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When I started this blog, I was my son’s storyteller. His communication skills were so limited, and the future of those skills still so unclear; there was a good chance I would always be his storyteller, as the person in … Continue reading
My son’s relationship with the spoken word, is a combative one. Combative not just in his own attempt to master the use and meaning of language, but also in his attempts to control others’ use of words. The most alarming … Continue reading
What if you believed your teacher at school was trying to make you forget how to speak? What if when you tried to resist their efforts, you were lectured about diversity and acceptance? Confused? So was my son, so was … Continue reading
The following is a letter I have just written that I shall be giving to my son’s teaching team next week. He has attended a mainstream school since the start of this year, prior to that he spent two years … Continue reading
Everyday my Facebook feed is littered with the latest miracle stories of how an iPad (or similar device) has helped an autistic child to communicate. Some of those stories are shared from the web, but most of them are from … Continue reading
Why do we tell children not to be tattle-tales; not to tell an authority figure when someone else has done something wrong? In theory it is because we want them to work on the issue themselves and find their own … Continue reading
When it is used to talk about parenting practices, the word “spoil” brings with it judgement as well as description: It describes overindulging the child, letting them have whatever they want, even when the request is unreasonable or excessive, but … Continue reading
There is a beautiful boy, with the sort of face that supports stereotypes of stunning autistic children. He is three and a half. He is in the bath, and his mother sits beside the bath with a camera. The camera … Continue reading
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My autistic son struggles with those very many idioms that people so effortlessly and often use. Where other children might learn the sayings through repeated usage, or not understand the sayings but find them nevertheless amusing, my son had a … Continue reading
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Autism & Oughtisms 
American Accents Aren’t Disney’s Fault
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In a recent (and I would add “highly irresponsible”) piece of reporting from the New Zealand Herald, we are told that an explanation for children turning up at school with American accents is that children are watching too much Disney … Continue reading →