Living with Autism

I have just watched an interupted version of "After Thomas". A movie of the week made by Utv about a little boy and the impact that a dog had on his family and ultimately his autism.
Interupted because my own little girl with autism was dancing in front of the kitchen t.v. in perfect harmony with the lead character "Kyle" the 6 year old with ASD. Irony runs rich in our house as my Bratty girl put on a DVD "The Best of Ernie and Bert" and I decamped to the living room to try and watch it there. After a negotiation with Boo who was watching Sky Movies; I got back on track to see the puppy being brought into the room and placed in the Mum's arms.
It was very moving. Firstly to see how accurately they had researched "Kyle's" behaviours but also for the friction between his parents. Dad wanting to have a life. Mum totally stressed but not willing to go for the residential option that they were investigating when I tuned in. Been there man!
I th…

In the spirit of the End of Year clip shows, I thought I would compile a list of songs that form the soundtrack to our lives.
Some we would never choose to listen to because when they come on the radio we have to pull off the road and cry a bit. Some make us feel joyful and we sing along or dance. And some make us say:


"Yes, that is exactly how it is"

With Thanks to: Blackcat, Jacqui, Joy, Wah, Ohhh, Alice, Radio, Hidihi and Tinkerbell for the suggestions.....

"The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel

"Nessun Dorma" Luciano Pavarotti (none shall sleep)

"open your eyes" by snow patrol

"Under Pressure" Freddie Mercury and David Bowie

"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen

"Scorn not his Simplicity" melodically sung by Luke Kelly

"always look on the bright side of life": Monty Python; The Life of Brian.

"The itchy and scratchy show" (they fight, and fight, and fight and fight and fight..........)

Crash Test Du…

Children with autism suffer from a range of sensory interference. Everything they hear, see, feel, taste and smell is distorted into a range of “overs and unders” in accounting terms. Some may see every hair on your head in individual detail and others may just see an amorphous blur where your head is. Some may hear the wind blowing through the trees on the calmest day, as if it were a gale. Others may hear a pleasant blur of white noise, like a mistuned radio. A touch can feel like a squeeze, a squeeze can feel like nothing, like when your foot goes to sleep, except it is their whole body, ALL THE TIME!

They find it difficult to tune in to their human environment as a result and do not learn the baseline skills of communication and self care naturally, through imitation of their parents and peers.

Why do we find that ABA helps?

ABA stands for Applied Behavioural Analysis. It is an applied science using observable behaviour to determine how someone learns, and how they may be best taught…

Hi there.
By now Saint Nicholas will be putting his feet up having delivered his last parcel somewhere over the pacific.
The little hammies are settled if not asleep in their beds and I have time to reflect and regret how the day went.
After spending 360 days maintaining that we would do Christmasour way, to suit our kids, I went and weakened at the last minute and committed to meeting up with the in-laws on the day.
Not to Christmas dinner of course. We managed to eliminate that nightmare of being stuck behind a table groaning with food and panicking as the little hammies potentially messed with cigarette lighters, full on caffeine soft drinks, caramels and doors left unlocked. Feeling dreadful having to climb over everyone to confiscate caffeine and caramels; but never actually getting the message across that we needed to sit where we could get up from the table easily.
Following the feast there would be a similar conflict as by now someone would have lit the open the open fire meaning o…

Whether you are on the road for a diagnosis and services or just wondering whether you should perhaps get a few things checked out, you might find that your “SatNav” does not have the settings to get you where you need to go.
Obviously the advice will need to be updated as legislation and access changes. Much as the directions you get change when the council build a new roundabout or someone plonks a port tunnel over the road you used to go on to get to Clontarf.
The oldies can get you the general drift but it is the most recent travellers who will be able to give you the latest information about the new route.

With Contributions from Olli and Stormcloud.

1. Do out a CV of your child.

In this will be;

PREGNANCY: How was the pregnancy? Were you ever ill, did you have any infections, a high temperature, could you eat normally or were you very sick all the time?

DELIVERY: Was it full term and normal or were there any complications.

FEEDING: Were they a good feeder or poor? Fussy and hard to get …

B is for BITING!
Ouch!
This is a really tough one. It is such an effective way to get someone out of your space, to elicit a reaction, and to get sensory input when you are angry, threatened or excited, that it comes naturally to many children, not just those on the autistic spectrum. And it comes just as naturally for the victim to squawk or scream in an amusing fashion, to pull away and to be wary around the biter. So no wonder they do it again. Hey, I would do it if I thought I could get away with it. Much simpler than writing a letter or making a dozen phone calls to whoever is annoying you. Just go and visit them and crunch! It is actually an acceptable form of fighting in some countries so our kids are just obeying a natural instinct that seems to work. How do we put an end to it? Well the first thing is not to react. Very difficult when your beloved 3 year old has just nipped you on caesarean scar (a convenient height when you are 3) and you are in white hot pain meltdown. But stifle…

No, I am not going to talk about your child's sense of style, although my personal belief is that they should dress as well as possible and have a good haircut*
Just because they have special educational needs, does not mean that they should not look fabulous. And hey, if they look good, people are going to make allowances for behaviour!

But, I am going to try and explain why your child's sensory challenges coupled with the natural rigidity and intolerance of change can cause wardrobe problems for parents.



First I want you to imagine that you have just got out of the shower, dried off and have put on your clothes for the day. In the first few minutes after we get dressed in the morning we can feel our clothes. Not in an irritating or scratchy way, but just a sensation of contact.



Now imagine that that sensation of contact lasts all day. For many of our kids in the early stages it is so unpleasant that the first thing they do when they get in the door is take all their clothes off.…