Living with Autism

We are certainly not in Kansas anymore in this household.


Had to go into school today to approve a new program Boo is starting on Health and Hygiene which includes knowing which parts are supposed to stay inside the pants and when it is okay for hands to follow them down there - and other stories.


There is a brilliant work book that the school have researched which had sections for me to fill in on what we call things (we decided on Penis and Wiener) and what rooms it is okay to be naked in (Bathroom, Change room and Bedroom) and where and when it is okay to touch things.


This is very important as Boo is a "sock" boy as my Australian brothers in law call it and he will have to learn how to wash himself properly, at some point. I have always instructed him to wash his own bits, modelling where necessary, but found myself at a loss when it came to well, showing how to wash "under the sock".


I tried cutting up a surgical glove to fashion a foreskin that I peeled back ove…

Boo in Delgany Wood
As you can see, he has 2 shoes on his feet and is within range of his Mummy so the walks did improve by last Thursday. By the weekend the storm seems to have passed metaphorically as the behaviour settled, I got a lot more sleep and as you know, we even had time for a few laughs. Someone who didn't know that Boo and I were getting along much better is my dear friend "Mrs Doyle" (so called because she loves tea and won't let anyone else pay for anything) was driving out to Greystones.  Armed with a card and a very generous gift voucher for a local restaurant to give me and Mr Hammie a night out, she discreetly slipped this through the letter box as Boo and I were dancing away and disappeared into the night. This woman really is platinum level generous and thoughtful and I have to say - Amazingly gorgeous. And did I say she has 3 kids, one of which has autism and she works full time?
Thanks Mrs Doyle, I really don't deserve a friend like you - but I…

Okay so it is a sappy "here comes the joke" multi-plex movie but it's got Morgan Freeman as God, Wanda Sykes, The Mum from The Gilmore Girls and it doesn't stoop to making fun of minority groups to get cheap laughs. So when "Evan Almighty" is on Sky Movies we watch it together for free.
And at the end, Boo and I do "The Dance" together. And Boo Does the moves.




I will tell you 3 facts about me:
1. I have small but perfectly formed ears
2. I have excellent feet
3, I Can Dance

Have a great weekend!

Well it finally happened.
I got stopped today and cautioned for Road Rage.
I also got cautioned for driving a Micra in the "Over taking Lane" as the young Garda told me it is called and told that it was to be points and an €80 fine next time.
It wasn't actually a marked police car so don't think I am that stupid, but an unmarked grey Mondeo that was behind me a bit on the M50 motorway even though I was doing at least the speed limit. (maybe hovering just above, sorry)
They flashed the lights and I moved over into what I used to call the slow-lane and then gave them my usual pinkie wave as they passed. And then I saw that there were about 7 aerials on the roof of the car and both occupants were wearing blue uniforms. OH CRAP.
They slowed down, got behind me and flashed me again, this time with the special lights that say "pull over you stupid girl, you have really messed up this time'
He came over and lectured me about the pinkie wave, then the lesson about what th…

A day in the life of the House of Boo (who currently rules our lives)


7.20 - 7.30: wake up, say good morning to sleepy children while I still love them. Go to Bathroom, Make coffee, Really wake up, make lunches, pack lunch boxes into school bags and put them in the hallway.
8.00 - 8.30: Kiss children again, still sleepy. Get selfbathroomed, washed and dressed.
8.30: Approach Boo again and say Good Morning; this time pull back covers a bit. 
Prepare clothes for Bratty and go into her bedroom to dress her, while she is still sleepy and cooperative. Get her socks on her and get her mobile. She goes down stairs.
8.45: Approach Boo again, this time trying to get him to take off his pyjamas, put on his clothes and come downstairs.
9.00 am: Boo is still under the covers, has removed all clothes that I have managed to put on him. 
9.15 am After various threats about televisions and computers Boo has acquiesced to putting on some clothes but has now decided to arrange for what DVDs he wants t…

Things have been incredibly tough here at chateau Hammie, Boo is going off scale in his willfulness and last night I didn't sleep more than an hour at a time.

He woke up and stayed wide awake from 2am and continually came into our room asking for Dvds to be wiped, the player to be fixed and countless other stuff that I can't seperate from my dreams, but which culminated in a DVD player being washed.
Now that won't be playing anything again. Last week it was his TV/VCR unit that had a drink of apple juice. Ah feck it!



There is a lot of independence related stuff, so perhaps it is typical adolescence. He wants to do everything for himself and can't because of his autism. Who knows?



Part of me wants to write about it and show you the pictures of ripped apart phones and broken plates because I think it might make other parents feel less alone. But the other part doesn't want to give more fodder to this crazy bintwho already thinks our lives are barely worth living.



Truth is…

For the last 5 years I have campaigned for Applied Behavioural Analysis to be available as needed in Ireland, while running a home ABA program for my two kids.
Almost 12 months ago, they were accepted into a full time ABA school and I suddenly had a bit of head space - but still enough energy; so I started to work for Irish Autism Action part time.
My first job was "The Affinity", a chance for all IAA groups to connect with our long term sponsors - O2, and raise much needed funds.  For the month of October, existing and new o2 customers could text the word "autism" to 50308 and from that point o2 would donate 5% of their call costs directly to community based autism groups which were members of the IAA.
It was my job to communicate this to the groups and ensure that they spread the word and get as many people to text and join as possible.  As a new parent in a full service ABA school, I could see the enormous advantage of the Affinity because we too have to fundra…