“Rethinking Autism” and Demonizing Parents of Autistic Children

There’s a video doing the rounds in the autism blogging community, which is getting a lot of positive feedback. The video is by “Rethinking Autism”. You can find the video here. I thought the video content was ill-thought out, unhelpful, … Continue reading →

Invisible Red Paint, and the Not-Fun Mum

“Invisible red paint” is an analogy I came up with years ago, to describe some of my son’s more confusing and upsetting behaviour. I didn’t have other terminology to describe it back then; this behaviour was well in place prior … Continue reading →

The Autism Closet: Outing my child

I’ve had two and a half years of chances to “out” my child as autistic. Whether it’s to family, friends, employers, landlords, neighbours, or strangers. In each situation I’ve had to make a decision about whether it’s the right thing … Continue reading →

This is Me Meme!

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KWombles over at Countering, invited me to join in a fun little meme. Get your child to draw a picture of you Post it on your blog Call it the “This is Me Meme” Then post a link over here … Continue reading →

My Son’s Anchors

On the dining room table is a yellow bucket, containing five toys with mirrored surfaces. Along-side this bucket, are four time-devices (two alarm clocks, one wall clock, and a watch). Upstairs in my son’s bedroom he has a slinky, three … Continue reading →

Observations in Darkness, Part One: The Missing Photos

When my son was born, I predictably went over-board with the photo-taking. I couldn’t get enough of my gorgeous child. I particularly wanted to capture all his “firsts”, but they were few and far between. He was in no hurry … Continue reading →

The Best Laid Plans…

There are various studies that have suggested a link between autism and pregnancy complications, though they’re not particularly strong (this meta-analysis sums it up reasonably well). I had complications with my pregnancy, which I’m going to share in this post, … Continue reading →

Autism And

It is hard enough to understand and cope with autism. When your child has other conditions comorbid with the autism, it can both greatly increase the challenges you face in managing your child, and muddy the waters for understanding autism … Continue reading →

Therapies without Limit

Before I started blogging about autism, the most controversial therapies I’d come across were ABA and the GF/CF diet. I knew there must be therapies I hadn’t heard of yet, but I had no idea they were in the hundreds, … Continue reading →

Mothering and Belonging

Whenever I went out with my autistic son, I frequently felt like I wasn’t wanted and didn’t belong. This was particularly true of playgroups and playgrounds.  Other adults and children would steer clear of us, despite my best efforts to … Continue reading →