Not everyone looks forward to Christmas – and that’s ok Not everyone says this out loud. Because they’re afraid of being judged. Afraid of what it might make people think about their child. Or about their parenting. But many neurodivergent families feel it deeply. Christmas is a time of huge expectation. It’s sold as magical, […]
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When you’re trying so hard to carry a life no one understands When I look back at the very early days of trying to get school and professionals to understand what was going on, I can can see how hard I was working just to hold everything together. I was constantly explaining, anticipating, firefighting, trying
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If you’re bracing yourself for Christmas, I get it Every year, as soon as Halloween is out of the way, I notice things start to shift in our house. Anxiety creeps up before any of the “fun” has even begun. And it’s funny, because Christmas is actually liked here. There’s excitement. There’s genuine anticipation. There’s
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The things the world never sees Over the years, I’ve met many families whose children mask. Some of their stories will stay with me forever. One mum told me her daughter was known at school as the perfect pupil – polite, kind, no trouble at all. But the moment she got home, she’d go on
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Why some of our kids are drawn to horror With Halloween just around the corner, it’s felt like the perfect time to talk about something I’ve noticed in our house lately. Halloween has always been a big favourite here – the costumes, the decorations, the excitement of it all – but this year there’s been
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The day school broke our trust I’ve seen this come up on social media recently and it dug up a particular memory for me. Even now, I still feel really deeply affected by it. It was one of the more traumatic things that happened – for both my child and me. So many parents go
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The day I pulled the plug Today I’m going to share a moment with you that, even now, brings up shame, guilt and remorse. I’m sharing it because I know so many of us find ourselves in situations we never thought we’d be in as parents. This was several years ago, back when we were
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When your child goes straight for the jugular There’s something we don’t talk about much as parents of neurodivergent – and especially PDA – children. Our children seem to instinctively know how to push our buttons. It’s like they can sense our weak spot and go straight for it. In PDA circles you’ll sometimes hear
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The exhausting flip side of PDA I’ve been thinking a lot this week about a side of PDA that doesn’t get talked about enough. We know about avoiding demands – but what about when our PDAers aren’t just avoiding them, they’re making them? And not just the odd request, but constant, relentless demands that can
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When parenting a PDAer flips everything upside down Parenting a PDA child changes the way you see everything. All the things you thought were important as a parent – routines, rules, the advice in the books and from well-meaning professionals – suddenly don’t seem to fit anymore. You start questioning everything you once believed about
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