I'm all about so I'm happy to share and learn.

Monday 23 January 2017

A sleep clinic with a small autistic boy

Boy with autism going to a sleep clinic

An estimated 50-90% of autistic people have difficulties with sleep and our six year old son, David, is one of them. A small child who is not aware of danger being up every single night affects the whole family - and most usually me. After trying everything including no blue light, weighted blankets and a year on melatonin, we were referred for a sleep study at Evelina Children’s Hospital at St Thomas & Guys Hospital in London.

Wednesday 18 January 2017

WonderfulWednesday: ADHD is not the fault of me @jodiemarieeaton


This week's wonderful Wednesday share is from Jodie who writes at Autism with Lots of Love and Affection  and is about the difficulties in getting and having an ADHD diagnosis accepted. It was published on the Huffington Post.

A wonderful weekend, finding peace in the forest


There are a few times when I honestly feel at peace outside our own home.  When the world of worries disappears just enough to let me see the delights that surrounds us. When I'm not worried about or relying on my thick skin to push aside the way the world that so often feels like an ill fit for our family.  But on our last weekend away, I, we, found some peace.

Monday 16 January 2017

Having fun motor skills practice making penguin cupcakes

Having fun motor skills practice making penguin cupcakes

"There hasn't been much snow!" Jane moaned.  With all the Christmas films and cards having snow everywhere it's hardly surprising she and the other kids have been disappointed with the lack of white stuff.  A few flakes over the weekend went down well so I tried to capitalise on it by making penguin cupcakes using a recipe kit.  Kit's are great for as as they give instant access to baking and that's good when your autistic boys either get upset when waiting or will lose interest in an activity before it's begun. And we can talk about where it does snow and some penguin facts too.

Thursday 12 January 2017

Madeupmilestones: The party with @2ndtimemama

madeupmilestones picture

I'm proud of so many of my kids achievements.  My boys often don't hit the same milestones as listed in the 'little red book' milestone chart and I've learned that creating our own milestone charts celebrating their own achievements is more valuable to me.  This series celebrates the #madeupmilestones of those we care about. This month it's from Mummy Times Two who shares a milestone about a birthday party.

Wednesday 11 January 2017

WonderfulWednesday: My son communicates with @googlemaps via @gwynnemiriam

Boy uses his google maps to communicate

This week's wonderful Wednesday share comes to us via Autism Speaks and is an article from Miriam Gwynne who writes at Faith Mummy. She shares a wonderful moment when she realised her son was using google maps to communicate.

Tuesday 10 January 2017

To the parents who thought my child was a genius

Boy looking out to see

Ladies, picture the scene.  You are pregnant and have come in from a lovely walk with your partner, to enjoy a (caffeine free) Latte in your favourite coffee shop.  As you perch on your bar stool and think that these days the bump could do with a bit more support, you glance over to see three kids and two adults sat on a set of comfy leather sofas and smile.

Sunday 8 January 2017

Spectrum and SEND Sunday #40


Hello, Happy New Year and welcome back to Spectrum and SEND Sunday #40, the place to share your autism, special educational needs and disabilities posts. Whatever stage of diagnosis or life you are at.. you are welcome here.

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Baubles & Babbles: Aiming High


Welcome to my last Baubles and Babbles, my Christmas series that were little notes on helping my family communicate over the Christmas holidays. Before we head back to school, this last post is about setting expectations for the New Year.

Monday 2 January 2017

Our best moments from 2016

Instagram round up

As always our lives have been filled with the unexpected and 2016 was no different. Our beautiful, wonderful and unique children have grown and our family have both tired and flourished. Along with my favourite Instagram photos (above) I'm sharing my top five best moments from the blog this year here, in reverse order.

Have a look at our most recent posts:

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