Living with Autism

Yep, Grace App was  joint winner of the Best Mobile Application – Sponsored by O2  Of course - I couldn't even have entered without the magical work of Developer  Steve Troughton-Smith
That's me, along with the lovely Vinnie Coyne with his winning Eirtext app and my   Made in Hollywood Giant iPhone 4
(yep, my mascara was smudged. They were calling me Halle Berry afterwards)
It was an excellent night and I would like to thank all the organisers and generous sponsors,
And Mr Damien Mulley. 

Big thanks to the host Rick O'Shea who was very supportive when I was dissolving into buckets of tears waiting to do my speech, AND he gave a little shout out afterwards to get everyone to donate their lanyards from the Most Excellent Goody Bags!

The lanyards are used to make shoulder straps for iPhones to be used with Grace App
A big thanks to everyone who sent their congratulations via Text, Facebook and Twitter - I was really quite tickled.
The Mansion House is an excellent venue - the ba…

Being a Parent is Universal.
We all give birth or adopt a new life with the feeling that someone gave your heart a pair of legs and sent it out into the world to cope for itself. You do whatever you can to keep them safe while allowing them to grow to their full potential.

Sometimes that little "Light of Our Heart" has extra challenges that mean we as parents have to be smarter, more creative, have more stamina, patience, adaptability and acceptance

Update: August 2014
I looked up this old post because I've been thinking about getting some more "Smart Storage" and I wanted to send the link to them.

I was very amused to find the post was dated in August too. (August is the longest non-school month in the Northern Hemisphere) 

What is it about staying home with kids for the summer that inspires us to want to organise our home and possessions?

For me its about control. When life feels a bit messy, it helps to get a grip on what you can control. I've noticed that my kids become most rigid in their behavior when there is an aspect of life that they find challenging, like a change of classroom or teacher in school. I know I consciously look things to move and tidy in my home, when what I really need to tidy is my brain. This year I sorted Liam's massive video and DVD collection on to home made shelves in the attic.

And it works. Those neatly stacked shelves are a metaphor for the re-organisation of my work/life balanc…

Sorry for the huge lack of original content lately but July and August are like Kryptonite to Creativity for this Mum. I have my beloveds home with me full time now for another 26 days before they go back to school and I can hold a coherent thought in my head for more than 16 seconds.

While glancing over the news from Autism World via Facebook I came across another one of these "Shock Horror - Autistic Person Demonstrates they can Think!" Youtube clips which I always have to say "Der!" to.

I mean, why is it only when the autistic person finds a way to reach the "normals" that those normals can accept that they are fully functional intelligent human beings?


And I couldn't help but wonder.... 
Why aren't these parents learning to understand their children before they exhibit these so-called savant characteristics?
Are they waiting for them to be fixed before they will truly connect?


This isn't a new thought for me. Since working on my Grace App and …