Living with Autism

What do Snumpreneurs do in the Summer Holidays?

Like superman in reverse, we take off our all in one leotards and put on a summer frock and flip-flops.  And we keep busy!
The kid's special school is no longer offering a 4 week summer program in July - it's because the staff get July off as paid annual leave and any overtime earned by doing an extra month with 23 autistic kids is taxed to bejayzuzz and not paid until NOVEMBER!!!

 So we have 45 days extra days at home to fill.
One of our annual day-filling routines is a special needs swim camp offered by Newpark School in  Blackrock. One to one ratio of teacher to pupil and 5 days in a row to learn and remember what they learned the day before. We love it.






Bringing 2 kids swimming on my own might seem difficult; and as it is a special needs swim camp we can't expect to get into the disabled change room as it is always in use.

So I have to bring both my very post-puberty teenagers into the ladies' changing rooms. It's…

My Gramps passed away today. He was 92 and had a long hard fight but died peacefully with my Granma, my dear Uncle Danny and my cousin Kel at his side.

I got to say Goodbye in person just over ten days ago when we stopped by the nursing home to introduce him to great grandchild number 12 and number 13, Matilda and Emily pictured above. The room was full of cousins, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sons and daughters-in-law and Gramps was over-joyed to see everyone. I went from there to the airport to fly back to Ireland.

He had a long battle. As you may have read I rushed over to Australia just over 6 weeks ago to say goodbye but he rallied that time, and I was glad. This time when the end came he was calm and as prepared as a 92 year old body that fought in Tobruk and New Guinea in the Second World War could be.

He was also a lifelong Carlton Football Club supporter and appears on their website here after they signed a card for his 90th Birthday. I printed off a screenshot of tha…

I have been called away to a family situation in Australia, leaving a pile of work including a few long overdue reviews. (sorry!)

I am also leaving Daddy behind to run a house with 2 autistic teenagers for 6 weeks. So I thought it was appropriate that he take on the task of reviewing the excellent Daily Planner from Therapics which was sitting in my "To Do" list with all the other preparation for July....




Posted by Bill Domican

There are two rules of thumb for July,August and any extended period of time where a parent or carer is near 100% responsible for filling the days for an autistic child or teenager.

1. Keep your own sanity.

2. Keep theirs.

If you focus on those two rules, you'll be fine. But HOW?

The answer in one quick word is..........Dah dah dah dah! ROUTINE! If you can establish a routine to fill the days so that unexpected events are limited, time is filled and energy expended you will get the reward of a cold glass of wine or beer in the evening, c…

One of my friends recently posted this on Facebook:

"Are you too busy to take care of yourself?
That's kinda like saying you're too busy driving to stop for gas. Makes no sense."

Before I had children I used to think I was busy. I worked long days, went to the gym, got my hair coloured and coiffed, eyebrows shaped, legs waxed and had regular facials. I also shopped, cooked, cleaned and did laundry. On the weekends I worked most Saturdays, then went to the beach, went bushwalking or cycling with my partner and in the evenings ate out at fashionable pubs.
Like I say, I thought I was busy. 
Fast forward 20 years, add 2 teenage children with autism and a full time job being a part time special needs entrepreneur in a difficult economic climate, then you know busy.
Having two people who need to be supported through every aspect of self care and personal grooming means there are days when you barely have time to shower. 
And yet, to some people's chagrin I don't beli…

Apps can be fun. Apps can be useful. But Apps can also be incredibly important and irreplaceable in people's lives. This is a short story of how an iPhone and a young iOS developer completely changed the life of Lisa and her autistic daughter Grace.
Lisa Domican has two children, Liam & Grace. Both have autism and as a result did not develop speech. To allow autistic children with this limitation to communicate with their parents, Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) are used. The term that might as well also describe an IT protocol is used to describe a rather hardware-driven solution: It is a selection of printed laminated pictures.

"The system teaches them to hand you a picture of a drink, which you quickly reward by giving them this drink," explains Lisa. "Little by little you teach them a vocabulary of different pictures for different things, all of which have huge value to the child. At the same time you are pointing to the picture and saying th…

In the 5 years since I began developing Grace App I have paid for and trialled countless cases; Gripcase is the first one I have seen designed SPECIFICALLY for kids.  And kids are rough, whether they have extra needs or not!It is also the first case I have ever tried that got an immediate reaction on Facebook. Seriously, I put up one photograph when I unwrapped it:
And I get 15 comments asking where to get one.
You can get it online at CompuB Store with delivery around Ireland.
The Gripcase is exactly what it looks like;  a durable "shock absorbent case that protects iPad during impact" The easy grip design means there is a lot less likelihood of dropping and incurring an impact. As the mother of two autistic kids I checked on the chewability - the case is made of non-toxic materials that do not break up when picked at or bitten  (I actually tested this myself: chewy with no weird aftertaste)
My Facebook Friend Eileen told me this:
"In our house we have two…