Five (or Six) Diagnoses, Two Woo-tastic Communities, and an Eight Year Old Under a Pohutukawa Tree

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My eight year old is collecting diagnoses like it’s going out of fashion. We’re up to five (with a sixth in contention). He has confirmed diagnoses of autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, dysgraphia, anxiety, and potentially has ADHD. All these long, scary … Continue reading →

Drowning in Need: Autism and Swimming in New Zealand

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The ability to swim is particularly vital for autistic children, as they are 160 times more likely to drown than other children are. That shocking statistic is a result of many factors, including that about 50% of autistic children wander, … Continue reading →

“Choose Your Battles” (and dealing with those who didn’t get their copy of the battle plan)

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Autism never affects a singular aspect of a person, and from a parenting perspective the myriad of ways in which autism impacts on your child is overwhelming. When you first get your child’s diagnosis, it is followed by a realisation … Continue reading →

Revelations

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When I was dragged into the world of disability by my eldest son, I was forced to confront a lot of new and uncomfortable truths – truths about people, about society, and about myself. I couldn’t stay who I was … Continue reading →

Dental Fear or Dental Care

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My children’s dentist is a free dental clinic attached to a school that is about half an hour’s drive from home. It’s not close, it’s not convenient, and I could get free dental care for the kids directly through their … Continue reading →

Seclude, Exclude, and Excuse.

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What does it take, to justify putting a child in a small, empty, locked, dark “time-out” room in a school, when they’d otherwise be playing with their peers, or learning in the classroom? The answer you’ll get most often, from … Continue reading →

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 →

Your Voice Has Not Been Approved

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I’ve been a very quiet blogger lately, quiet enough that you may have suspected I’d quit blogging. Hell, even I suspected I’d quit blogging. I’d started a new career, been published, moved house, got two new insanely adorable kittens, and … Continue reading →

Sesame Street’s “See Amazing” Autism Initiative Gets Everything Right

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Sesame Street’s new autism initiative hits it out of the park, but not everyone agrees. Continue reading →

Is it harder to raise a severely or mildly autistic child? …Yes.

There are a lot of counterintuitive claims that you’ll encounter in the autism community. Claims that will throw you and think the people making the claims are in denial, running some sort of hidden agenda, lacking perspective, or all of … Continue reading →