This week is is World Autism Awareness Week, leading up to World Autism Awareness Day on Thursday 2nd April.

The focus of the week is to raise awareness about Autism, I guess the clue is in the name! It's all about getting people involved in activities that get people talking about Autism, and hopefully raising some much needed funds in the process.

The National Autistic Society are asking people to get involved and 'stand out for autism'. Their site has been a massive source of information for me over the last couple of years, from the early stages when we were first wondering if our son could be on the spectrum, right through to now. If you are beginning your autism journey it is a great place to start. They have a fantastic Youtube page with some very in depth talks from experts on topics such as behaviours, sleep, toileting and more, and it's well worth a look.

When I first started blogging I wanted to make ASD a big part of it. I found reading other blogs about ASD and special needs quite comforting, to read that other people were going through the same things as our family, and I wanted to be able to do that for others. Unfortunately, I haven't really written about autism nearly as much as I had originally planned but that is something I would like to change. I feel inspired, and have decided I'm going to start writing more regularly about Autism, and the struggles we face, and my son and all of his fantastic strengths. ASD is a big part of our family life, and so should be a big part of my blog too.

Now I would like to share with you some of my previous ASD related posts for those that you may have missed: (click the bold title to view the post)

Autism - Our Journey So Far - I share our early experiences and talk about what lead us to make that first step towards getting a diagnosis.

Anxious - I talk about the anxiety I felt in the few weeks before the big diagnosis appointment.

ASD Assessment & Diagnosis - An honest account of our experience on the day of the assessment, and what it meant for us.

The After Diagnosis Limbo - Unfortunately we didn't feel like we were given much help from the local authorities after receiving a diagnosis and felt like we were in limbo .

Problems With Change - Talking about some of the problems we face when there is a change in Neil's routine.

Time Train Visual Schedule - How we made a visual schedule to help Neil manage his day.

Chewigem Chewable Jewellery - A review of fantastic chewing jewellrey for children who like to chew.

Play Foam & Helping Hands - Having a little look at some products from Learning Resources to help children develop fine motor skills.

Hopefully my posts can be of some help to someone out there! If you would like to see more posts like that please get in touch, or let me know if there is anything you would like me to cover in one of my posts. To stay updated on all of my ASD related posts or if you just want to connect with me you can do so via my twitter or facebook.

Hopefully you have been inspired to get involved in this years Autism Awareness Week! If you would like to find out more or donate to the National Autistic Society you can do so here.

 

As the parent of a child with ASD, I'm always on the lookout for fun and interesting ways to engage and help Neil develop his skills. I have spent many a night on the Internet looking at special needs toys, and sensory toys. There is a lot available, but it's disappointing to find that a lot of 'special needs' toys carry quite a high price tag.

A little while ago I was introduced to Learning Resources and was amazed by the huge range of educational toys on offer. I was very pleased to find they had a dedicated section devoted to special needs toys, and the big winner for me was the price... Everything was so well priced! I have loved the place ever since, and I was very pleased when they asked if we would like to try a couple of their products.


We received the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set and an 8 pack of Play Foam, and we couldn't wait to give them a go.


The Helping Hands set contains four tools for various activities, to grab, squeeze, scoop and drop. The tools are all brightly coloured and immediately appealing. The tool set is designed to help children develop their fine motor skills, which is an area we are keen to work on with Neil.

To test out the Helping Hands, we gathered together Neil's collection of miniature Minecraft figures which were just the right size for grabbing and scooping with the various tools. We started with an empty bowl and the Squeezy Tweezers and I gave Neil the task of collecting up each of the figures and dropping them in to the bowl. This tool is great for developing hand eye coordination. Neil struggled at first because to open the tweezers you have to squeeze the handle, so it took him a while to coordinate his movements, but once he got the hang of it he was flying!


I then filled the bowl with water and asked Neil to retrieve the figures using the Handy Scooper. This is my favourite tool, as it is very similar in shape to scissors, and is perfect for developing the movements needed to control scissors properly, which is something Neil does struggle with a lot. The handle is designed perfectly for little hands, but I could also use them comfortably too. The large scoop has lots of little holes around it making it ideal for water play. Neil had a lot of fun lifting his characters from the water then watching the excess water drain away,


This was Neil's favourite activity and he could have played with the water and the Scoopers for hours. They are great for water play, and would be a perfect addition to bath time fun. I think this tool would be great for playing with flour or fine sugar too, but we haven't tried this as Neil doesn't like to get messy. Another great water play tool is the Twisty Dropper. The dropper helps strengthen the muscles in your child's hand because there is a lot of squeezing required to suck the water up in to the tube and squirt it back out again, and Neil enjoyed playing with this too.


The last piece in the kit was the Gator Grabber which looks like a little pair of tweezers, and is designed to help develop the pincer grip which is essential when learning how to hold a pencil properly, which is something a lot of ASD children can really struggle with. The grabber is very similar to one that we use in Occupational Therapy, and is great for picking up and sorting small objects.

The Second item we received was the Play Foam. We had never tried anything like play foam before, and were completely intrigued by it. It claims to be mess free and non drying and I was very interested to put the claims to the test.


Upon first inspection, the Play Foam looks like lots of tiny polystyrene balls stuck together. The pack we received contained four very vivid colours, including found original and four sparkle. The texture of the foam is bizarre. It feels sticky, but isn't sticky.... I know that doesn't really make sense but that is the way it is. The tiny little balls stick to themselves, but not to you. As soon as you put it in your hands you just want to squeeze it, and the squeezing is great for strengthening the hand and finger muscles.


It was out of the box for about one minute before Neil had mushed the 8 colours together, which is fine because it looks just as pretty.


It is so mouldable, and will hold its shape until it is squashed back down. Neil had a lot of fun moulding shapes and words. The great thing is that is doesn't dry out, unlike other popular mouldable products, so there is no need to worry about squashing it up and putting it away too soon. This means that the product can be played with for hours! All of the shaping and moulding takes place with the hands and fingers, and again is a great way of strengthening those muscles and developing fine motor skills.

Its quite common for children with ASD and Sensory Processing Disorder to chew things and put them in their mouths but I just want to let you know if your child does like to taste or chew not to be put off by this as it is non toxic and doesn't expand in the stomach and so if the odd piece is swallowed there is no risk to your childs health with this.  I feel completely fine with Neil using the product and he is compelled to taste and chew everything around him.

We were very impressed with both of the products we were sent. What I love about the Helping Hands Tool Set and the Play Foam is that they are so good for helping develop fine motor skills, but they are so much fun at the same time. I don't think Neil realised how much work he was doing with his hands because he was too busy enjoying himself. Both of the products would be great for children with ASD, ADHD, Sensory Processing Issues, Dyspraxia and many others. I feel the products would also be great for preschoolers who are still developing their motor skills.

The 8 pack of Play Foam is currently selling at £9.00, with the Helping Hands set selling at £7.14 which I think is a bargain! These two items, alongside many more great resources for children of all abilities are available from the Learning Resources Site, which you can find here.

If you would like to see the play foam in action you can do so in our youtube review:


To celebrate World Autism Day on the 2nd of April, Learning Resources UK are kindly giving one of my lovely readers the chance to win their own pack of Play Foam. To be in with a chance, please enter below. Good luck!

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Since my son received a diagnosis of ASD in June of this year, there has been so much going through my head. I want to help him over come his difficulties and reach his full potential, and most importantly make sure he is happy, but there is still so much I do not know about ASD, which makes it pretty difficult for me to really help him.

I had been feeling like we'd been given a diagnosis , and then been sent away to work things out for ourselves. Yes, we were given a bit of bumph to read at home, leaflets and such, but most of them just wrote about things I had already found out myself. I don't exactly know what I was expecting, and maybe I was a bit naive to expect anything at all, but I just thought there would be more support initially. The few months after diagnosis can be challenging. No, diagnosis does not change your child, and yes things will go on as they did before, and having the confirmed diagnosis definitely gives you a lot more to think about. There are so many questions I would liked to have asked, but didn't know who I could contact for advice, other than parent groups.

During the summer I was invited to a 'parent training workshop', and I was excited to learn as much as I could, but came home disappointed. The content of the training was purely about what the condition is, basically the stuff that was in the leaflets they had given at diagnosis, just with a bit more padding. All of it was things I had already learned via the National Autistic Society website, or books that I head read.

At our very first appointment with the pead, when the first mention of autism came about, I will admit I knew very little about it. We were given the name of an ASD specialist who had published some very informative books, which I borrowed from the library the next day. As the months passed by, and more and more arrows started pointing to ASD, I spent many an evening on the NAS website, trying to gain as good an understanding of the condition as I could, so that when the diagnosis finally came, we knew what we were dealing with.

Isn't this is what most parents would do? Surely no one is getting through the lengthy diagnosis progress without doing a bit of investigating for themselves?

Maybe the training would have been helpful to families who had recently been referred for diagnosis to learn a bit more about what they were being referred for, but I just feel that for families who had already received a diagnosis, it was a bit too basic. Or maybe there's something wrong with me, and I spent too much time reading about ASD, I don't know? Maybe I'm being ignorant to the fact that other parents may not have knows quite as much as me? Either way, I left feeling totally disappointed. ( I should add, the training day would have been perfect for other family members, like grandparents, to learn more about ASD, because it was full of information, just not the right info for me.)

Some months before diagnosis, Neil was referred for Occupational Therapy, who can help with motor skills and sensory issues. At the time the OT couldn't accept him because he was under the radar of some organisation who were working with the school who could offer similar services. It didn't seem to matter that this organisation wasn't actually giving him assistance, so we were kind of stuck in limbo. Thankfully, once we received a diagnosis, we were re-referred to OT and accepted.

Neil had his second session with the occupational therapist today, and he has been assessed to determine what kind of help they can offer. I also received and invitation to a sensory workshop which is taking place next month, and I can't wait to see what that's all about.

Hopefully we are now heading in the right direction, and we will finally be able to further support Neil, and get answers to the questions going through my head!

Neil has never been the most sociable of characters. It's one of his traits that I would attribute to his ASD.

Most of the time he's not interested in playing or interacting with other children. He's prefers his own company, and would choose to play minecraft on his own over playing with someone any day.

He will sometimes play with Caitlin, but only on his agenda and she has to agree to play his way. Sometimes, when he's not in the mood he will refuse, which can be tough for Caitlin as she doesn't understand.

When he decides he does want to play, it's always centered around Minecraft. He's not in to knights and dragons or cops and robbers or anything like that, it has to be Minecraft related.

He's not usually bothered about being around other people, he can happily play alongside children at parties and soft play, but he won't actually play with them.

There are times when he decided he wants to join in, but you can see he doesn't really know how. I've seen him go over to a group and just loudly say something, I think in hope that they will respond. Or he will jump in to their conversation quite loudly, but you can tell he's feeling really awkward because he's usually swaying from side to side as he does it.

That's the bit that upsets me a bit.... I'm happy enough to let him play on his own... if that makes him happy, that's fine. It's seeing him wanting to join in but not knowing how that I find hard. We are currently waiting on a referral to a social skills group which I hope will help him in those kinds of situations.

Anyway, last week I wrote about how we have had a new play park built in the village. The kids have been keen to go every day, so after school I usually take them down for a little while before dinner. One afternoon last week, we were in the park as normal, and I was sitting on one of the seats watching the kids running around. As usual, a few other children were also in the park.

Imagine my surprise when I see Neil chasing after another boy with his fingers pointed like a gun, shouting nee nar the police are going to get you, as the boy ran away with some 'stolen apples'. This pretend scene continued for about 5 minutes before Neil lost interest and went back to Caitlin. While it may not have lasted long, the play looked so natural, and Neil didn't seem anxious to be joining in at all.

That was a big step for him. It was so nice to see him joining in, without his anxieties taking over, and for us, that's a fantastic achievement.

Jeannette's Small Steps Amazing Achievements Highlights From Last Week

My word of the week this week is...


A brown envelope dropped through our letterbox this week. It was addressed to the parents of Neil, and I knew instantly what it was. It is the letter we have been waiting for.

The letter containing the time and date of Neil's autism assessment. The appointment we have been waiting a whole year for, and it is finally here. Now shit gets real.

The appointment is for 3 weeks time. Just long enough for my brain to go in to overdrive. I hate waiting for things, because I start over thinking. I would rather receive a letter telling me to bring him in tomorrow, then it would be over and done with and I wouldn't have to torture myself with anxieties.

There are so many things going through my head. What if they don't see what we see, what if they think we are making it all up, what if we've got it all wrong? I don't know how me, my hubby, Neil's teacher, the pead and everyone else could all have got it wrong, but this is the kind of thing going through my head.

I'm anxious about the day itself, is it going to be stressful for him, what do we tell him, how do we prepare him? It takes place on a Wednesday, so he's going to find it odd that he's not going to school, it's going to throw him off for the rest of the day. At his first appointment with the Paediatrician, it was easy to see how uncomfortable he was, how much he wanted to leave, and that is upsetting.

I think the main thing that I'm anxious about is that we won't get the diagnosis we are expecting, and then what happens? If they see traits of autism, but not enough to give a diagnosis, what do we do then? Will we still get support?

I have a feeling I'm going to be on edge for the next few weeks. I can't answer any of these worries, I can't convince myself to chill out, I just want to get the assessment done. The diagnosis will not change anything, but I just think it will be a weight off the shoulders, a weight that has been sitting there since the first doctors appointment one year ago.

The National Autistic Society posted a link on their Facebook page today from the Daily Mail about the links between major childhood vaccinations and autism/ asd.

I'm sure most of you can remember the media storm, and subsequent panic from parents in the late 90's/ early 00's when a study was released linking the MMR vaccine to Autism. This lead to a large number of parents deciding against vaccinating their children with the MMR. The study has since been withdrawn, and the findings have been discredited.

This has not stopped the great debate, however.

I was a child when the study was released, I remember it being on the news a lot. I also remember them saying that the study was false, and thought that was the end of it. I gave the matter no more thought until I had my own children, in fact, I didn't even know the debate was still raging, until my son was of the age to get his first vaccination.

Like most parents, I wanted to know what the vaccination process would be like. When I say that, I'm talking about on the day, for example, will there be any side effects, should I give him calpol afterwards, stuff like that. I used to read a lot of parenting forums when Neil was born, and so that was my first place to turn when I had questions.

I asked for vaccination advice, and was surprised and shocked with some of the replies I received. There were a lot of people advising about temperatures, giving calpol, their children being a bit 'off' for a few days. And then there were some replies from people saying they were against the vaccination programme and so had no advice to give. Finally, there was a small group of people who seemed to be on some sort of anti vaccination crusade, and it scared me a little. I was told I was poisoning my child, I was a bad mother, I should be researching the vaccinations before willingly "filling my child with all kinds of shit".

Some of the responses were a bit extreme, I thought. I decided to go ahead with the vaccinations, despite the concerns of some parents. I also got my daughter vaccinated too, when the time came.

For me, I believe the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh the risks, and that's why I chose to go ahead.

Fast forward 5 years, and we are on the verge of receiving a diagnosis of ASD for my son.I do not for one second regret giving him the MMR, or any other jab, for that matter. I don't believe the link, but if he is the way he is due to some vaccine then so be it. I love him the way he is, autism and all.

The report on the Daily Mail today stated that a large study carried out by the university of Sydney, involving over 1 million children, had found no link between commonly given vaccines and autism. The vaccines they talk about in the study are for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

The comments on both the NAS post, and the Daily Mail article got pretty heated. A lot of people strongly for and against vaccinations, and I think it's something that is always going to cause arguments. Some people seem to say that their child was developing as they should and deteriorated quickly after receiving the vaccination. I'm not a medical professional, so I can't really comment on this, or the reasons why that would happen.

I don't personally believe that my sons ASD had anything to do with his MMR, his Dad has very strong traits which went undiagnosed as a child, so for us it has to be genetic.

I did notice one or two people talking about how they used to have a perfect child, until they had a vaccination. I don't understand how you can say your child, regardless of the problems they may be facing, is not perfect? My sons ASD does not affect how perfect he is to me. He is amazing, and I wouldn't change him for the world

Someone commenting on the DM website even calls Tony Blair a baby killer for backing the MMR.

Now, hold on a seccond, Autism is not a major cause of deaths in children. Measles and diphtheria however, are.

The vaccinations given to us as children have almost eradicated most major life threatening childhood diseases. I don't know about you, but I would much rather have an autistic child than a dead child. I'm sorry if I'm a bit blunt there but it's true.

Most people probably don't know much about things like measles, diphtheria and rubella, but as more and more parents join the anti vaccination camp, we will start to see cases of such things rising. Rubella, which usually quite a mild infection for a child, can cause serious issues if a pregnant women becomes infected, including miscarriage, and brain damage to the unborn child.

Before a vaccination for diphtheria was introduced in the 40's, is was one of the major causes of infant death in the UK. The NHS website reports that there was a diphtheria epidemic in the 'countries of the former Soviet Union between 1990 and 1998. It resulted in 157,000 cases and 5,000 deaths.', which was due to low numbers of people taking up the vaccine.

Is this the risk you want to take for your children?

My son may have his struggles, but he has his health and his life, and that's the most important thing to me.
 
How do you feel about this? Did you decide not to vaccinate your children, and if so what were your reasons for this?

My son has a lot of sensory needs, one of which being the need to put things in his mouth, constantly.
Anything that he has in his hands, goes in to his mouth. He's an awful chewer. At school he eats the rubber from the top of the pencils, pulls foam from the floor cushions to eat, chews paper, eats glitter, you name it, he's tried it.

At home, I often find him chewing, and when I ask what he's got he will spit little bits of plastic in to his hand and give it to me. He often would sit and pick the leather coating from the computer chair and chew on that. It's a nightmare, wondering what he's going to chew on and worrying that he might swallow something and choke on it.

It's funny that he will chew and eat inedible things, but there are lots of different foods that would make him gag, but that's another story for another day.

The thing he probably chews most are his clothes. I've changed t-shirts before that have been chewed so much they are soaked from the hem up.
When he's engrossed in something, like his minecraft or skylanders, then chances are his collar will be in his mouth.


This was becoming such a problem that clothes were being chewed and sucked out of shape, so much so that we had to throw them out.

We were recommended by someone at the autism centre that you could get jewellery to chew on. After doing a bit of looking around on the internet, I came across Chewigem, and decided to place and order and see what they were like.

Chewigem make a range of jewellery designed for those that like to chew, so perfect for Neil. They are made from silicon, and are completely non-toxic. They come in a range of styles and colours, and look so much more stylish, and discreet than some of the others I have seen.

Because Neil is such a heavy chewer, we decided on the button pendant, which is new, and a tread bangle.


You may notice that they were supplied in a GumiGem package. Gumigem were the original chewing jewellery, made by Jenny McLaughlan and her husband, for teething babies. They were designed to be worn by parents, and their chidren could chew on them when they were teething. They soon realised that the range was very popular with parents of SEN children, and so started Chewigem alongside. The range's are the same, they are just marketed a little differently.

They arrived very quickly after I had ordered them, I think it took two days. I loved the packaging, they came in handy little zipped bags which means I can carry them in my bag without them getting dirty.

Neil was very excited to give them a try when they arrived. He loved the colours, they do look pretty funky.

The button pendant is supplied on a long cord, with a quick release safety clasp, so if they get caught they should pull straight off. We bought the button mainly to be used at school, so he could keep it around his neck all day. I like that the cord is long enough that the necklace can be hidden under his jumper if he is not using it, it is very discreet. Neil doesn't like hiding it away though, which is great.

The bangle I was a bit unsure about, I didn't know if he would wear a bangle but we thought we'd try him anyway. The colours are fantastic, the one we chose is a wonderful mix of blue, grey, white and black. It is very thick, and has tire treads on it. It feels a bit more sturdy than the necklace, and is perfect for when he's playing on his tablet at night because that is when he does his heaviest chewing.
We needn't have worried, he absolutely loves the bangle, more so than the necklace.

It did take his a week or two to get used to using them, he would often sit with the bracelet on and still be chewing his collar or sleeve, but it's easy to re direct him to the chewigem, and now that he's had them a while he uses them all of the time.



They really have been a godsend, I'm really pleased to have found something that works for him. They look really cool too, and could be worn as just jewellery even for non chewing children. I am now looking to expand my collection and maybe buy a set of the dog-tags for him.

The Button pendant is new to Chewigem, replacing the old disc pendant's which were thinner. They are now stocking a range of brand new colours too. Prices start at £5.95, and there is a huge range of styles and colours on their shop, which you can visit here.

You can also view my youtube review:

                   

The lovely Jenny at Chewigem has kindly agreed to run a competition to win a piece of Chewigem jewellery of your choice. Simply enter below for your chance to win.

A winner will be chosen at random on the closing date. If the item you have chosen to win is out of stock, you may be asked to choose something else. All entries will be verified, you must follow the instructions for each entry. For example, if you have entered the facebook entry, you must be following me on facebook for you entry to be valid. Good luck!

Please note, I was not asked to review these products, I bought them myself and chose to review them because I think they are fab, and Neil loves them!



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Passion Projects - what do you love and would like to make money from.

I've wanted to be many things over the years, and have come up with so many different career ideas it's hard to keep track. Nothing has ever really stuck.

As a child I wanted to be a nurse, then a fire fighter (until I discovered I was afraid of fire), then as I got older I decided I wanted to be a journalist, or work behind the scenes in TV. I did my foundation degree in television and media production, which I thoroughly enjoyed during the two years, but it wasn't for me.

I've worked as a barmaid, a waitress, a sales assistant, not my dream jobs, but then I think that's the issue, I don't have a dream job.

I currently work in a great little place in my village, which is handy because it fit's around my family life. It may not be my passion but I put my all in to it regardless, and I'm happy working there.

It may sound cheesy, but my true passion is my family, my children. Since having kids, I've put my everything in to them and not much else seemed to matter.

Something I've become very passionate about, in the past year or 2, is ASD/ Autism, because of my son Neil. I'm always looking in to ways to improve his experiences, and I enjoy seeing the changes in him when we find something that works. I've recently wondered if I could do some work related to helping my son, and other children with ASD. I've toyed with the idea of starting a support group in the area, I'm hoping to do the half marathon and raise money for autism charities, and I've thought about doing ASD training to possibly work with other children like Neil.

It's still all just thoughts at the moment, but I'm really interested in doing something relating to ASD. It's something I may not make make any money from and if I do it would purely be a bonus, but I think it's something I will enjoy, and I'll put my all in to it because it involves my son, and my family. 

I'm not sure where any of these ideas will lead, so wish me luck and watch this space.

My little boy is a creature of habit, he likes things to be as they should, each and every day.

He likes a bit of routine in his life, and we all usually stick to this routine because it makes his life a little bit easier, and less stressful.

He doesn't have rigid, set, to-the-minute routines, they are a little more relaxed, but they are routines non the less. And while with a lot of persuasion, and reassurance, an unexpected change in his routine is usually tolerated, you notice his anxiety levels rise considerably because of it.

On a usual day we get up, have breakfast and get dressed before heading for the school bus. He then has school, and then I pick him up again in the afternoon. Once home from school he likes to spend most of his afternoon pottering around the house, doing something 'special interest' related. While it may seem like he has a relatively unstructured afternoon, and I suppose he does in a way, that is his routine. If he comes home from school, expecting that he is going to read about minecraft or watch minecraft related videos on the pad and I ask him to come out with me and Caitlin, things can become tense.

This is why we find our visual schedule so useful. When he gets home from school, we can put some activities up on his schedule, including activities that he may have become distressed about, had they just been announced to him. Because he is adding the activities to the schedule, he feels like he his controlling what he is doing. This doesn't always work, but it usually softens the blow of a routine change.

Obviously there are times when a quick change cannot be avoided, which can be quite stressful for Neil. Like I said above, you can usually get him to go along with the change, but you can see the effects. The anxiety can manifest in different ways, more prominent tics, swaying, disturbed sleep, and at worst a meltdown, although thankfully we don't get too many of those. His little autism quirks definitely become more noticeable when a change has stressed him.

For example, on Monday it was Neil's first day back to school after the Easter holidays. He usually takes the school bus to school, which picks him up at the top our street. There are quite a lot of children in our village at the school, and so there are two buses on the same route. The first bus arrived, and the majority of children get on to it. Ten minutes later, the bus that usually picks up Neil had not arrived, so I took him in to the house to phone the school. He was getting very anxious about this and kept asking where the bus was. I told him we would have to take Granda's car to school that day, and he said OK. I could tell he was stressed about the whole thing as he was swaying from side to side, and his vocal tics became louder and more frequent. He was like that for the rest of the day, despite the remainder of the day being normal.

Ever since he started school in September, we've had the same morning routine. It is always me who takes him for the bus, and he has a little handshaking routine with his daddy when he leaves the house. Yesterday, for the first time, this routine had to be changed, and he really didn't take it well.

I was away on a trip to England for work, and had to leave the house at 6.30. This meant his daddy had to do the school run. Neil started crying at the breakfast table and was totally thrown off. I don't think he was particularly upset that I was gone, it was just such a big change to his normal morning that he couldn't handle it, despite a week of me preparing him and telling him what would be happening. It breaks my heart! I phoned home when I landed in England, and my husband told me about the morning and I felt so guilty for doing that to him.

It's inevitable sometimes though, that things will change. I may start looking in to relaxation techniques to help him with his anxiety when something like this occurs.


I used to find it frustrating, not being able to be spontaneous, to be able to just say "hey, it's a nice afternoon, lets go for a picnic", I belived the most fun was had in just doing something random and unplanned. Now though, I enjoy our routine. Seeing how happy and relaxed Neil can be when he's in a familiar environment, with his own routine in place, and I have learned that having to plan in advance doesn't take the fun out of things.

And while it may be difficult for some people to understand how small, seemingly insignificant changes can create so much upset, I'm sure most of you will agree with me that it is comforting to know what's going to happen next, fear of the unknown can create anxiety for everyone, not just those with autism/ asd. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Do you have any relaxation tips for helping to deal with anxiety?
Does your child struggle with change, and how do you help or overcome this?

Today it is World Autism Awareness day, to mark the start of Autism Awareness Month which runs the whole of April.

The National Autistic Society are encouraging everyone to wear their onesies today for 'Onesie Wednesday', to raise some much needed funds, and most importantly awareness of Autism.

This morning, I asked Neil if he would like to put on his onesie for 'Onesie Wednesday', and this is the conversation that followed

Neil: "Um... no, I think I will just wear my dressing gown"
Me: "But it's not dressing gown Wednesday, it's onesie Wednesday"
Neil: "I'm just going to wear my dressing gown"
Me: Ok
Neil: "We can change it to 'onesie or dressing gown Wednesday, unless you don't have a onesie or a dressing gown then you can just wear your t-shirt"
Me: Ok...
Neil: "It's wear whatever you want Wednesday"

So we have renamed it 'Wear Whatever You Want Wednesday'



Whatever it's called, it's a great cause! There definitely needs to be more awareness of Autism and ASD.

If you want to take part, tweet your pictures of yourself or your family in your onesies with #OnesieWednesday or if you wish to donate £3 please txt 'ONES14 £3' to 70070