Welcome back for Spectrum and SEND Sunday #70! This week was World Autism Awareness Week, but we've also had a few other awareness days recently. Whether autism or any other special educational needs, disabilities, or mental health posts, come share them here.
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Saturday 31 March 2018
Thursday 29 March 2018
When my child with autism does..
It can be so easy to make snap judgements on behaviour. It's not on purpose, but we are often programmed by our own experiences and up bringing. Sometimes things aren't what they seem. Some behaviours associated with autism are often noticed as naughty, strange or annoying because it's not easy to understand why they are happening.
Tuesday 27 March 2018
Diet ideas for increasing dopamine or serotonin
When Anthony was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) a few years ago the health service sent us a list of things to help him. Problem was, we were doing almost all of it already which meant the only remaining support for his ADHD was via medication. I wondered how the medication worked and if there was anything we could do instead via his diet? I also wondered if by understanding this, it might apply to people with depression or sleep difficulties.
Sunday 25 March 2018
My top five autism awareness posts
It's World Autism Awareness Week next week. Along with millions of people worldwide, I am, always, hopeful that the week will help highlight what autism is and is not and how fabulous people with autism (like two of my kids) are and also how challenging life can be for them and those who care for them sometimes. The hope is that awareness leads to acceptance - that's the real goal. So here's my top five autism awareness posts from my blog.
Wednesday 21 March 2018
It's World Down Syndrome Day - what's with the socks?
Today, many people will have been wearing odd socks for World Down Syndrome Day. But what's it got to do with socks?
Sunday 18 March 2018
Burrowing bunny Easter cupcakes learning activity
There's always plenty of food involved in Easter. The kids love the Easter egg hunt in the garden and then there are the hundreds of hot cross buns consumed (one of Anthony's favourite snacks that are not available all year round). This year we're making super easy burrowing bunny cupcakes that will help with their spatial reasoning, motor skills development and include Oreos as a special treat.
Thursday 15 March 2018
The benefits of a few autism friendly thoughts
This post has been updated. Read this post >>
Tuesday 13 March 2018
The memory functions of my 10 year old autistic lad with ADHD
"I can't find my shoes, where are they, where are they?" screams Anthony as he races through the house. Anthony needs to be reminded to put his shoes in the hall when he takes them off. He can never remember where else they might be and has huge difficulty actually seeing them even when in plain sight. It's like directing a blind folded person to an object on the floor sometimes.
Thursday 8 March 2018
When you find out your child has got upset at school
When I dropped Jane at school on Monday, her older brother's teaching assistant was waiting at the door. Anthony has autism and ADHD and has a learning support assistant (LSA) or teaching assistant (TA) help him at school. At first I thought he must have forgotten something, but then it was obvious that his TA was checking in because he'd got really upset a few days before. It doesn't matter if your child has additional needs or not - no one wants to hear their child has been upset.