Autism: Living With A Literal Thinker It's a while since I've shared a post on autism. Not because I don't want to, but because sometimes I find it all too much and need to 'switch off' to it. That may sound selfish, but walk in my shoes for twenty years and I think you may understand where I'm ... [ Read More ]
Embracing Autism Is Easier Said Than Done
Embracing Autism Recently I read an article by Keith Duffy telling those of us with an autistic child to stop mourning the child they aren't and to start embracing the child they are. Is it really that easy? For many of us embracing autism is easier said than done. I certainly don't sit there ... [ Read More ]
Parenting An Older Child With Autism
Parenting An Older Child With Autism As many of you know I have a son who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome a couple of years ago and I have to admit that although we knew he was autistic, to finally have it in black and white as an official diagnosis was a huge relief. It's not that I ... [ Read More ]
Greg’s Birthday: It Can’t Be Said, We Didn’t Try
Greg's Birthday Last Friday was Greg's nineteenth Birthday and a day of Birthday celebrations were planned. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how we were planning on surprising him with a surprise Zakynthos 'Intrepid Explorers' group walk (the fun name that we use to call a small group of us that ... [ Read More ]
Surprise!
Surprise! This week has been a week of surprises. Greg's will be celebrating his nineteenth birthday next week (scary - where has the time gone?), and a couple of weeks ago he surprised us by saying he wanted to celebrate his birthday by going on a walk with a few people he's got to feel ... [ Read More ]
The Zakynthos Walking Group Is Great For So Many Reasons
Aspergers And Social Awkwardness Aspergers and social awkwardness go hand in hand, for someone with Aspergers feeling socially awkward is the norm. Feeling comfortable in company does not come easily to people with Aspergers syndrome. Being in the company of others is a constant struggle, as ... [ Read More ]
Feeling Weary
Feeling Weary If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I have a son with Aspergers (and added extras). And as any parent with a child who has special needs or is 'different' will know, that parenting a child with special needs brings with it a different set of worries, struggles ... [ Read More ]
Parenting A Child On The Autistic Spectrum…
Parenting A Child On The Autistic Spectrum Is Testing Parenting Any Child Is No Easy Task... But for me and many other parents like me, parenting a child on the autistic spectrum has been one hell of a roller coaster ride, and one that I can see no end to (I've never even liked roller ... [ Read More ]
Aspergers Syndrome: Feeling Included
One Of the Traits Of Aspergers Syndrome Is... Being sociably awkward. People with Aspergers struggle to make friends as they lack the ability to 'read' people, meaning they don't always know when they have upset someone or overstepped the mark. It also means they can be totally unaware when they ... [ Read More ]
That Bumbling Feeling…
You know the one... It's that feeling where you don't seem to know your arse from your elbow and you feel as if your are bumbling from one thing to the next, never seeming to complete anything. Please don't tell me I'm the only one. That could be the straw that breaks the camels ... [ Read More ]
Learning To Plan
This Week... I've been trying to teach my son to plan. He may be eighteen now, but due to his Aspergers he is unable to plan things for himself. Just doing daily things like washing, dressing, brushing his teeth, eating and drinking can leave him flummoxed and it's worse now he's left school and ... [ Read More ]
Withdrawn…
It's Been... A good couple of weeks since I've fallen off the blogging wagon. I've not written a blog post in what feels like weeks and I know I've fallen well behind on my blog browsing, reading and commenting. It's Not You, It's Me (directed at bloggers whose posts I usually regularly ... [ Read More ]
Aspergers Syndrome: Making People A Little Quirky
People With Aspergers Syndrome Certainly have their quirks! And my son (who has Aspergers) has plenty. They are what make him, him. Some of them I can understand and others I really can't get my head around. Like now, it is summer and it is unarguably hot. At the moment the outside ... [ Read More ]
Aspergers And Common Sense
Aspergers And Common Sense People with Aspergers Syndrome are no less intelligent than the next person, in fact they are often of above average intelligence (which sadly, isn't always immediately obvious), but they do lack common sense. One Good Example Of Greg's Greg's has always had a ... [ Read More ]
Aspergers Syndrome: Raising Awareness
Aspergers Syndrome: Raising Awareness As some of you may know last year my son Greg's was diagnosed with having Aspergers Syndrome. The diagnosis did not come as a surprise to us. In fact, it was very much a relief, as we have always been aware that he is very different from other ... [ Read More ]
Totally Disillusioned…
All Change...In More Ways Than One! I had planned a different, more upbeat post for today, but after taking my son to one of his therapies I am feeling rather peeved and a touch disillusioned to say the least. It was not so long ago that I was feeling full of hope for our sons future, after what ... [ Read More ]
It’s Okay To Admit When Things Are Hard Going
Life Isn't Easy...Not for any of us. We all have times when we find things hard going, but how often do we put on a brave face and pretend that things are all hunky-dory? Why do we feel that we can't admit when we are not coping well or are finding things hard going? It's never easy to admit ... [ Read More ]
Finally, We Have An Official Diagnosis For Our Son
Finally, We Have An Official Diagnosis For Our Son I want to write this post partly as a way of getting my head around the fact that we have finally got the official diagnosis we have wanted for so long, and partly to let other parents know that they are not alone in getting a late diagnosis for ... [ Read More ]