WonderfulWednesday: No better feeling via H2AU

It really is an amazing feeling.  When your child, or anyone you know for that matter even yourself, steps outside their comfort zone. When that person finds change difficult and new things terrifying, it's even more an accomplishment and this is very common for people with autism.  That's why this week, my wonderful Wednesday share is this image from H2AU: the stuff of our life

Easy bread mix helps kids learn to wait and share

Lots of children with autism find it difficult to wait for things.  Sharing is difficult for many kids, including those with autism or ADHD, because they have to wait for a toy, going on the bus is difficult because they have to wait for their bus. David used to have meltdowns at the bus stop because he didn't understand that we had to wait to for another number bus.  This cooking recipe is easy, fun, helps them learn about waiting and is ideal for this season of  'sharing'.

Spectrum and SEND Sunday #38

Hello, and welcome back to Spectrum and SEND Sunday #38,  hosted by Danielle over at Someone's Mum and me. This is the place to share your autism, special educational needs and disabilities posts and if you are new to linkies, no worries, you can look at my guide on what they are and what to do.

WonderfulWednesday: @autisticnw and "What we love most about life"

This week's wonderful Wednesday share is a short video from Chris Bonnello at Autistic Not Weird. It's a video of the colour proof of his book - 'What we love most about life' that was on the Autistic Not Weird Facebook page.

Progress and prosperity

"Progress".... sounds like something out of an election campaign. In fact Al Gore used it in 2000 "Prosperity & Progress".  As good as prosperity is, it's not usually the term I'm listening for when I walk into a meeting at my kids school.  If my kids aren't making progress or progress at the right pace then their education can go back to square one.

Are my 'Children in Need' of someone better?

There's no denying that being a parent is way more work than you think it's going to be. When the midwife came to see me the day after we took our first child Anthony home she found me still in my pyjamas despite it being nearly noon. Within minutes of her asking how I was I'd burst into tears. Being a mother is overwhelming. Over eight years later we now have two boys with autism and a little girl and I still get that same feeling. Sometimes it's during the simplest of circumstance.

My tips to make shopping easier

That's it.  It's officially less than six weeks until Christmas. I've still got nearly everything to buy. Yes, I'm busy and yes, I do tend to leave things to the last minute.  But the reality is that shopping with my kids and for my kids is difficult.  Surely even the happiest of shoppers have some sort of dread about the idea of dragging kids and family members around ever increasingly busy venues, in the run up to the happiest day of the year? No pressure there then.

Marc says it's not really about a little blue #CupforBen

This morning I wrote my wonderful Wednesday post - that I hope something wonderful comes out of the latest viral social media autism trend - Ben's little blue cup. I'm delighted that Marc, Ben's dad, who started the search for a rare sippy cup for his son replied to my post.

WonderfulWednesday: @GrumpyCarer searches for a sippy cup

A fab dad took to social media this week to try and find a replacement little blue cup for his son with autism. Marc Carter's 14 year old son, Ben, has severe autism and will only drink out of a specific sippy cup that is on it's last legs. The cup is no longer made so with the fear that without it, his son will simply stop drinking altogether, Marc asked Twitter for help.  And Twitter responded.