tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38090662283233593522024-02-06T20:16:43.159-08:00Family Life with ASDAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-27885951584885030082017-01-05T04:17:00.001-08:002017-01-05T04:18:55.560-08:00The Start of a New Year<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Christmas holidays have flown by again and as soon as
you get in the routine of sleeping in
later and not having to rush about in the mornings, it’s time to go back to
school. It’s been a shock to the system
this week to wake up at 6am, but at least it’s a three day school week, so it
will soon be the weekend again. Even
better, there is only another five weeks at school until half term, so I can
see January soon slipping into February.
This is always the shortest term and once you get through this one, you
can feel the weather getting warmer and summer approaching. Something to look forward to after the
excitement of Christmas is finished with.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last month we had an Advent activities list with 24 things
to do before Christmas Day, which motivated the children and gave them all
something to look forward to each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our daughter is now continuing this and has written herself a list of 31
things to achieve in January.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is
motivated to do more things, rather than just sit on her phone or watch tv, which I’m not going to complain about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are all trying to do the ‘Walk 1000 miles in a year’
Challenge, which kept springing up in my Facebook feed over Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our two oldest children are competing against
themselves to see who can walk the most each week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s good to see them wanting to be outside
on these cold, frosty days and planning what walks they can do over the
weekends to build up their miles, as there’s only so much they can walk on a
school day, especially when it gets dark so early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our daughter is at an advantage as she is allowed her phone with her all
day at school, so she can measure her walking distance around school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, our eldest son will find a way to
ensure he keeps on target each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are very competitive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last year they both did the Martin Lewis savings plan for
children and by the end of the year, our eldest son had saved enough to buy an
Xbox One and Xbox live subscription for a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our daughter had a great spending spree at Harry Potter Studios when we
visited there on Christmas Eve and has bought up most of the Soap and Glory
products she has been able to find in the sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus she has money left, as she hasn’t been
so keen to spend it all, now that it is her money that she has saved, rather
than spending ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a great
learning curve for them both and they have appreciated what they have been able
to buy themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are both already
saving again this year with a goal in mind of what they want to buy at the end
of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m keen to get going this year and start new projects after having such a bad time with my health last year. However, I have been advised
by the Consultant that it may take as long as a year for me to be fully recovered, so I have to be patient!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m not one to sit and do nothing and have
started the new year by entering two short story competitions.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I may not be the next JK Rowling yet, but who
knows what will happen in the future.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
can dream and aspire to reach that goal, just like I encourage all three of our
children to go for their dreams.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-25959702504383765552016-12-13T05:09:00.000-08:002016-12-13T05:09:49.966-08:00December has seen the arrival of Stampy McSprinkle<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Elf on the Shelf tradition that seems to be sweeping the
country would not take off in our house, as our ASD kids would not be happy
seeing their possessions being messed around by an elf each night. Instead of causing excitement, it would cause
a meltdown each morning. When we made
footprints for Father Christmas 10 years ago to surprise our daughter and
eldest son, we thought we were creating a magical experience in our house for Christmas
morning. Instead our daughter refused to
come downstairs until we had hoovered away the mess. We’ve never tried to recreate that magic
again, as know the reaction we will get. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month our youngest son came home from school and said
someone in his class had told him Father Christmas was not real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is only 8 and too young for the magic of
Christmas to be spoilt for him yet, so I looked for ideas on how to reassure
him Father Christmas is true (he wants proof and won’t take our word for it)
and came across a website called the North Pole Behaviour Department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.northpolebehaviourdepartment.co.uk/">http://www.northpolebehaviourdepartment.co.uk</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They create a pack for your child with their
name on green, amber and red cards, which you leave out each night for them depending
on their behaviour for the day, with a progress chart for your child to tick off
each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the first day in December
the child receives a certificate to say if they are on the naughty or nice
list, as well as a card from their chosen elf with a small list of things the
child can work towards to earn a green card each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At £10 for the pack, I thought it was worth
buying for our son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You need to fill in
the details of your child’s chosen elf and so I asked a friend to write in the
name of ‘Stampy McSprinkle’ with a list of three things for our son to work
towards to earn a green card, so that he didn’t recognise the handwriting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reward systems work for our son and Stampy McSprinkle has
been a big hit in our house this month.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first thing our son does each morning is to check what colour card Stampy
has left him overnight and then he fills in his progress chart.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, our son received a mid month behaviour chart with a
chocolate lollipop from Stampy to let him know he’s on the nice chart.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes our son stops in his tracks and thinks
about the behaviour he is showing and asks us if we think Stampy will give him
an amber or red card. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think he may miss Stampy McSprinkle when Christmas Day arrives.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fingers crossed, he will still believe next
year and the magic can begin all over again.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-25608951331762161082016-12-12T07:02:00.000-08:002016-12-12T07:02:06.839-08:00Choosing GCSE Options<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Thursday I attended a GCSE options evening with our
daughter to help her decide which subjects she wants to take. She’s had it all mapped out in her head for
some time as to what route she wants to take, but now after listening to
various teachers, she’s rethinking some of her options. The final decision has to be made by 6
January and I’m hoping she will decide this week, so that she doesn’t worry
about it over the Christmas holidays.
She will begin her GCSE studies after Easter next year. Her school start them in Year 9 to give them
longer to get through all the coursework and leave them plenty of time to study
for the exams. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was the first year to take GCSE exams in 1988 and then a
lot of them were coursework based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
the majority of courses appear to be 100% exams and the grading system is changing,
so instead of receiving an A*-G grade, you will be awarded a 9-1 grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good pass will be a grade 5, which equates
to the top of a grade C pass and above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It sounds confusing at the moment, but I’m sure we will all get used to
the new system in time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Subject choices have grown no end from when I did my
GCSEs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a wealth of design and
technology courses to choose from as well as engineering, film studies, PE,
dance, psychology etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also the
opportunity to do BTEC courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of
the subjects have residential trips as well – the film studies department at
our daughter’s school are looking into a trip to New York for either GCSE or
A-Level students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As this is a subject
our daughter is 100% sure she wants to do, we better start saving now!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-70856135410544697702016-12-01T12:56:00.001-08:002016-12-01T12:56:25.930-08:00Build up to Christmas<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve
been reminded how many days there are until Christmas in our house since June
by our daughter.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s always the first
thing she thinks of after she has celebrated her birthday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now finally it is fast approaching and advent
calendars have gone up today, so that we can begin the official countdown.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Both
of our boys have the normal chocolate advent calendars and this year our
daughter has opted for a beauty product one, which I managed to buy half price
in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Will need to remind myself
next year to look for another bargain, as clearly good advertising ploy for the teenage girl market!) Besides this, our children are spoilt by their Nan who
makes them up an advent gift bag and every 3 days, they each receive a small
present. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter has already convinced
her brothers to take their turns for a gift on 1 and 2 December, so that when
she has her first gift on 3 December, she will then receive her final gift on
Christmas Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the days they don’t
get a gift, they get a chocolate coin instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although our youngest son tends to eat all of his chocolate coins in one
go and has in the past emptied his gift bag on the same day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We
sat down last night and wrote an advent activities list, which is similar to
the bucket list we do in the summer holidays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All three children have chosen things for us to do during the month of
December including simple things like sending our Christmas cards, making
reindeer food, having a games night, eating pancakes and the main event
that we are all counting down to in our house is our visit to Harry Potter
Studios on Christmas Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will take
away the anxiety that the build up to Christmas can cause our youngest son, as
this gives him something else to focus on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Another
tradition I’ve begun this year is an advent joke box for our youngest son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loves silly jokes and it encourages him to
read, as this is not one of his favourite things to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, I’ve filled a small box with 25
Christmas themed joked and each day he can take one out to read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It
has been agreed that our Christmas tree will not go up until the kids have
finished school to help our youngest son cope, as he doesn’t like it being up
too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter has had her
Christmas tree up in her bedroom since 22 November - it always goes up the day
after our eldest son’s birthday and this year was still up in March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a feeling it will stay up until Easter
next year and then she will convert it into an Easter tree!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Enjoy
the magic of Christmas – the build up is the best part, as the day itself soon
flies by.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Although in our house,
presents to the kids are distributed over a few days, so that our youngest son
is not overwhelmed with everything.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> This </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">means the magic lasts that much longer and all 3 kids
are happy with that arrangement.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-42584524222176215902016-11-01T08:02:00.000-07:002016-11-01T08:02:02.904-07:00Life is slowly getting back to normal<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been a while since my last post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eight days in hospital with hardly any sleep
due to pain and being on a noisy ward plus not being able to eat much took its
toll on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s taken a few weeks for
me to feel half human again and to have the strength to do daily things that
normally I wouldn’t even have to think about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My operation went to plan, but it was hard not seeing my
family very much over the 8 days I was in hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t see my youngest son for the whole
time, as he was traumatised after my hospital stay in March and didn’t want to
see me hooked up to cannulas, drips etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I totally understand as I’m not great with hospitals and so know how
scary things like that can be to an eight year old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, I could facetime him without him
seeing the drips etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although he did
remark I didn’t look too good!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do
love my ASD kids honesty, even though it may not have been what I wanted to
hear at that moment in time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My eldest
two kids did come in and visit me on a couple of occasions and texted me
several times a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Timing for my operation was not great, as our daughter had
only been at her new school for three weeks and she was still settling in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, like in March when I was in
hospital, she has grown in strength as a result of me not being around
24/7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cycle of ringing me each day,
sometimes multiple times to tell me she wanted to come home stopped, as she
knew I couldn’t drive from the hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The biggest change was that she confided in her form tutor, something
that normally takes months for her to do with a new member of staff and so
although I had already told her teacher that I would be in hospital, our
daughter told her as well and so had someone she could talk to at school if
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a huge breakthrough and
now she seems more settled at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had expected my recovery to take 2-3 months, but the
consultant broke the news to me when I was discharged that it is more likely to
take 3-6 months for me to fully heal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was not what I wanted to hear as I’m an active person, who rarely
sits down, unless Strictly Come Dancing is on tv!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m always on the go whether I’m out in the
garden, walking our dog, decorating, making something or studying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first couple of weeks at home, I didn’t
want to do much other than sleep or sit down, so I could adjust to not doing a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that boredom set in and
I’ve used the time to order all our Christmas presents online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never been so organised as everything is
bought and wrapped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last week I decided
I needed to start walking again, so that I could walk our youngest son to and
from school each day, once the kids returned from half term this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Normally I walk anywhere from 12,000 – 15,000 steps a day,
but for the first 3-4 weeks after my operation, I barely went above 1,000 steps
in a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last week I managed to walk 5,000 steps on two days and paid the price for it at the weekend as I was totally
wiped out and suffering with pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, with our GP’s advice I have managed to do the school run two
days this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not allowed to do
more walking than this for the time being, as a couple of my scars are
unfortunately in the same place as my core muscles and so walking is
aggravating the scars and scar tissue that is developing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will continue to do the school run each day
though as I feel better in myself for going back into the outside world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t like being confined to the four walls
of home and unfortunately can’t drive for another month, so I am restricted by
what I can do each day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a positive in all of this though, as I’ve lost
nearly 10lbs in weight due to the low residue diet I have to be on for the next
couple of months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband
keeps tempting me with his thai/chinese cooking, but unfortunately I've got to resist it for the time being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will have to listen to advice and take my recovery slowly.
Spending 17 days in hospital this year is more than enough for me and I don’t
want to be going back there anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My goal now is to build myself up and fully recover so that I can enjoy
the things we have planned for next year, as well as a trip to Harry Potter
Studios on Christmas Eve in 8 weeks time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both of our ASD children have a Harry Potter obsession and during half
term, Sky had a Harry Potter channel on tv, so that’s all I’ve heard for the
past week!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t wait to go wand,
broomstick and anything Dobby related shopping in the gift shop!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s our eldest son’s birthday in 3 weeks time and although I’m
not up to hosting the party he would like this year, I know he will be happy
when he comes home later and sees the treat I’ve booked for him today - a rugby
training camp with his heroes at Saracens a week before his birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Going to Harry Potter Studios/rugby camp is all about making
memories for our kids and although I haven’t been 100% for the majority of the
year, we have still tried to ensure we have created a lot of memories with our
holidays, our youngest son being an animal keeper for the day, day trips to
London etc.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our kids may look back and think 2016 was the year when Mummy was ill and had to go into hospital,
but they will also remember the good things we have done as a family.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-50664049933181929152016-09-26T11:35:00.001-07:002016-09-26T11:35:15.366-07:00New School Year<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three weeks in to the new school year and life is moving at
a fast pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Homework for all three
children has gone up a level with our eldest two having homework set online
which they aren’t necessarily told about and so need to get into the habit of checking,
as well as being given work in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our youngest son has six activities he needs to complete by Christmas
which seems a long time away, but for him it is a source of major stress, as he
struggles with doing anything related to school outside of the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his eyes, work related to school should be
done at school and not home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
getting him to learn spellings, times tables and do reading each week at home
is enough for him, so ‘real’ homework is going to take time for him to get used to and accept this is part of his normal routine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our eldest son has joined five sports clubs and with two PE
lessons a week and his PE coaching lesson, I wish I had the energy to keep up
with all his activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On top of this
he does martial arts outside of school and plays rugby each Sunday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Settling into upper school for our daughter has been a
rollercoaster ride so far, which we expected and we never thought the first few
weeks would be easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year ago, our
daughter would have refused to get up at 6.10am each day, but for the past
three weeks, she has done this every morning for school without any fuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going on the bus and waiting for registration
to start, as there’s a 25 minute gap from when she arrives at school until she
goes into the classroom has been a big adjustment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has moved from being in an environment,
where she had a group of friends to meet and chat to every morning, to starting
afresh with no friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was her choice
and she has made an amazing start making two new friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, their buses arrive later in the
morning, so our daughter has struggled with not knowing what to do with herself
for 15-20 minutes on her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end
of the second week at school, our daughter spoke to her form tutor to explain
how she was feeling and she has been allowed to go straight to the classroom
when she arrives at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an easy
adjustment for school to make and helps to reduce our daughter’s anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are so proud that she took the step to
speak up and seek help, as generally it takes her months to build up a rapport
with a member of staff, so it shows how her confidence is growing and she wants
to make this transition work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
many lessons she does not enjoy doing, as now at upper school, she is doing
taster sessions of new subjects like psychology, sociology, business studies,
so that she can choose which GCSE options she wants to take next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as she knows she will only be
studying these for a few months, there is an end in sight and so she has
accepted that this is just the timetable she has to do for the time being and
soon she will be learning the subjects she chooses to study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The biggest change that I’ve had to adapt to
with her moving to upper school, is that she is able to take her mobile phone
into school and so she texts before registration, break and lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frequently, she tells me she doesn’t want to
do a lesson, but I keep my replies consistent, so that she understands there is
no choice and once she’s at school, she has to follow the timetable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I ignore the texts, I just get multiple
ones sent asking the same thing, so it’s best to reply straightaway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adjusting to a new school year is hard enough, but at the
beginning of term, I was given a date for an operation in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had begun to plan what I needed to do, so
that I was organised in time and thought at least the kids will have almost 7
weeks to adapt to school again and they would be in a fixed routine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the kids didn’t know the actual
operation date, they knew it would happen at some point this term, as I’ve had
at least 7 hospital appointments since my stay in Easter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Tuesday, I received a phone call telling me that my
operation has been brought forward to tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has been all systems go for the past week, so that I can organise
family to be here for school pick up and drop off and to help at home, as I’m
expected to be in hospital for 7 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once I return I have 2-3 months recovery, so I’m not going to be working
on full cylinders for quite a while, which is just as hard for me to accept as
the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I broke the news to them on
Tuesday that I would be going into hospital and due to me already being in
hospital earlier this year for 8 days, they are all equally anxious, as a week is a long time to be apart from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I have been at hospital for an anaesthetic review as
I’m not a straightforward case for a long anaesthetic.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been told that a team of anaesthetists
will be with me in surgery tomorrow, as last time when Plans A and B didn’t
work, they had to resort to Plan C.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow they will be prepared for every eventuality.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not sure how well I will sleep tonight, but
am looking forward to this time tomorrow when it will all be over and done with
and my recovery can begin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-36330232567106596932016-09-02T04:56:00.000-07:002016-09-02T04:56:03.383-07:00Summer Holidays are nearly over!!<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The summer holidays have sped by this year and on Tuesday the kids will be back to school. It's scary how quick the time has disappeared but we have also done so much in the past 5 1/2 weeks and our bucket lists have been ticked off. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notable highlights have been 10 days camping in Devon with only 1 day of rain. After a deluge of rain last year when we went away (we woke up to find a small river in our tent last year!), we've had two holidays this year full of glorious sunshine as not a drop of rain touched us when we went to Bude in May half term. Whilst we were in Devon our youngest son became an animal keeper for the day. It was a wonderful experience where he had the chance to handle creepy crawlies, muck out farm animals and feed deer, wallabies and meerkats. Our eldest son went on a two day rugby training camp with Exeter Chiefs and was unfortunate that the only day of rain we had fell on his first day of training. Five hours in torrential rain followed by that day's wet kit being left in a bag until we got back home to wash it, is not the best combination!! However, he enjoyed himself and can't wait for the rugby season to begin again this weekend.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;" /></span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as going away we have had day trips to London to visit the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace and London Zoo. We've met up with friends and had days to chill at home - the kids have found forgotten toys and board games. Local days out to go blackberry picking and exploring the countryside in hidden gems we've never been to before like Rutland Water have been enjoyable for all.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daughter spent a week with our nieces to enjoy some girlie time. It's the closest she's going to get to having a sister! She's now raring to start her new school next week. Something I never envisaged myself saying a year ago. Even the early morning starts which aren't her forte don't seem to be worrying her. I'm sure it won't be all plain sailing but it's a positive start.</span></div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our eldest son will go into Y7 and is looking forward to a year of just him at school. He's always been at school with his sister or younger brother. Now he says he can just be himself for a year and no one's brother when he's at school. He's going to start 2 new lessons which he's excited about - Performing Arts and PE coaching.</span></div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Next week will start the final year for our youngest son at lower school. This term we will look round what will be his middle school next year. Fortunately he has been there many times with his sister and brother so is familiar with the building, although the transition to moving there next September is likely to be huge for him but we have a year to prepare him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although, this summer holidays is almost over, we are already planning next year's and have a week of glamping booked and have just found out today we have got tickets for the World Athletics Championship in London next August. So we are already off to a good start of fun activities to look forward to. </div>
</span></span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-38930467482855191022016-07-15T04:27:00.000-07:002016-07-15T04:27:55.486-07:00Rollover Day Success<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daughter attended two rollover days last week to her new
upper school. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After making the decision in
October last year to go to a new school without her friends, we were
anticipating last week to be difficult and that she would put up a resistance
to attending.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She has blown us away with
how well she took to both days and she is excited to be starting there in
September.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been harder to get her
to go back to her middle school this week, as she feels she has outgrown it now
and can’t wait for the new challenges that uppers school offers. We know there will be blips in the new term,
but to begin on such a high note, is more than we ever expected and will make
the summer holidays easier for her, as she won’t be worrying about what lies
ahead of her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now she can enjoy her final week of middle school with a Prom to attend, trip to Thorpe Park and a celebration assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next Friday, she will close a chapter on her
life which has seen her blossom from a 9 year old girl who wouldn’t say boo to
a goose and was very nervous about starting a new school to a 13 year old who
knows what she wants from life and she’s determined enough to reach her goals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main thing we want her to remember is that the
friendships she has made in middle school can be carried forward.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She has a tendency to end friendships when
she moves onto pastures new.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are
trying to teach her that it is ok to have friends from different parts of her
life and hopefully now she is maturing, she will understand this.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-90380032270607861282016-06-30T06:04:00.002-07:002016-06-30T06:04:21.134-07:00We Survived the Month of June!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June is by far the most stressful month in our year with
both our ASD children celebrating their birthdays and our youngest son’s annual
statement review.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daughter said I ruined her birthday as I made her attend a transition visit to her upper school that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she was told about the visit, two days
before it took place, there were tears and a refusal to attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> She expected me to tell school that she didn't have to go due to it being her birthday. </span>However, she went on the visit and although
she says she didn’t enjoy it, we are proud she did the visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retail therapy the following weekend in
Oxford Street seemed to make up for the initial bad start to her 13<sup>th</sup>
birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fairness to our daughter
she has matured a lot during the past six months and although she may put up a
fight about doing something she doesn’t want to do, she ends up doing it,
rather than putting up a continual battle, which is a huge step forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knows she has a difficult few months
ahead of her, starting a new school with no friends and unfamiliar staff, but
it is a choice she has made to help her cope with this next stage in her
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the last day of term arrives
on 22 July, middle school will be part of her history and she will want to
swiftly move onto the next chapter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life
is very black and white for her, but if it works, then it’s the best way
forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has made a brave choice and we are very proud of her and know she will succeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will take time and there will be backward
steps, but she will get there in the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the middle of this month we attended our youngest son’s
annual statement review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of changes were made to his statement to reflect the progress he has made
from when it was first written three years ago when he was in Reception year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He still requires the same level of support,
but he’s now reached a different stage in his education as he makes his way
through school life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The upcoming
year is going to be one to prepare him for the transition to middle school he
will make next September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be over
a year away, but it takes time for our son to understand the changes that are
ahead of him and he will need to be given more strategies to add to his ‘toolbox’
to help him cope with what lies ahead of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, once he sees his
sister adapting to her new school, he won’t be so frightened of moving
somewhere bigger without a lot of his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is competitive like his sister and if she can do it, I know he will
believe he can too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, our youngest son turned 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has been on countdown for the past three
weeks since his sister’s birthday and made his opinion known very strongly that
he didn’t want anyone at school to know it was his birthday on the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hates the attention being on him and
didn’t want to be asked lots of questions about what presents he had received
etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Staff made sure no reference was made
to it being his birthday and he came home very happy that no one had realised
it was his birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is so different to our daughter who went to
school with the biggest badge she could find so that the world knew she was 13
on her birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What works for one
child doesn’t always work for another and we are great believers in letting our
children guide us with what makes them happy, so that we don’t add to the
stress that their ASD presents them with on a daily basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of people think it’s strange that we
don’t wrap up presents for our youngest son, but he doesn’t like the element of
surprise and we would rather he is happy and enjoys his birthday, than we conform
to what is expected for a birthday celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will July turn out to be a quieter month?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not looking likely at the moment as I’m back
in hospital for the day tomorrow with another appointment later in the month
and our daughter has two rollover days next week at her new school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also has her Prom, school trip to Thorpe
Park and Leavers Assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most
important job for July though is all three kids are going to work on their
bucket lists for the summer holidays, so that we have lots of fun activities to
look forward to during their six weeks off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-78649606484139225672016-05-20T05:03:00.000-07:002016-05-20T05:03:02.682-07:00Busy time ahead<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a few weeks since I last wrote my blog. Recovering from being in hospital during the Easter holidays has taken longer than I expected. In the last month I have had two more hospital appointments and I have another one on Monday and surgery is still a possibility. There is so much coming up in the next month that I haven't got time to worry about what may happen to me. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June always tends to be the busiest month in our year with both of our children who have ASD celebrating their birthdays. Our daughter will become a teenager in just over 2 weeks and our youngest son will turn 8 at the end of June. Birthdays do not generally present a problem for our daughter as she plans it so much in advance. Her present list has been written since Christmas and she has an itinerary prepared for a day out shopping in Oxford Street the weekend after her birthday. She wants to buy up the contents of Primark and Lush!! Unfortunately, her actual birthday will not go to plan, as I've just been made aware this week that her next transition visit to upper school will be on her birthday. Two days before her birthday she will be made aware of this fact by her Head of Year and myself in a meeting at school. I can already hear her reaction in my head and know it is not going to be a good one!! It is not wise to tell her sooner, as it will have a negative impact on the half term holiday and she will have longer to come up with excuses as to why she is not attending. Her Oppositional Defiant Disorder will kick in as soon as she is made aware of the visit, so school are currently coming up with a list of positive reasons of why she should attend and are doing all they can to ensure her favourite member of staff goes with her to soften the blow. Whether it works, is another thing. Watch this space!!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest son does not cope well with birthdays and we have learnt from experience to go with what he wants to do on the day and not to wrap up his presents, as he will not open them. He would quite happily leave them unopened for a couple of days, as this has happened in the past. He does not like surprises and likes to be able to see what he is getting. A dilemma he has this year is whether he wants anyone to know on the day it is his birthday, as it will be the first time it has fallen on a school day. He has been lucky up until now that his birthday has either been on a school training day or a weekend. He doesn't like attention on him, so is unsure whether or not he wants his peers to know it is his birthday and will probably not decide until the day. He has already asked me to work out when he will next have a birthday on a weekend and unfortunately it is not until he is in Year 7. It seems a lifetime away to him, as he's only in Year 3 now.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In between both of these birthdays, we have the statement review for our youngest son. The meeting itself is emotionally draining and the preparation beforehand seems never-ending. I have already spent hours drafting our parental contribution. It is such an important document and meeting to ensure our son gets the support that he needs for the forthcoming year.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the midst of this I have been helping our eldest son get ready for a camping trip to the Isle of Wight next week with school. He will have a fabulous time away, but it will have a knock on effect at home, as our youngest son does not like his routine being changed and so won't like his brother not being here and will probably sleep in his room as he will miss him. At the same time, he won't accept his brother coming back home again next Friday night, as he will have just got used to the routine of him not being here. From past experience, it is likely he may not speak to his brother for a couple of days until he adjusts to him being back home again. It will be fun and games here in a week's time!!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-9767308884177038132016-04-03T08:07:00.001-07:002016-04-03T08:07:19.019-07:00Life Changing Experience<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13 days ago I wrote a blog just before I had to leave home
for day surgery but didn’t have time to post it so thought, I would do it the
next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, things didn’t
turn out as I had planned and I was rushed back into hospital the next night by
ambulance and then spent 8 days in hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend wrote the following quote as a facebook post last
weekend after visiting me in hospital and it sums up how the last 13 days have
been:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scary how in the blink
of an eye your whole life can change.. Love and appreciate what you have and if
you don’t, then do something about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Life is short and very fragile…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have only got through the past couple of weeks with
support from family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
told that all operations were being cancelled, so that I could go down to
theatre is probably the most frightening experience in my life and I keep
reliving that moment over and over again in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as the quote above suggests, I need
to move on from that and enjoy what I have in life, as the past couple of weeks
has shown me how precious life is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
very lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who have rallied round us
as a family and offered ongoing support for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the moment I have 8 weeks expected recovery time, but I also have an
appointment with a consultant in 4 weeks time to see if I need further surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently, just getting up and having a
shower is wiping me out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also not
allowed to lift anything for 8 weeks and for anyone who knows me will realise
I’m going to find it hard to restrict what I do for that length of time as I’m an active
person by nature and rarely sit down and do nothing!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day before my original day surgery I
clocked up 17,000 steps and I think I’ll be lucky if I manage that in the next
month or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There have been some positives to come out of this
experience – I’ve lost 8lbs in weight as was nil by mouth for the majority of
my stay in hospital! After dreaming of
my Easter Egg that was at home waiting for me, I’ve yet to touch it, as I’m not
overly hungry, but I’m sure that will change in time. The best thing to happen though is how our three kids have risen to the challenge that has been thrown at them. It is hard for our two ASD children to have
their routine changed without warning, but they have coped in their own
ways - being hooked to the iPad watching the same cartoons or hibernating in their room. They have also learnt that Daddy is able to help them like Mummy can and they can now go to both of us for support, rather than relying on me, as I'm generally the one at home whilst Daddy is at work. Our daughter who rarely shows any
empathy sent me so many text messages to say how much she missed me and wanted
me to be back home, as well as making me lots of get well cards. She found it hard to visit me in hospital, as
did our youngest son, as it wasn’t the most pleasant environment for them. For five days I was on a ward for hip replacement
patients, as the it was only ward that had a spare bed and I was the youngest by 30 years. It was total sensory overload for our youngest son, as a hospital ward is not an environment he has ever had to come up against before and with all the machinery, noises, patients calling out etc, it was too much for him to cope with. Our eldest son has showered my in hugs and kisses and has become my
protector. To keep them occupied they
have all learnt new skills and are helping out at home. Our two eldest children both know how to use
the washing machine and dishwasher and all three of them are willing to do
extra chores and pull together as a family.
As I can’t bend down at the moment, our youngest son is picking up
everything in sight with a grabber tool and it’s become his new toy. I’m so
proud of the three of them and although I wouldn’t want them to have gone
through this experience, I think it has made us stronger as a family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-14772897575493165212016-02-17T01:47:00.002-08:002016-02-17T01:47:39.738-08:00Joy of DLA Form<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A forty page document arrived in this post this week – our youngest
son’s renewal form for his Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It is three years since I filled in the last
application and even though this will be the third time I’ve completed it for
him, it doesn’t get any easier. Each
time, the form changes and requires several hours of work to fill it in. I won’t start it this week with it being half
term, as I need peace and quiet so I can work my way through it. It is going to be a bumper size envelope that
I return with copies of his Statement, SEND Support Plan, reports from his OT
and Autism Advisory Teacher etc. It will be a relief once the form has been filled in and sent off and something else to tick off my huge to do list!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-20859622884100714552016-01-06T06:19:00.000-08:002016-01-06T06:19:36.289-08:00New Year Goals<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the end of the first week approaches of the New Year, our
children have made their wish lists for the year of places they want to visit
and things they want to achieve. They
are long lists, but we have already been able to tick one place off the list
with a visit to Woburn Safari Park that we did on New Year’s Day, so we are off
to a good start. We’ve even booked two holidays for the summer so we all have
something to look forward to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest thing that our two oldest children are working
towards is a saving plan so that by the end of the year they will have £137.80
to spend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter will be in
‘Zoella Heaven’ in December if she has that much money to use on her beauty
products!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everywhere on facebook over the past week or so, I’ve seen
different saving charts so that if you save a penny a day and then add an extra
penny the next etc, you will have £667 by the end of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are great for adults, but too much for
our kids to aspire to when they get £2 pocket money a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I found a plan that was geared towards
children and our daughter and eldest son are determined to reach the end of
year target.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They won’t be able to save
it all by just using their pocket money, so currently they are keen to do extra jobs
round the house to earn some money, they are looking to see if they have
anything they can sell and I’m sure they will be able to use their puppy dog
eyes to win over family members at different points in the year!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It will be a competitive thing between the pair of them as
once our daughter has set herself a goal, she will go all out to achieve it and
I guarantee she will want to reach the target before her brother does.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although he will rise to the challenge and I
think the competitive nature of the pair of them will ensure that they do reach
their end goal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your kids are interested in following the same savings plan, this is what they need to save each month.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">January £1</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February £2.60</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March £5.50</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April £6.20</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May £7.80</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June £12</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July £11.40</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August £16.50</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">September £15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October £16.60</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November £23</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December £20.20</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Total £137.80</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-73792026192529023632015-12-21T10:11:00.000-08:002015-12-21T10:11:42.796-08:00Four Sleeps until Christmas<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a stressful time in our ASD household. Christmas brings so much change to normal
daily routine with a Christmas tree being put up, Christmas activities at
school, presents, family and friends coming to visit over Christmas, sensory
overload caused by bright lights, music on high volume when out shopping etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest son’s life revolves around how many sleeps
until the weekend, holidays, particular event etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year is the first year he has associated
a chocolate advent calendar with the countdown to Christmas and it has confused
him, as the doors are opened according to the date it is in December, rather
than how many sleeps like the countdown charts we use at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next year, we will have to open up the doors in
reverse order, so that we can arrive at number 1 on Christmas Eve and not 24.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December is always a busy month for our daughter and in the
space of five days she performed twice in the school panto, sang in London with
the school choir and performed at the Indigo Theatre at the O2 with her drama
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is driven by her goals and
last week seemed a bit flat in comparison to the highs she experienced
performing the previous week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
compensate it, she has now written herself a bucket list for the Christmas holidays
to ensure she reaches some new goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Christmas tree went up when the kids packed up
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far so good and it is still
standing upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will come down soon
after Christmas, as our youngest son will not tolerate it being up in the living
room for too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the other extreme,
our daughter has had a tree up in her room since the end of November and if
this year is anything to go by, it is not likely to come down before Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She finds it to be a useful deterrent to keep
her youngest brother out of her bedroom as he doesn’t like looking at it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We continue to not wrap up presents for our youngest son, as
if we do, it causes him too much anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He likes to be able to see what he is receiving, rather than getting a
surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it means he is happier and
more likely to play with his toys, then it’s the best thing to do for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do the same on his birthday as well and
makes the day run a lot smoother than it used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also spread presents over a few days, as
otherwise our youngest son is overwhelmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our other children are quite happy
with this arrangement as it means the magic of Christmas goes on for longer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To cope with sensory overload caused by the change that
Christmas brings, our youngest son has been engaging in lots of sensory
activities and watching the same DVDs over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve
heard him sing Hakuna Matata from Lion King in the past couple of weeks and how
many times he has watched Curious George.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He always returns to old favourites when he’s anxious and has been
spending some of his time acting out being a monkey or lion with the relevant
sound effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next few days will remain quiet in our house, so that
our youngest son can cope with Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To ensure our eldest son gets some time to release his energy, as he
wants to be out and about, he is doing a two day rugby training course at
Saracens from tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter is
working through her bucket list, so she is happy as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christmas is probably a quieter event in our household
compared to most, but as long as all three of our kids are happy, then we are
happy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don’t conform to what is
expected of Christmas, instead we do what works for us as a family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-70065287081724760552015-11-20T03:53:00.000-08:002015-11-20T03:53:43.202-08:00Saying Goodbye<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In
her own words, our daughter is doing one of the hardest things she’s had to do
in her life today and that is to say goodbye to a lady at school who has been
her support network since she started Middle School in September 2012. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Children
with ASD often latch onto one person in the school environment, who they are
comfortable to confide in and share their anxieties and concerns with, about things
going on at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our daughter,
this lady has been that person and although we always knew it was going to be
hard when she said goodbye in July next year when she moves up to Upper School,
having that day brought forward has been an emotional rollercoaster for our
daughter which won’t stop today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she walks into school on Monday and realises that this lady is no longer
there if she needs to speak to her, reality will set in and we are expecting a
difficult few weeks whilst our daughter adjusts to this change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, school are being very supportive
and have made 3 Learning Support Assistants available so that our daughter can
go and chat to them when she’s struggling with something at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fingers crossed she will do that and not
bottle up her frustrations instead.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
positive side of today is that I’ve never seen our daughter up and dressed so
early for school!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was ready by
6.30am and met her friends outside school at 8.15am as they had permission to
decorate this lady’s office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime
this morning, our daughter will have been allowed to leave part of a lesson so
that she can say her goodbyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>School
have realised how important this is to her, as she needs to close this chapter
in her life, so that she can move onto the next one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s how her ASD brain copes with change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
I’m
emotional just thinking about what our daughter is going through today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She went prepared as wrapped a box of tissues
as one of the leaving presents for this lady, as they both know there will be
plenty of tears today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter will
never forget the support this lady has given her and the journey they have gone
through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in Year 5, our daughter
refused to talk to her and during our first meeting, she sat with a coat over
her head, as she was not going to listen to anything she was told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Year 6, they had built up a rapport and
our daughter would go and ask for help, if something was bothering her at
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has continued to develop
and our daughter has blossomed in confidence at school with the support she has
been given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
When
I read the thank you card and the inside of a personalised notebook our
daughter has made for this lady, tears sprung to my eyes, as our daughter
rarely shows emotion like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see
plenty of tantrums, but not heartfelt emotion and it shows how much of an
impact this lady has had on our daughter’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter has also ensured that this lady
never forgets her, as she has turned one of her sweatshirts into a cushion with
a beautiful message on the front and she has left the arms in place with the chewed
cuffs as a reminder that this lady always knew when she was anxious, as she
would take one look at our daughter chewing or unthreading the cuffs and ask
what is wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
I am
hoping that our daughter will realise in time that although this lady has
played an important part in her life, she has also given her the stepping
stones to success and with all the guidance she has given our daughter, she
will be able to get through the remaining months of Year 8 and make the
transition to Upper School. It’s not
going to be easy, but I’m confident she will get through it, as once she puts
her mind to it, she can conquer anything.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-57377777295524875182015-11-01T08:47:00.000-08:002015-11-01T08:47:06.349-08:00Our son's passion for rugby<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Our
eldest son is a huge rugby fan and is now playing in his sixth season for our
local club, as well as belonging to the school rugby club. He watches DVDs of old matches, is always
watching games on the TV and reads as much as he can about the sport. In the house, he generally has a rugby ball
in his hand and is trying out various moves.
He is passionate about the sport and on the wall in his classroom this
term, he has written a piece about himself saying how he wants to be a
professional rugby player, play for his national team and go on a British Lions
Tour. Who knows if he will reach his
dream, but he definitely has the drive and passion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
soon as we knew tickets were going to be released last year for the Rugby World
Cup, I registered so that I could apply as soon as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were lucky to receive tickets in the first
ballot for Japan vs. Samoa and New Zealand vs. Namibia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This summer I bought tickets for the Bronze
Final and my husband was lucky enough to get corporate tickets to see France vs.
Italy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been an amazing experience
for our son to watch eight different nations play rugby and to soak up the
atmosphere at three stadiums and enjoy the activities in the Fanzones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the highlights was seeing the All
Blacks perform their Haka. The memories that he has from these matches will
last him a lifetime and inspire him to reach his goal in life of playing
professional rugby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even had 5
seconds of fame on the TV as he was captured in the audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smile on his face says it all – it’s been
an opportunity of a lifetime for him and one he has thoroughly enjoyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I could have bought tickets to see his
nation play - Wales, it would have been the icing on the cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there’s always the Six Nations, as
the next World Cup in Japan is not going to be a possibility!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
well as being an amazing experience, the time he has spent watching these
matches has been respite from the challenges he faces having two siblings with
ASD. It is so important he gets quality
time to enjoy his interests without having to worry about if his brother and
sister are happy are as well. He is
considerate for their needs and when he turns 11 in three weeks time, he will
get us up super early to watch him open up his presents whilst his brother is
still asleep, as he knows birthdays cause him high levels of anxiety.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
Rugby World Cup may have finished, but our son’s rugby season has plenty of
games left. Today, I watched him play
rugby for the first time this season. I
only watched the last half of the session, as our youngest son finds it too
noisy and crowded and doesn’t enjoy attending.
Today he went on the understanding that we would stand at the end of the
pitch and not talk to anyone, as he doesn’t like people coming up to him, as he
doesn’t know what to say. I was lucky to see my eldest son score three
tries and be awarded the Grafter’s trophy for the match. Fingers crossed, this will be the first of
many games I will watch this season.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-12428332565625714912015-10-18T09:45:00.000-07:002015-10-18T09:45:48.411-07:00Upper School Application<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
It
seems impossible that our daughter is now beginning her journey to move up to upper school and in a way it is a shame that she needs to get used to another
change, as after three years at her middle school, she has come so far and is
settled with a small group of friends and thriving in her academic work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Although
it is an important part of development, for a child with ASD, change causes so
much anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter has found the
past month to be very stressful and the decision of what school to go to has
affected her sleeping and eating habits as well as her moods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has been able to tell us that she doesn’t
want to feel this way, but at the same time, she hasn’t known what was the best
decision to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, the SEND
staff at her current school have been fantastic and have supported both us and our
daughter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Last
month we began the first of three visits to surrounding upper schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We </span>had always envisaged that she would choose
the one that is within walking distance of our home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, after her initial visit, she came
away very unhappy and did not like the environment, in spite of knowing all of
her friends would be going there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
kept an open mind and visited two other schools, as feel it is important to
compare what else is on offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she
walked into the one that is the furthest away (8 miles from our home), her body
language indicated that she had found a new environment that she felt
comfortable in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, the school she
has finally chosen is a bigger version of the one she is currently in and she
had a smile on her face as she walked round the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always a good sign. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
During
the past week, she went back to visit two of the original choices, so that she
could be sure she was making the right decision. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Friday she came home excited about what she
had seen at the school she has now chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She already has an idea of what GCSEs she wants to take and the clubs
she wants to participate in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
brave decision from our daughter, as we had thought she would choose the
nearest school to be with her friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We would have accepted that, as unless she is in an environment where
she feels settled, she will never reach her full potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, she has opted to go to a school
where she will need to get a bus each day and make new friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A similar thing happened four years ago, when
we made the choice for middle school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
didn’t select the school in our catchment area as our daughter did not like it
nor did we think it was the school best suited for her ASD needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, our daughter also wanted to go
somewhere different from her peers in her lower school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted to start afresh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter’s way of coping with change is
to go for something completely different and it has worked for her in middle
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a far more confident
girl, who knows what she wants out of life and we couldn’t be prouder of what
she has achieved so far.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Now
that the decision has been made of what upper school to attend and I have
completed the online application, we are hoping that until we are notified on 1
March 2016 of what school she has been awarded, calm can resume in our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter already looks happier and is
ready to enjoy things again, rather than putting everything on hold until this
decision was made.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
No
doubt next year will cause anxiety levels to rise again, but if she is awarded
her chosen school, they have already assured us she can have as many visits as
she needs between March and July to get used to the new environment. With the right preparation in place, our daughter
will be able to cope and we will be there to support her on this next stage of
her educational journey.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-40116654058335768042015-10-04T04:49:00.001-07:002015-10-04T04:49:02.999-07:00Seamless Socks<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being able to cope with wearing socks inside out for the past couple of years to help with the irritation that they cause our youngest son, he developed an aversion to wearing socks when he went back to school this term. The anxiety of getting used to new staff and workload in Year 3 has heightened his sensitivities. After trying a variety of socks, I bought seamless ones from Sensory Smart (www.sensorysmart.co.uk). When they arrived I could see there is a noticeable difference in how they feel to a high street bought sock. There are no ends inside the sock or seam along the toe line. Unfortunately, they haven't been the overnight success I had hoped, but I think this is down to how anxious our son is about school and the sensory effects it is having on him, rather than the socks not working.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There has been an improvement in how long it takes our son to put his socks on each day. This has now reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes and then they feel comfortable for him to wear. To aid this process I have also invested in some small massage balls. Each morning I now massage his feet for a couple of minutes and the spiky edges on the ball and deep pressure used, appears to be helping to desensitise his feet before he puts his socks on. Another way to help this process is for him to jump up and down for a couple of minutes on some tactile mats/bubble wrap.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-41259078720526274212015-09-14T05:03:00.000-07:002015-09-14T05:03:11.059-07:001 week down, 6 to go!!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second week of the new school year has started and we’ve
already had lots of tears and tantrums from our two ASD children.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At their request, we are counting down until
half term and I am hoping that the next six weeks go as quickly as they did
during the summer holidays.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest son’s life revolves around how many sleeps
until the weekend/holidays and it’s the first question he asks when he wakes up
each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s such a shame as he is
constantly worrying about what’s ahead, rather than enjoying each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His eczema has flared up again and began a
week before the start of term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
what happened last term when he had a new teacher and for three weeks, his arm
looked raw and sore until his anxiety lessoned and then his arm recovered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are expecting a similar pattern this time
as he has got to get used to the routine of having two new teachers each week,
plus a TA teaching one afternoon every other week and other new TAs in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the stims that always seems to
resurface when he’s very stressed is him clicking his tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not aware he does it and he does it
whilst he’s asleep as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our other
children find it an annoying habit to listen to and it does keep my awake at
night, but it is his coping mechanism and the more you draw attention to it,
the more he will do it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In time, he will
feel happier about his new routines and not feel the need to click his tongue
to keep calm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daughter’s oppositional defiant disorder has been very evident,
as she does not want to walk to school each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she has now started Year 8 and will move
to Upper School next September, we are trying to encourage her to be more
independent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, she doesn’t
agree with us and has been doing all she can to avoid walking to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I offered an incentive for Friday that a
friend could come round after school if she walked that morning and had hoped
that would be enough motivation to get her walking to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How wrong could I be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She refused to get out of bed until 8am, the time
she needs to leave to walk to school and said she was not going to
school, unless she got a lift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> With a lot of persuasive talking, </span>I managed
to get her out of the door by 8.30am to walk our youngest son to school. This caused a lot of stress for our son, as it wasn't part of our normal routine, as his sister doesn't come into his playground. After dropping him off, I then walked our daughter to her school, which meant she was late and something she hates to
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cancelled her friend coming round
that day, as she didn’t walk to school on time that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with her literal thinking, she
argued that she had walked to school, so her friend should be allowed round. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carried out the consequence for her actions,
but I now need to rethink how I word things in the future, so that it can’t be
interpreted in any other way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the
weekend we have compromised that she will walk to school two mornings a week
until half term and then we will look to increase this and she will walk home every
day after school, unless she is there late for a club.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fingers crossed it will be a calmer week for both of them,
but as always a new school year brings lots of change and for our ASD children
that means their anxiety levels rocket out of control until they know what to
expect with their new routines.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-22218303719767399892015-09-04T06:59:00.001-07:002015-09-04T06:59:44.562-07:00A Tale of Two Campsites<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past, we have only been on week long
holidays as our ASD children struggle to cope with being away from their normal
routine for longer. This year we decided
to try a longer holiday and went camping for 10 days, came home for a couple of
days, then went away for another 4 days of camping.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first trip was to a wonderful campsite called Crealy
Meadows, near Exeter in Devon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has
first class facilities and I couldn’t fault the toilet and shower blocks. which
are always an important factor when camping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Underfloor heating, huge walk in showers, with room to get changed
without your clothes getting wet from the shower and I never queued once in 10
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pitches were large and
everyone had their own water tap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Attached to the campsite, which was the main attraction for our kids was
a small theme park, which we could access form a side gate and so avoid queing
up with the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to go
everyday and if we went first thing, we escaped the long queues for the rides
and could spend an hour or so in there and then have the day to visit the local
seaside towns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the evening, the
campsite opened up an indoor play area, which included drop slides and obstacle
courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a ready made sensory
circuit programme for our youngest son and it tended not to be too busy, as it
was just people from the campsite who could visit at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Live entertainment was also put on each night
and although initially our kids were not interested, by night six they were
asking to go and see ‘Crazy Cameron’ or ‘Cheeky Charlie’, who helped to run the
entertainment programme.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The campsite offered a half day ‘Own a Pony’ experience. Our youngest son had asked me to book this for him, but when
the day arrived, he decided he wasn’t going to take part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I encouraged him to at least go and see the
ponies and we were lucky as it was only him taking part that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The animal keeper was very patient and
experienced with ASD children and let him take his time to get used to being
around his pony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within 20 minutes, he
was captivated by being able to groom, walk and feed the pony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the session, he asked if he
could repeat the experience again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
day after that we visited the ponies, so that he could talk to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buying food for our meals was made easier by having a huge
Tescos located 5 minutes drive away from the campsite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although we like to try local butchers,
delicatessens etc when we are in different areas, our ASD children are fussy
eaters and so like to be able to buy what they would eat at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
away from home and normal routine is not a moment to ask an ASD child to try
new food, unless you want a meltdown to occur.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weatherwise, our holiday started off well with bright sunshine,
but by the middle of the break, the rain set in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One morning we woke up to find a small lake
in the living area of the tent with worms wriggling around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This caused a meltdown for our daughter as
she had not expected to wake up to this – the tent should look as it did when
she went to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of helping us
to clear up the mess, she retreated to the car to read her book, which was her
way of dealing with the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In spite of the weather, none of the kids wanted to come
home early, as they were enjoying themselves and so we managed to have 10 days
away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsi8FWokgjotJ1D9UCsxMTLQTDU6h4x-1Xd-B0q1feE5xVZBlW1ELA7NzgqW4ps4r5xFgnbB2PiJHfULrr15oabGCNhCCPg44ige-1PfXn-gXVjxT6np0qN_3NPSgc-UkJP5tkaDpeLXd/s1600/IMG_4790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsi8FWokgjotJ1D9UCsxMTLQTDU6h4x-1Xd-B0q1feE5xVZBlW1ELA7NzgqW4ps4r5xFgnbB2PiJHfULrr15oabGCNhCCPg44ige-1PfXn-gXVjxT6np0qN_3NPSgc-UkJP5tkaDpeLXd/s320/IMG_4790.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exmouth Beach on one of our few sunny days!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our second camping trip was a totally different experience –
a field in North Wales with basic toilet facilities and no other entertainment
other than watching a steam train coming into the station behind the campsite
and to watch the cows and sheep in the fields around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pitches were not marked out and the toilets
were a portacabin in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Showers
were across the road by the farmhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were all clean but lots of spiders were living in the portacabins,
which unnerved the kids and you had to queue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three toilets for a field of 80 tents is not enough!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the kids love running around in a
field and playing games, they didn’t like tents being so close to one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The biggest problem we had to contend with was the
location of a decent supermarket being 25 miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our ASD children struggled to find what they
would normally eat in the local shops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Although we take some food with us, as we camp non electric, there is a limit as to how much we can bring, so that it remains fresh. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a great time visiting the area though and loved
climbing the mountains and going on a horse drawn canal boat in
Llangollen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Y-jJGV31p-6ftsmzF9SzZXnrbuEpB13GcOozPs0YZufSg8qI1rZD5oZO2k0G_VpGbfLD19mFGOfjIgIVS8rx2U6H0kgwFv_2TJ7rpy2AQmcaaqimlg0OEkG00kTAyWFVMvVX_OPenxWJ/s1600/IMG_4862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Y-jJGV31p-6ftsmzF9SzZXnrbuEpB13GcOozPs0YZufSg8qI1rZD5oZO2k0G_VpGbfLD19mFGOfjIgIVS8rx2U6H0kgwFv_2TJ7rpy2AQmcaaqimlg0OEkG00kTAyWFVMvVX_OPenxWJ/s320/IMG_4862.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glyder Mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both holidays were very different but enjoyable and we've all had the best of both worlds being able to explore the seaside and mountains during the summer holidays.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-86992875536123798102015-08-06T10:14:00.000-07:002015-08-06T10:14:53.213-07:00Summer Holiday Bucket Lists<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the last day of term all three children wrote their
bucket lists for the summer holiday. We
are now nearly at the end of week three and we have achieved so many of their
wishes already. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some are easier than others to do – our youngest son has the
easiest choices with Mr Whippy ice cream as one of his and a small list of 8
things to achieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the other end of
the spectrum our daughter wrote a list of 25 things ranging from having her
ears pierced, which she did during the first week to staying up to watch all
the Harry Potter films back to back and transforming her dolls house into the
Weasley home from Harry Potter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has
yet to be started, but she has a lot of ideas on paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has also set herself targets like she wants to do so much reading a day (half a book a day), be up and dressed by a certain time each
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone that knows her, knows she
likes to lie in and is rarely out of bed before 7.30am on a school day and can
be as late as 11am on a weekend, so to say she is going to be out of bed by 9am
each day is a task in itself!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far she has managed it each day, but I have also told her that she can stay
in bed longer if we have nothing planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> However, </span>ASD children always push themselves to do their best and to achieve
things, whether they are at school or enjoying their summer holiday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All three children had written a day out in London on their
lists and last Friday we did an open top sightseeing bus tour around
London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the best days out
we have ever done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They enjoyed learning
the history of London and seeing the top tourist attractions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our youngest son it was the ideal way for
him to see the sights as he didn’t have to walk in the crowds and we had the
bus to ourselves for half the journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first three weeks of the holidays seem to have flown by
and as well as enjoying days out, the kids have been just as happy to play in the
garden or go for a bike ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
four more weeks to tick off everything that is on their bucket lists and
fingers crossed we will do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
end of each week, the kids are also writing down what they have enjoyed from
that week and I’m sticking it onto a piece of card which I will laminate and we
can keep to look back on as their memories for this holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-70283603205938705862015-07-14T04:12:00.000-07:002015-07-14T04:12:10.030-07:00Anxiety of Rollover Day<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Last Friday was rollover day and all 3 kids approached it with trepidation as none are happy with their choice of teachers for next year. In the case of our neurotypical son, he has just realised he's had a teacher who has had a gentle approach to teaching this year. His new teacher will push him to reach his ability and won't put up with any nonsense which as parents we are happy about. He's not as keen!!</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Our daughter has two form teachers next year and the whole class appear to dislike one of them as he has a reputation for shouting. As Friday isn't one of his teaching days he didn't attend rollover day which has not helped to calm our daughter's fears of what he will be like. For the past two years her form teacher has not taught any subjects and just taken the register and done form time so hopefully next year will be no different. It will be her last year at middle school before she enters a very different world in upper school. After being in a school with 550 pupils, she will leave in a year's time to begin Year 9 with each year group containing 300 children. It's a whole different ballgame and provision is already being put in place at her current school to help with this transition. We've told her to make the most of the upcoming year as it will only increase her confidence. She has transformed in the last 3 years from a quiet little girl who refused support from anyone to a confident 12 year old who will seek out support. She's even taken on the role of being a big buddy next year to help the new Year 5 students. Something we wouldn't have dreamed she would have contemplated even a year ago. Slowly she is beginning to realise she is a talented girl who has a lot to offer to others and with the help of an amazing Inclusion Manager she has blossomed at school.</div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Our youngest son has the most changes to cope with as he approaches Year 3. He will have two teachers for his class with one teaching 3 days a week and another 2 days a week. It is not an option we would have selected for him but now we have to make sure it works for him. Not knowing what to expect with two teachers who will have different teaching styles is causing him a lot of anxiety already. On top of this he has three new TAs to get used to who will be working with the class and one will meet him in the playground each day and be a backup if his 1:1 is not in school one day. It is a lot of changes for any child to cope with, let alone someone who relies on consistency and routine. Photos have been provided for home of all new staff and a transition booklet will be given for the holidays, so that he knows what will stay the same in Year 3 with pictures of what his new classroom will look like and where his peg etc will be. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
September is probably going to be a stressful month in our house, but we are prepared for that and will be there to support all three children. </div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-16101394832780623952015-06-30T06:46:00.001-07:002015-06-30T06:46:53.403-07:00Birthday Anxiety<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The build up to birthdays in our house seems to cause more
anxiety these days than the actual day itself, which is an improvement. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest son turned 7 on Sunday and had a wonderful day
enjoying the rides at Wicksteed Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the weather was not great when we arrived, not many people had decided to visit
for the day and so there were no queues for the rides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not having his presents wrapped up, which
people still find odd, but it makes him so much happier, helps to make the day
run smoother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended up giving our main present to him last Friday to
try and reduce some of the anxiety he suffered in the week before his
birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately it wasn’t enough
to stop the meltdowns that followed all day Friday and Saturday, but for the
odd hour that he was calm on those days, he enjoyed going out on his new wiggle
scooter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to be a terrific form
of exercise and will help with his sensory processing difficulties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have yet to master the art of getting it to
move forward, but he has already become a speed demon on it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our son has now started to ask about his 8<sup>th</sup>
birthday – it will be the first time since he has been at school that it has
fallen on a school day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until now, he
has been lucky that his birthday has been either a school training day or
weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next year it will be on a
Tuesday and he’s not sure how he will cope as he hates to be the centre of
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have told him that we will
think about this next June, but he is already asking how many sleeps until his
birthday!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To us it seems a small thing that is a long while in the
future, so we can put it to the back of our minds until nearer the time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our son struggles to do this and although he
is using different coping strategies to deal with situations in life,
learning to cope with anxiety is a difficult thing to master.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One way to describe his brain is that it is
like an open filing cabinet and no file is ever closed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, he keeps the files open all the time
and so the thoughts keep whirring round in his mind increasing his anxiety,
rather than being able to close a file and return to it at a later date.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As he grows older, he will hopefully find a
way that suits him to deal with anxiety.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, we just need to be there to support him and if he asks
the same question over and over again, it’s not because he’s forgotten the
answer, but instead because he needs that constant reassurance and that is how
he copes at the moment.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-19517074537388751772015-06-17T11:35:00.001-07:002015-06-17T11:35:59.239-07:00Busy Busy Busy!!!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It feels ages since I last sat down and wrote my blog. I’ve come to the conclusion that June is the
busiest month of the year for us as a family.
Both of our ASD children celebrate their birthdays this month. Our daughter turned 12 last week and our
youngest son turns 7 at the end of next week.
So much preparation is involved in making their birthdays a success and
not a stressful day for them both. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As they are both huge fans of Harry Potter, we are taking
them to the Harry Potter Studios this weekend as a birthday treat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daughter has been before with us and
knows what to expect, but our youngest son has never wanted to go due to the
crowds and queueing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have prepared him
for the day with a social story and we will take a rucksack full of sensory
toys/equipment to help him to feel less anxious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no guarantees it will work but it’s
better to be prepared than just wing it on the day!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of this, our youngest son had scarlet fever at the
beginning of the month and was poorly for 10 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then yesterday my husband and I attended his
Statement Review meeting, which lasted 3 hours and was emotionally draining for
us both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had already spent hours
writing the parental contribution for the meeting and going through all the
reports from the various professionals involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have also been involved with helping with our youngest son’s school PTA with their fete last Saturday and Fathers Day Sales this week.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I thrive on being busy, even I am
beginning to feel the effects of such a busy month and need some downtime.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not likely to come before July as we are
now on countdown to how many sleeps until our youngest son’s birthday (another
11 to go!!) and in between that he has a Victorian dress up day at school which
is causing anxiety as it’s not a normal day, then Sports Day and a school trip
all to happen this month.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roll on
July.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The summer holidays will seem a
breeze compared to this!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809066228323359352.post-36297735815894563302015-06-01T03:20:00.001-07:002015-06-01T03:20:35.266-07:00Photophobia<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This is a new phrase that I learnt about on Friday after our
youngest son had an eyetest at the opticians.
Photophobia means you are sensitive to bright lights, which for our son is
made worse by his hayfever, asthma and eczema. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
During his appointment he spent most of the time rubbing his eyes or
blinking and it has now been recommended that he wears polarised sunglasses
when out and about. Inside, he often
asks for lights to be turned off or to have the blinds closed. If your child has a sensitivity to bright
lights it maybe worth investing in a sensory den/pop up tent or let them make a den
under the table so that they can shield themselves from the light. This is a popular activity for our son.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510883178959721630noreply@blogger.com1