I’d never thought to ask for myself Last week, the National Autistic Society came out and stated, definitively and for the first time, that autism is genetic. You’re born autistic and you’re autistic for life. It’s not something you can catch. It’s your neurology, and it’s inherited, most often from your parents. We’ve all known […]
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The return to school has been anything but smooth How’s your week been? I’m not sure whether I’m coming or going, to be honest. I didn’t think it could get more crazy than the summer holidays, but there you go. We made it to day four. Day four, and then everyone crashed out, and that
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They seem fine. But it’s only day one. By the time I send this, this past week will have seen my 20th wedding anniversary, the addition of a new boy to our household of the canine variety, and both of my children back at school. It’s a lot in one week, but then it’s been
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It isn’t attitude, it’s anxiety I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember Kevin and Perry – Harry Enfield comedy sketches, back in the nineties. Kevin turns thirteen and transforms mid-sentence from a perfectly pleasant child into a stomping, grunting, door-slamming creature whose only line is that everything is SO UNFAIR. Perry is his
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Nobody’s dressed and it’s almost midday As I write this it’s almost midday. Nobody’s dressed. I’ve been up since before 6.30am. So far I’ve half cleaned the house, walked a puppy, done training with a puppy, played referee amid full scale sibling warfare, searched puppy poo for Lego figures and cleaned up sick. There’s wet
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You could feel everyone watching I had a conversation earlier this week that reminded me of a few things I think I now take for granted. We’ve been on this journey for so many years, and I’m surrounded by people in a similar position, so it’s only every now and again that I come across
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When you become the safe person again We’ve reached that transitional phase where my child has finished school for the summer holidays and is now at home. They’re a little older now and are about to move up to secondary school. They’re in a very supportive school, and generally life at home is, within reason,
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When capacity runs out It’s the end of term, and I’ve been thinking a lot about capacity. Why is it that, just when so many of our children are already running on empty, the summer term becomes the busiest time of the year? The routine changes almost daily. Sports days. School plays. Visitors. Special activities.
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The joke wasn’t really about the spider This week I’ve been reflecting on something that happened years ago. I was talking to another parent recently about something that had happened at school for their child, and it resurfaced an old memory for me. At the time, my child was barely managing school. Attendance was patchy.
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When the sofa slips away I saw Kristy Forbes write something recently that really stayed with me. She was talking about that moment at the end of the day when you are so close to finally sitting down. So close to rest. Your body can almost feel the bed, or the sofa, or the shower.
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