Mother Needs Help For Self-Harming Son
I have just been contacted through this site by Sharon, a mother from Kent, whose son has been excluded from school following incidents of self-harming. She writes, “My ADHD, ASD, …
Government Supports Autism Bill (UK)
The Government has, for the first time, declared its support for what could be England’s first Autism Bill. The National Autistic Society (NAS) celebrated the move as a vital development …
Parents rate local authority Disabilities service at 59%
When I was at school, a score of 59% definitely meant ‘could do better’, if not ‘should do better’. But that’s the score received by 10 local authorities in England …
Autism Assistance Dogs
As you may know, we recently got a puppy because we had read that dogs are good for children on the autistic spectrum. Leo is still a puppy and has …
Great News – A Statement!
Got the news we had been waiting for today – Son1 has got the Statement of Special Educational Needs we had applied for. Don’t have all the details yet and …
My hero – Geoff Adams-Spink
This is an item about a hero of mine, Geoff Adams-Spink. Geoff is a BBC correspondent whom I met when we were both training to be journalists on a Post-Grad …
ASD child? Are you getting what you’re entitled to?
If you are the parent of a child with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, you don’t need me to tell you how difficult a ‘normal’ lifestyle can be. Not only will …
Celebrate Calm – well worth signing up for.
I am taking the liberty of quoting from an email newsletter I subscribe to ‘Celebrate Calm, written by Kirk Martin. It is about his son who, like many of our …
The dog, the hand-washing and the ASD child.
As you may have read, we’ve just got a puppy, a labradoodle. He’s very cute and has transformed our elder ASD son’s life. The dog is the first thing he …
Genetic breakthough in autism
Genes ‘have key role in autism’ – BBC News Scientists have produced the most compelling evidence to date that genetics play a key role in autism. They highlighted tiny genetic …
I knew it was my fault…
Of course it’s our fault.. Mother’s antibodies may contribute to autism Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:18pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – While a mother of an autistic child is …
The new arrival
I am not a doggie person. My husband is not a doggie person. And yet, yesterday, we brought home a puppy. Leo the Labradoodle. We have read that dogs are …
Autism Costs UK economy £28 billion
A new study into the economic impact of autism spectrum disorders in the UK has shown that the total estimated cost is £28 billion each year. That averages out at …
SNM Holiday 3: Incident on the beach
So, we were well into the holiday, we’d done Goonhilly Earth Station where Asperger’s Youngest had had a minor meltdown because he wasn’t heavy enough to go on the Segway …
SNM – Holiday 2 – The Zoo
We booked a day as a zoo-keeper at Newquay zoo for the boys. This was an unparalleled success! The day involved being taken around the zoo with a zoo-keeper, togged …
Special Needs Mum.. on holiday 1
It’s that time again.. the long (3 weeks in our case) Easter break. We took advantage last week of finishing a week earlier than state schools by heading down to …
New SENDIST rules
At the same PWP workshop, Simon Oliver, Deputy President of Care Standards Tribunal and judicial lead for SENDIST management team gave a presentation about the new SEND rules. He wanted …
Surrey to review SEN Assessments
I recently attended a Partnership with Parents workshop in Surrey. The subject matters were an explanation of the new SEND rules given by one of the co-chairmen,an update on the …
SEN Assessment Form Part 2
Further to the earlier blog ‘The SEN Assessment Form – Yikes!’ I thought it might be useful for some people to provide a template to help people get their thoughts …
Diary of a Special Needs Mum Pt2
Despite the hassle of the average pre-school morning, I always look forward to picking up my children after a hard day at school. That is, until I actually pick them …