There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ~ Nelson Mandela. The aim of our blog is to educate and help just one person to support their child better. We hope to change perceptions of autism and living with an invisible challenge; but with so many myths and misconceptions out there it really is a 1 step forward, 2 steps back process, although that is half the fun of constantly challenging ourselves to find new ways of getting our message across. Contrary to popular belief many autistic children do make eye contact; it just may be less or different from a non-autistic child. Many children with autism can develop good functional language and others can develop some type of communication skills such as sign language or use of pictures.  Children do not ‘outgrow’ autism but symptoms may lessen as the child develops strategies to cope. Myths One of the most devastating myths about autistic children is that they cannot show affection. While sensory sti

Ryan has always been a sickly child and missed a lot of school when he was being diagnosed with and treated for Glandular fever and severe anaemia. He was given some school work to been done to catch up once he was well enough so as not to fall too far behind in school. I had asked him several times about completing it and things came to a head one Wednesday when at first he tried to lie that he had done the work, but then became quite rude verbally so I asked Dadi Skilts to help me out, but Ryan was this time really rude, so Duncan turned off the PC and it became a full-blown meltdown. He punched the bedroom door enough to make his hand bleed and then took several chunks out of my kitchen table. Eventually, he cried himself out so I was then able to sit at the kitchen table and managed to talk him down, and I realised just how isolated from and scared of the world that Ryan feels and I am seriously concerned now about his total obsession with his PC/Laptop and Discord as his way of

I recently read a very interesting article in my local paper the South Wales Evening Post with the following equally interesting headline: Sad story of lonely parakeet living in Swansea's Singleton Park - where none of the other birds will make friends with it. I was immediately drawn to this story as it instantly reminded me of my Ryan. No, I don't think he looks like a parrot, as gorgeous looking like both of them are, but I do understand how isolated he feels and up till recently how lonely he has been for most of his life.  Ryan's autism has caused him to be excluded from the 'flock'. He has been the 'odd one out', desperately trying to fit in and make friends but never quite managing it. Certainly not through primary school.  Iolo's description is so nice to hear. Smart birds, really smart. Just like Ryan, but even with an exceptional IQ for his age the ability to convert that intelligence to be able to make social inclusion work for him prov

The aim of our blog from the start has always been to offer an insight into living with Autism and Asperger's and to help just one person on their own journey by offering support, guidance and advice. I have been, not quite bombarded, but certainly encouraged strongly to place adverts within my blog to make money from people reading our story and it got me thinking. Should we cash in on Autism? I will be the first to admit that money is tight. It always is and I am sure every single person reading my blog will relate, however setting up our blog was never intended as a way to make some extra cash, however much I sometimes may be tempted.  We want to share our story and pay it forward. I am a big believer in karma. However, I am certainly not against money-making ideas, especially those that fundraise for charities. The National Autistic Society’s excellent marketing idea of jumping on the Loom Bandwagon was genius and I have done my fair share of fundraising events to support t

Since Ryan was born in 2001, I have read hoards of information on Autism, child development, healthy eating, and alternative therapies to name but a few and as I have said previously I am in no doubt that foods  play an important role in explaining some of Ryan’s difficulties. I try very hard (but am not perfect) to maintain a healthy Limbic System as I believe it has a strong role in our health, wellbeing and development. The Limbic system supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behaviour, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. It appears to be primarily responsible for emotional life and it has a great deal to do with the formations of memories. Susanna Heinze Obviously all of these are very prevalent characteristic ‘symptoms’ of autism, so by trying to maintain a healthy balance and approach I hope to better support Ryan on a day to day basis. As warm-blooded mammals, we are dependent on the development of emotional attachment to the parents.

I have never really liked the term ‘special needs’. Every child is special and every child has needs, so I therefore have previously used Specific Needs. Just as I have never really liked the term ‘disabililty’. Ryan and I use and much prefer ‘diffability’; to mean Different Abilities. Later in this post, I talk about the statutory assessment process that we went through with Ryan who now has a legally binding document setting out his specific educational needs. My original intent for the focus of this post was to go into greater detail on the 26-week assessment process and discuss Ryan’s statement, to offer advice to anyone embarking on a similar journey.      I have, however, now changed my mind on the focus of this post and decided instead to discuss additional needs. I will therefore not to bore you with all the details of statementing for 2 reasons: First, it is 16 pages long and secondly, from 2014, statements no longer exist. They have been/are being phased out across the UK and