Living with Autism

I did a public speaking engagement recently (I know, GAH!) and while I was planning it out in my head I was thinking of what might encapsulate my personal philosophy, as a mission statement.

I didn't have to look far to find it.

This is my Facebook Avatar at the moment. My favourite lady from my first style icons. 

And this teeny lady I wear around my neck.
Created by Wendy Brandes - Blogger, Jeweller to the stars and general Sass Arse.

Sold to help another blogger in need. As Wendy put it: "Janet of Je Ne Sais Quoi suffered a tragic loss when her husband took his own life. Janet has two young children"

Now most people make the sympathetic noises when they hear such a thing. They might even say "He will be in my prayers" or "I'm so sorry for your loss"

But prayers don't pay rent or feed children. Angels don't sort through personal effects and help you list them on ebay to help pay your school fees. They don't support the basics while a…

When Liam was small and we didn't yet know he had autism he used to get rampant tonsilitius.
I would take him to the Doctor, get the antibiotics and then fail hopelessly at getting Liam to take them (because he was so sensitive to taste and smell) so bacteria being who they are would then build themselves up and mutate into something even stronger and more painful.

Even with this septic mess of a throat, Liam would continue to run around and play until suddenly he would go  pale and listless.
I would take him back to the Doctor only to see him CRINGE as he examined the tonsils and say

"They are VERY infected" then look at me like I was the worst mother in the world, write a new prescription and say firmly "complete the course" as if I was too busy smokin, drinking cider and playing the slots to ensure that my son took his medicine.

Eventually after many flare ups and visits and hiding of medicines in food (a bad idea) and asking if they could be administered …

We have been nominated in several catagories in the Irish Blog Awards;

At the rate I have been blogging lately I feel it would be best to celebrate the nomination and thank firstly Mulley for making the awards happen, along with connecting me and so many others with other bloggers and networkers.

I am pretty sure I read about The iPhone Wizard on Mulley's Fluffy Links so thank you dearly.

I would also like to thank the Sponsors of each catagory I have been nomm'ed in:

IQ Content for "Best Specialist Blog"

Microsoft Ireland for "Best Personal Blog"

and

Kro IT Solutions for "Best Blog Post" - for "One Bite of the Cookie" (thanks Petunia)

There are several absolute must reads in each of those catagories, so I'm just going to get the dress, the hair and enjoy the party in the Radisson Blue in Galway on March 27th.

And practice my "you didn't win" smile happily.

Thankyou to whomever nominated me, and all the very best to the l…

Pinched from Candi at Looking for Blue Sky.

You just copy the list and bold the ones you've done.
I'm going to bracket the things I did that were close enough to count.I have a terrible memory so will be double checking with Mr Hammie later, maybe emboldening a few more...


Started your own blog (x 3)

Slept under the stars (most memorably on a beach in Sengiggi, Lombok)

Played in a band
(wrote a song that was recorded by a band in a studio and shook a tambourine, I think)

Visited Hawaii

Watched a meteor shower

Given more than you can afford to charity* (totally worth it!)

Been to Disneyland

Climbed a mountain (Carrauntuohil, Co Kerry, Croagh Patrick, Sugarloaf)

Held a praying mantis


Sang a solo (frightening for all concerned)

Bungee jumped

Visited Paris


Watched a thunder and lightning storm (duh! lived in Brisvegas for 4 years)


Taught yourself an art from scratch

Adopted a child

Had food poisoning

Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (closed due to 9/11 so I went heavy security eleva…

 Remember Joe Behan?  Well here's another politician with chutzpah:
Letter of Resignation from Senator de Burca to Party Leader John Gormley February 12, 2010

Dear John,

I am writing to inform you of my intention to resign from the Green Party Parliamentary Party and from Seanad Eireann with immediate effect.

It is with great sadness that I tender my resignation, having served as an elected member of the Green Party for eight years on Wicklow County Council and for a further two and a half years as a member of Seanad Eireann. During that time I have worked faithfully on behalf of the party to try to advance its political agenda in order to put this country on a more sustainable path.

I regret to say that I can no longer support the Green Party in government, as I believe that we have gradually abandoned our political values and our integrity and in many respects have become no more than an extension of the Fianna Fail party. 

I have had a number of conversations with you as Party L…

In order to teach our kids to interact with us and others, we have to demonstrate our value to them - by becoming a rewarding person to know. To do that we have to become associated with the things they like and need. And we need to be needed ALOT. To do this you have to make some changes to your home environment, but I promise it will be worth it.



Mand City - or People Who Need People Are the Luckiest People in the World



Had a little feedback meeting with some parents this week who were trying out the Grace App for me in The Good School.

One of the parents said that she felt, she needed more opportunities to get her son to need her, in order to really get the benefit of showing him how to use the App.

And I couldn't help but wonder...

How many parents fall into the trap of giving their kids independent access to everything they need, and miss out on the opportunities to create and increase the frequency of their kid's  "Mands?"

The inverted commas are deliberate as Mand …

Had a little feedback meeting with some parents this week who were trying out the Grace App for me in The Good School.

One of the parents said that she felt, she needed more opportunities to get her son to need her, in order to really get the benefit of showing him how to use the App.

And I couldn't help but wonder...
How many parents fall into the trap of giving their kids independent access to everything they need, and miss out on the opportunities to create and increase the frequency of their kid's "Mands?"

The inverted commas are deliberate as Mand is a madey uppy word coined by the king of behavourial science and madey uppy words B.F. Skinner.

Now don't run away, I promise the science ends here.

It is short for comMAND and deMAND and we must ensure that our language or learning delayed children have the ability to make a lot of Mands appropriately.

Why? - because it is the basis of almost all communication for someone who isn't naturally socially motivate…