The thing we don’t say out loud about the school holidays It’s the half term holiday in the UK, and this can look very different in families like ours. I know there’ll be parents reading this who have spent the last few days barely leaving the house. Because everywhere is too busy. Too loud. Too […]
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SATs, half term, and the relentless juggling act This week I want to talk about the enormous pressure that’s on our children when they’re expected to take part in things like SATs. We’re now in the final summer term. Our kids are getting tired, and there are impending transitions looming from September – whether that’s
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When your brain sends you to the wrong cinema I’ve been thinking this week about capacity. The invisible load. All the things we carry that other people – the ones not living our life – don’t necessarily see, or understand, or really get. It made me chuckle when I thought back to some of the
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Holding it together when you’re falling apart I wasn’t sure whether to write this. It’s a bit of a strange one today, and there are so many emotions. My very elderly dog – a 15 year old Serbian Hound, the most beautiful soul – is at the end of his life. Right now, as I
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This could have felt like a wasted journey Something happened recently that I wanted to share, because actually… it felt like a positive. My child was dysregulated at school. Something had happened and they could feel it building. They knew they were becoming triggered and were worried it might escalate to a point where they
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I woke up anxious for no reason The Easter holidays are nearly over here. They’ve been full on – the demands, the needs, the constant reading of the room. I’m tired in the way that only this kind of parenting makes you tired. But we’ve had some calmer days too, and I’m holding onto those.
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A different kind of hard I’ve been reflecting that Easter holidays, for a lot of us in this community, are not a break. They’re just a different kind of hard. The structure disappears. The routine that took weeks to build – the one that made mornings just about manageable – gone. And in its place,
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When did you last have something to look forward to? I want to tell you something that took me a long time to admit out loud. There was a period, not that long ago, when I stopped looking forward to things. Not dramatically. Not all at once. It crept up on me so quietly that
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When your child can’t go to school Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) is something many families in this community are living with, although it often feels like a very lonely place to be. There are lots of reasons children may find it difficult to access school. Sensory overwhelm is a big one. Classrooms can be
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When your child looks “fine” I want to share something that happened recently, because I think so many of us have been here. You know those moments when you share your child’s diagnosis and someone says, “But they don’t look autistic.” And it always leaves me thinking – what were you expecting? What does autism
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