Call us crazy but we counted down the minutes and then did presents at midnight last night!
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Category: Our Story
How I manage Christmas with a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
Father Christmas only brings a stocking each and he very helpfully puts the same things in them every year! There are always new fleecy pyjamas, soft slippers, something chocolate, a small sensory toy and a satsuma. The kids know what to expect and they also know roughly what they will get in their presents from me. I find this helps ease their anxiety.
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Our story part five – My son’s first term in his Specialist High School!
I am so very happy that after everything my baby has been through, he is in a place that is good for him. A place where they recognise the lovely, good and caring person he is. A place that builds him up and helps him, and hopefully a place that will give him the skills he needs to work towards his own goals for when he is older.
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Our story part four – My fight to get my son into the right specialist high school
My heart goes out to anyone going through this, or similar, because I know so many parents who have the same story. I know parents who have ended up homeschooling for years because they aren’t given schools that suit their children. I know children who are not educated at all because they were sent to schools which couldn’t actually meet their needs. I know children, like my son who have ended up suicidal due to being in the wrong school. The system is not setup to help children like mine. The process of getting diagnosed, applying for EHC Plans, and choosing the right school is too tainted by funding issues. Children are being placed in the wrong schools for the wrong reasons all the time!
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Our story part three – The years my Autistic child was stuck in mainstream Primary School!
I remember clearly the time his teacher marched him to me crying after school. She handed me a piece of paper and told me he was being a nightmare. He had refused to do his work, been isolated all day and was allowed no playtime. She gave me the work to take home and said he needed to do it before tomorrow. The work was simple, it was drawing pictures of a story in order. I took my very distressed child home and after a lot of cuddles asked him why he didn’t do the work. “I cant draw a chicken” he said. He was that worried about getting the chicken in the first picture wrong that he couldn’t bring himself to do the work. I just looked at him and said “would you like me to show you how to draw a chicken?” he nodded and smiled and did that piece of work in two minutes.
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Our story part two – The fight for an EHC Plan to get my son out of mainstream education!
I double checked during this phone call that they had received my letter and evidence. They denied all knowledge of it. I told them that was strange considering it was posted recorded delivery and had been signed for. It then miraculously appeared!
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Our story part one – The long process of getting my son’s ASD diagnosis
The paediatrician had a very strong accent and asked my son lots of overly complicated questions. My son struggled greatly to understand what he was being asked both because he didn’t understand the words and because he didn’t understand the questions. To be honest I struggled to understand too and I ended up getting the Doctor to repeat himself and then interpreting for my son who then tried to answer the questions. I still to this day have no idea why he was asked any of it or what relevance that appointment had to anything! The paediatrician told me nothing and said he would make an appointment to see my son again in six months. I went home thoroughly confused and feeling like it was all a waste of time.
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Bed Time!
I give myself a pat on the back for my achievement of getting both kids in bed before 3am, make myself a cup of tea and fall asleep before I drink it, knowing I need to be up in less than four hours.
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I forgot to go to my son’s school and I feel terrible!
I left my poor baby stood in the hall waiting for me to turn up, watching all the other parents come and go and I never showed! Mega parenting fail!!
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Babysitters are worth their weight in gold but is going out worth it?
My kids then decide to start world war three between them. I end up splitting them up and making my daughter (the war instigator) move to the furthest possible room in the house, so my son, who by this time is trying to punch right through the wall next to his bed, can have time to calm down.
