Category Archives: Uncategorized

Well, we moved house. It happened, finally, after about sixteen months. Like everything in our neurodivergent family, it’s been a bit like driving a formula one car, without any training, on unfamiliar roads. And you keep running out of petrol. And the steering wheel doesn’t work…  JJ coped really well in the run-up to theContinue reading “Moving house and baked beans”

I’m really aware that recently my Facebook stories have been filled with lots of pictures of us out of the house.   After two years of being practically housebound due to JJ’s anxiety, this has been life-changing for our family and I really want to share this happiness.   I want to give hope to other familiesContinue reading “Picture Perfect?”

It’s no secret within our community of parent carers of PDAers that the question of school is a really gnarly and difficult one. Amongst my friends, there seems to be a pattern of ‘we’re fine in primary school at the moment!’ …which then inevitably leads on to ‘ok, we need an EHCP and reasonable adjustmentsContinue reading “PDA plus school equals…”

I’ve got to be completely honest with you. As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m absolutely beside myself with anger. Pure, unfiltered, fire-in-the-belly anger. (You can also add in a sprinkling of disbelief, a pinch of ‘did I hear that correctly?’ and a half a teaspoon of ‘this can’t be happening!’.) This post is aboutContinue reading “When in doubt, blame the parents”

On the ‘parenting-a-PDAer’ circuit, you hear a LOT of stories about kids having issues with personal hygiene and grooming, especially hair. I think the only thing I’ve heard more commonly is issues with teeth cleaning. But hair seems to come a close second in terms of major challenges. One of the first blogs I everContinue reading “What is it about hair?”

One of the things I find really difficult to cope with at home is sudden change that I can’t predict. Don’t get me wrong, I love love love spontaneity, but only when it’s *on my terms*. Don’t come to me and suggest a night out without giving me *at least* a month’s notice, or youContinue reading “Our lives don’t have straight lines”

J is in a fairly good place, emotionally, at the moment. As I type these words I’m thinking ‘don’t tempt fate, Becca!’. But it’s actually not about fate, or luck, or ‘phases’. It’s about a growing sense of self-awareness, a sense of place in the world, and feeling safe and understood in his environment. JJContinue reading “A good place”

What is trauma, really? According to the mental health charity Mind: “Going through very stressful, frightening or distressing events is sometimes called trauma. When we talk about emotional or psychological trauma, we might mean: situations or events we find traumatic. how we’re affected by our experiences.” The key takeaway here is that trauma is personalContinue reading “What is trauma, anyway?”

It’s only been since JJ’s autism diagnosis in July 2020 that I’ve ever really *consciously* considered his sensory differences and needs. How he has a unique profile, like all autistic people, and certain stimuli can have positive and negative effects on his brain and body. Everything I did before diagnosis was sort of instinctive, and/orContinue reading “I heart ear defenders!”