My ten-year-old autistic son communicates by tapping symbols on a speech device, typing words, and talking with his mouth. Follow our journey to find his voice.
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Severe, profound, impaired. These are just some of the words used to describe children like my autistic, apraxic son Joshua. I have to use some of these words too. In order to secure the support he needs and deserves, I…
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Autism is the mum’s fault. We are emotionally cold ‘refrigerator mothers’. All cold and frosty with no warmth. We’re like prison camp guards who have dysfunctional relationships with our children. That’s why they’re autistic. Shocking hey?! Since autism was first…
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There is often an assumption that parents of children with additional needs have “special needs superpowers”. That our child was magically “matched” to us because of our superb parenting qualities. I don’t believe that. I think our children make us…
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There is no test for autism. No genetic test, prenatal test, blood test, or urine test will come back saying, ‘yes, this person is, without any shadow of a doubt, autistic’. Instead, in the UK, you are dependent on a…
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My sweet, silent boy. He might not play like most children do. He doesn’t rush into a toy store and tell me exactly what he wants, and ask for it over and over again. He doesn’t rip open all his…
Read moreI wasn’t sure this picture would ever happen. Every year, we go to Bournemouth, and every year, Josh, our autistic son, has refused to go anywhere near the beach. We had reluctantly accepted it. And made plans around it. One…
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“Orange.” He said. His first-ever spoken word. One we thought we’d never hear. But my son didn’t say it with his mouth. He said it with his speech device, Monty (Proloqou2Go). He was 5 years old, and his speech hadn’t…
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