“These things are sent to try us” is a phrase I often hear, and one which was very appropriate today. Since Becs’ surgery a few weeks ago I have been running the house, juggling work, school runs, after school clubs and dog walks. Every engine needs fuel and mine has been a mix of...
Z is for Zig-a-zig-ah
It was June 1996 that the Spice Girls burst onto the scene with their debut song Wannabe, full of hope and enthusiasm for their unique brand of “Girl Power”. They were so successful that they truly went viral globally at a time when the internet was not yet available to most people and the...
Y is for You Have Autism
We had known for a long time that Victoria was different to most of her peers but I think it really became apparent to me at least during the first lockdown of 2020. The level of the school work being sent home to the children in her class was way beyond what she could...
X is for Xperts
There are many, many experts you may meet on your autism journey. Some have impressive titles, degrees and years of experience as a professional. Some, like us parents, are simply dropped in at the deep end and have to become as expert as we can with the tools available to us. Others are a...
W is for Walking on FIRE!!!!
A few days before the event I had to explain to the girls today that on Saturday daddy would be walking on fire. I’m not sure what kind of response I was expected but on balance I’m glad it was “But if you walk on fire you will burn yourself and die!” rather than...
V is for Video
No words this time. Just a request for you to spend 90 seconds watching this video: Can you make it to the end?...
U is for Unknown Unknowns
Donald Rumsfeld famously stated that there are “ Unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know” which accurately described my feelings 3 and a bit years ago – the only thing I was sure about was that I knew nothing about what was coming and couldn’t even begin to form the...
T is for Terminology
I’ve said several times now that you learn a lot on the Autism journey. There are a lot of new phrases and terms related to autism that we have heard for the first time, but which now play a significant role in our lives. Victoria only has a diagnosis of Autism but it is...
S is for Stimming
I’ve said before that you learn a lot on this journey and “stimming” is another thing I’d never heard of 3 years ago but is just part of our vocabulary these days. Stimming is the repeated and unusual movements and sounds people with autism make to cope with emotional and overwhelming situations. And when...
R is for Routine
Routine can be important. Doing things in a certain order and a particular way are sometimes crucial. Building a house or defusing a bomb probably wouldn’t go to plan if you didn’t do things step by step! But the resulting fallout from a mistaken change in routine would be nothing compared to what we...