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A heart-wrenching & honest portrayal of the emotions involved in becoming a mother to an autistic/special needs child & their role as a carer that will be a lifelong journey of compassion & commitment. Autism is not known at or before birth so there is nothing to prepare a mother or her husband & family unless they have had some experience of it elsewhere, & autism is certainly not a one-size-fits-all either. It's a wonderful insight into the deep connections a main caregiver forms & the incredible advocates they & their family become.

A lovely relatable blog on why autistics can find making choices & decisions or selecting something so difficult. Mum to autistic nonverbal 9yr old Henry uses her own examples & experiences plus those of author Naoki Higashida, & an amusing, cute Youtube video clip too.

It's not only some autistics that can struggle to overcome bedwetting, it can happen with all children, some of them right up into their teens. Whilst I describe it as something to overcome, for the parents & carers, it's more like something to survive without completely losing your mind! Not exactly cv worthy but, I do consider myself to have extensive & unwanted experience in this regard having three children, all of whom have struggled or still struggle. Having learned what I know & now pass on to you, I do so through doing all the wrong things, ah-hem. P.S....

I often hear autism parents saying things like "...if only they would make some small adjustments...it would make such a difference..." & I often read pleas from autism parents to asd support groups for friends for their autistics. My own personal plea is for all other parents (the ones of neurotypical children) to please, please, please just ask the mum/parent before you think to yourself ...oh, I won't invite him/her because they probably won't want to come anyway &/or wouldn't cope. You may well be right but trust me, you have no idea how much it means to simply be...

Something most people believe autistics lack. Not true. All autistics are different though, so true.  The definition of empathy is "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another". Perhaps the difficulty with this lies in the word 'understanding'. Autistics' brains are wired differently & the 'what' and 'how' they understand our feelings is probably varied & very different from the way we understand them. I often feel that people think I live this exhausting (true) thankless life where I get nothing back from my non-verbal son Henry making them wonder how on earth I cope with it all....