Category: Autistic behaviour

Going with the flow & not sweating the small stuff at Christmas!

close up of christmas decoration hanging on tree
Photo by Gary Spears on Pexels.com

Excited for Christmas!

Actually, for the first time in a few years, I am excited for Christmas!

Not to sound like a miserable cow, but I must admit, the last couple of years have felt a bit shit without Mum being here. She was my Christmas. So much of how you celebrate the festive period is built around how you spent it as a child.  All the traditions, the smells, the songs, the 80’s brash decorations! I loved all of it!

I certainly don’t want this to be a sad blog just before Christmas, but I know a few people that are experiencing Christmas for the first time this year without one of their parents, or a parent that is incredibly ill, and I just want you to know that you’re in my thoughts.  It doesn’t seem like it now, but I want you to know that it does get just a little bit easier as the years pass.

Crying for Mum… or George Michael? Continue reading “Going with the flow & not sweating the small stuff at Christmas!”

When Magic Kingdom just isn’t so magic! Our (not so) magical stories of Florida!

When Magic Kingdom just isn’t so magic! Our (not so) magical stories of Florida!

Ok, that may sound a little harsh. Disney’s Magic Kingdom really IS magic, especially if you have never been before. I distinctly remember the first time my mum came with us to Florida, she stood at the top of Main Street looking up towards the Cinderella’s castle, and she cried… she was 58 at the time!! Just goes to show, all ages are touched by Disney magic.

However, when you take an autistic child to Disney, its a different story. Continue reading “When Magic Kingdom just isn’t so magic! Our (not so) magical stories of Florida!”

D-DAY! Diagnosis Day… choices to be made and the surprising grief that followed.

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D-DAY! Diagnosis Day… choices to be made and the surprising grief that followed.

I’m heading back to our Autism journey, back to the summer of 2010.  Since ‘the dark winter’ as I call it, of 2008 we had seen many consultants, registrars, speech & language therapists, other therapists with fancy names, Autism Advisory Teachers and Child Development Practitioners.   Today, we thought was going to be just another appointment with the consultant… the one we finally found that took us seriously, who could see that there was something not right and recognised a link between diet and the brain.

We’d already seen Dr McGreggor several times where she assessed Ellie’s behaviour, how she played and interacted and took a ‘progress report’ from us.  What we weren’t expecting was for her to offer us a diagnosis.  It had been two and a half years since we started this journey and now my heart was galloping at what she was about to say. Continue reading “D-DAY! Diagnosis Day… choices to be made and the surprising grief that followed.”

Rice, Rice Baby! What happened when another food becomes a bad guy!

So, lets get back to the story.  If I’m honest, most of the summer of 2008 was a bit of a blur.  We had returned from Florida, which went ok considering how poorly Ellie had been in the previous months.

There’d been doctors appointments (but that’s for another blog). We’d also decided that we wanted to try for another baby.  I remember this news shocking my mum as she felt that now wasn’t the best time to be thinking about trying for another child with everything that was going on with Ellie.   Why would we want to risk having another autistic child? What if Ellie didn’t get better?  I knew that’s what she was thinking. Continue reading “Rice, Rice Baby! What happened when another food becomes a bad guy!”

Mixed Emotions for Little Mix! How we nearly didn’t go to the concert!

Back in May, we surprised the kids with tickets to Little Mix as part of their birthday present (they’re both May babies!).  They were both very excited and for the last few months I’ve heard nothing but how excited they (Ellie) was for the concert.

Fast forward to the night before (Thursday). Ellie had a huge meltdown about how she was going to look rubbish, how she would “look like the donkey” (what!??), how she was going to have her hair – up/down/curly – and which ever way I suggested, it was still going to look rubbish! Continue reading “Mixed Emotions for Little Mix! How we nearly didn’t go to the concert!”

Sports days, exam results and being proud of the progress

So, the end of the school year is nearly here!  To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about the holidays.  I love the fact that there’s no routine, no lunches to prepare, no uniforms to get ready and no PE kits to hunt down!  On the other hand, there is the anxiety of what we are doing for the six week stretch (and that’s just me!).  If I give out a programme of activities to Ellie, I won’t hear the end of it as each situation is super analysed and questions (the same ones) asked over and over again. If I keep information under wraps, there are meltdowns that we aren’t doing anything this summer and its going to be rubbish! We actually had one of these on Sunday with two whole weeks to go! Joy! Continue reading “Sports days, exam results and being proud of the progress”

Friday Morning Rant! The joy of non-uniform day and music festivals!

It’s not often I will do this (I hope) but I’ve had a crappy morning and my first instinct was to bash out a blog.  The whole point of me doing this – along with telling our story, was to get off my chest all things I would want to talk to my mum about (double meaning to the blog you see) so hopefully after this I will feel better… otherwise I may need a trip to the local bakery as it’s a little early for wine (unless you’re in an airport!).

So the morning started in a familiar way – sleepy hubby, crazy dog, chirpy son, mildly grumpy daughter… but today is a different day – which is usually not a good thing.  It’s non-school uniform day and Glastongrove Music Festival (taking place at school for the last lesson of the day going into the evening – family can attend after school). Continue reading “Friday Morning Rant! The joy of non-uniform day and music festivals!”

The tale of the poisonous cat biscuits!

We are in full swing of the Wheat/Gluten and Dairy Free diet and Ellie is making slight improvements in terms of eye contact and speech, though a lot of other symptoms such as climbing, flapping, moaning still remained. I was also reading a book by Actress Jenny McCarthy (married to Donny Wahlberg of NKOTB fame) about her autistic son and what happened when she cut wheat, gluten and dairy from his diet.  It was an almost carbon copy of our experience with Ellie.  I remember reading it in tears. It’s a great book, called ‘Louder Than Words’ if you’re wondering.

Despite our best efforts, we found out pretty quickly what would happen if Ellie had an infringement on the diet.   Continue reading “The tale of the poisonous cat biscuits!”

The ‘A’ Word. Are we really talking Autism here?

img_4064The A Word…

I remember clearly – it was Boxing Day 2007 and Ellie, who was normally such a happy and sociable toddler was very upset by the visitors we had that day.  She looked terrible – her eyes had black circles around them, she looked pale and her nose was constantly running.  Over the following days, Ellie seemed to go even further downhill. Simple instructions such as “put your coat on” was met with moans and groans and hand flapping.  Ellie stopped looking at my Nan and my mum, she became very quiet and speech was replaced with groans. Continue reading “The ‘A’ Word. Are we really talking Autism here?”

The start of our Autism Journey…

Welcome to what I hope will be the first of many posts, talking about the ups and downs on living with a ‘Tween’ with Aspergers. From past experiences to future hopes and dreams… it’s all here!

Welcome to ‘Tales of a Mother’s Daughter’.

What is this all about?

This blog is primarily about the ups and downs of living with a ‘Tween’ on the Autistic Spectrum.  My wonderful, funny, kind, challenging, anxious daughter is now 12 years old and on the brink of teenage years – god help me!.

From tales and tips, humour and hilarity (hopefully) and moans and groans, I’ll be waffling on about all sorts! From special wheat/dairy free diets and alternative therapies to hormones, teenage strops (and strategies to get you through it) and anything and everything in between! Continue reading “The start of our Autism Journey…”