Jingle bells my arse!!!! : - )

Hello again,

its a wonderful time of year and I absolutely love it. However, in my auty sons world it is no different to any other time. Ok, so its colder and he gets even more attention from family as he is "special". But, he has no interest in mountains of presents, scoffing loads of mince pies or falling asleep drunk in front of the TV. Sorry, the last one is me. : - ) It really is just another day where he needs a routine, knowing what is happening later in the day and a few comfort zone treats to ease any pressure on him.

You may have to bear with me on this but ................................. when a (stereotypical) English person goes abroad and speaks English to Jonny Foreigner which they cant understand, generally the answer is to speak English again but slower and LOUDER!!! I know as I have done it. : - ) Well, as auty son gets to grip with understanding and speaking a few words, people try and engage him in conversation. This invariably leads to him ignoring them and carrying on with whatever he was doing before. Then, the fun begins with the slow and LOUD speaking which is ignored too. This becomes almost gladiatorial with Maximus Shouticus looking for a response from Maximus Autisticus Ignorius. As the volume has gone up a few onlookers are generally staring by now and I have to step in Caesar like with the thumb pointing down.

So far the Christmas tree hasn't been pulled over and the baubles haven't been spun around at the speed of light either. The main fascination is still everything "In the Night Garden". However, we had a IgglePiggle talking, speaking doll but it scared my auty son. In the end he hid it behind the sofa so he could not even see it. He kept shouting "OFF, OFF", whenever anyone went to turn it on. I cant quite work that out even in autism world.

Auty boy has also had a nice dose of flu which does in fact have a plus point!!!! He becomes very tactile and likes to be cuddled, held and snuggles up very close to sleep on my shoulder. As I have said before, grab that piece of sunshine when you can!!!!

If I don't get to post in the coming week, then I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a fantastic 2008!!!!!

Dad of Auty.

Whats up Doc?

Hello again,
just a couple of things from me so far this week.

Our auty son has a helper with him at all times whilst at a regular school. He is the only one in the class who has special needs and is not a wild child by any means. Not disruptive and not violent. The reason I mention this, is that the whispers of a few yummy-mummys of children in the same class are very negative. They (yum-mums) want him out of the class as their precious "normal" children are being held back by him!!!!! I find this very hurtfull and it gives an insight into the minds of certain people. To put this into perspective we must not forget my son is 4 years old, only goes for half a day and has a permanent shadow who reports he is not at all interacting with the class. This again highlights the need for education and awareness of autism.

On the positive side this week my son is now eating sweetcorn. This is yellow of course as is all of his food as past blogs show, but its healthy!! However, he is happy to eat a carrot now. Yes, an ORANGE coloured food. This is a major breakthrough and he even told me about it at bedtime!! I felt so pleased and as said before, you have to grab little bits of sunshine like these with both hands!!!

Have a good day.
Autys Dad.