Is my child autistic?

I remember the exact moment when I thought Anthony might be different. When he wasn't doing something that all the other kids in the antenatal mums group were doing.  I had my suspicions and was soon asking myself, is my child autistic?

The lights at Kew with our autistic and neurotypical family

Last weekend saw the end of Christmas at Kew, an after dark winter walk around Kew Gardens full of magical light displays, music and the odd fair ground ride thrown in for good measure. We don't get out much during the holidays but took this special trip out as it appeals to our autistic kids sensory side so much.

SEND and SpectrumSunday #90

Happy New Year!  Over the last week our house has slowly changed as we help our lot cope with the change around their home back to normality. Whatever you have been up to in the world of SEND and / or autism I'd love to hear about it here on our linky for anything about autism, mental health, education, special educational needs and disabilities and associated topics.  

Looking back over the year of our autistic, ADHD and neurotypical family

Another year passed and what has happened. Here I remind myself of the top posts and parts of our lives with our autistic and neurotypical family from the last twelve months.  I hope it's been a good year for you, here's ours.

Helping my kids communicate over Christmas

Christmas brings with it a change of routine, sensory explosions and a whole host of other things that can be overwhelming for any kids but particularly those with autism.  Perhaps more than other times, it's really important that I'm able to understand my kids, so I need to make it easy for them to communicate.

Computer games for our kids this Christmas, suitable for ages 3 to 16+

My kids and I both enjoy gaming. We enjoy, relax and learn from it. But not all the games I play are suitable for all our kids.  It's getting close to Christmas and if you are thinking of getting a last minute new computer game for your children, here's some of the latest we are considering, what they are about and what you might like to know about them, from a mum of autistic and neurotypical kids.

Why we will be extra excited about the Strictly final and sorry to see it end

It's been years since I followed Strictly Come Dancing properly. I watched a few series but there's so much on TV nowadays and we honestly usually only make time to watch sports live.  That was until about a month ago, and since then we've seen something special happen in our autistic and neurotypical family.

Getting our autistic home ready for Christmas

Christmas brings with it many changes.  Despite being a very exciting time of year the upheaval and appearances around the home can cause some stress. So how do we prepare our autistic and neurotypical kids for the big things like decorations and make a success of the arrival of our real Christmas Tree?

SEND and SpectrumSunday 89

It's advent - you can tell in our house because there's been excessive excitement about taking a small chocolate out of a calendar!  The house will slowly change over the next month as we help our lot cope with the change around their home but still enjoy the festive season.