For the first time in his life, he didn’t cry about going back to school

My son Anthony is now 11 years old.  He has been going to school for seven years.  After each holiday he cried several times a day, several days before his first day back at school.  Let's just say half of Christmas was miserable for him.

SEND & SpectrumSunday 86

Summer is over.  Our eldest is starting a new school.  It's the first time he's OK with going to school after the summer holidays because of it. I hope it works for him - I really really do. 

Thanks for all those who joined me over the summer with up to three posts! Anything about autism, mental health, education and anything related to autism and special educational needs and disabilities parenting is as always welcome.  

Our summer wind-down routines in the run up to school

The school summer holidays is always the longest break in routine for our kids. Whilst our kids with autism struggle with these changes, many kids find the transition into and out of school holidays challenging. We've found that there are things that can help.

How we took our autistic pre-verbal son ziplining across the Canadian Rockies

To many who know him, the idea of taking our eight year old autistic son zip lining, never mind zip lining across waterfalls and canyons, could seem crazy.

Options for autistic kids in Further and Higher Education

Anthony has left primary school and is heading to secondary school.  Through school, as a child with autism and ADHD, Anthony has had some support to help him.

More than a nice day out in Yosemite National Park

What am I saying? Every one of the four days we spent at Yosemite National Park in California was a beautiful bright sunny day, with a brilliant blue sky and temperatures in the high 20s.

SEND and SpectrumSunday 85.. for summer

As it's summer and I'm way too all over the place, I've decided to stick with my original idea and keep July's linky open until the end of August.   Anything about autism, mental health, education and anything related to autism and special educational needs and disabilities parenting is as always welcome.  As it's extra long, feel free to link up three instead of the usual two posts for a bit more love. 

San Francisco with our autistic kids

San Francisco, San Fran or even SF to the locals, is a vibrant, diverse city in northern California known for it's bay, famous Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars and much more.  But having a family that often struggles with busy environments doesn't mean we didn't enjoy the area.  In fact we had a great time.

Last minute multi-stop trip with autistic kids - no problem

Earlier this year we all felt down. Life, work, home all seemed a bit of a mess. So my hubby and I put our heads together - let's go big this summer.  Let's go away for the whole summer, visit lots of places, escape, find ourselves, find our family, expand our kids horizons. But come May I'd still not booked anything.  All I had was a plan and if I didn't act soon, that's all I'd have.