Christmas challenges with autism and anxiety
There seems to be an unspoken pressure from society that Christmas should be a happy time. The month of December is full of so many challeng...
Monday 17 December 2018
Monday 3 December 2018
Christmas tips for autistic families
December 03, 2018
tips
The Christmas season is well and truly upon us! For some that means the rushing around trying to find the perfect gift starts now, others in...
Tuesday 20 November 2018
Autism in the Celebrity Jungle
November 20, 2018
PDA
Today I watched the ITV news at lunchtime and loved the fact that there was much talk about Anne Hegerty, the Governess from the TV show The...
Monday 19 November 2018
Getting out and about with PDA, and school update
November 19, 2018
trip out
There's been so much going on for us over the past year or two that I've moved away from writing the usual life update posts on here...
Wednesday 31 October 2018
Chocolate Oreo Buttercream Cupcake Recipe
October 31, 2018
trainers
This is a dual purpose post; I'm in a great mood so I decided to share my recipe for Chocolate Oreo Buttercream Cupcakes, and then go on...
Saturday 27 October 2018
BAPS Awards are BACK! Please vote...
October 27, 2018
SEND
The BAPS are back!! For the third year! The very amazing Deb who blogs over at Chaos in Kent and works with Bringing Us Together intr...
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Special School and Halloween
October 23, 2018
Special School
There's a lot going on for us here this week, including a Halloween event at Sasha's school this evening. As she's such a fan of...
Tuesday 16 October 2018
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) in the News
October 16, 2018
PDA info
When I run training on Pathological Demand Avoidance on behalf of the PDA Society , I always talk through the PDA timeline. Elizabeth New...
Monday 15 October 2018
The fight against the system
October 15, 2018
WARRIOR
Nearly nine years on from our girl's diagnosis of autism and 'jaded' is a word I would apply to myself. Having thrown myself int...
Friday 12 October 2018
BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards announced
October 12, 2018
PDA
Today at 1 pm is when the Winners of this year's BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards will be announced. A month or so ago I was so c...
Wednesday 10 October 2018
World Mental Health Day: the system affecting SEND families
October 10, 2018
World Mental Health Day
A year ago, I wrote a post for World Mental Health day which was titled ' Playing The Game '. At that point, our autistic daughter ...
Thursday 4 October 2018
Autism Hour; autism-friendly shopping spaces
October 04, 2018
National Autistic Society
This Friday will see the launch of the National Autistic Society's new initiative, Autism Hour . Although it's called an hour, it...
Wednesday 3 October 2018
Autism with demand avoidance or Pathological Demand Avoidance?
October 03, 2018
PDA info
Following on from my last blog post discussing whether Pathological Demand Avoidance is real , I'm going to take a look at another quest...
Monday 1 October 2018
Is Pathological Demand Avoidance real?
October 01, 2018
PDA info
"Is PDA real?" or "is Pathological Demand Avoidance a proper diagnosis?" are two questions which I have often been asked...
Friday 14 September 2018
Blog On at BlogOnToys: Knowing Me, Knowing you. Aha.
September 14, 2018
linky
This weekend, I've managed to wangle a last minute escape to the fab-u-lous blogging conference known as Blog On . I'm excited about...
Friday 7 September 2018
Finalist! BritMums BiBs 2018
September 07, 2018
PDA
Wow, I never imagined that I'd be writing to 'announce' that I am a finalist in the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging (BiBs!) Awar...
Wednesday 5 September 2018
Talking Autism: Parenting Your Unique Child (Book review)
September 05, 2018
Talking Autism
Over the past eight or so years since our youngest girl received a diagnosis of autism, I've read a fair few books on the topic of autis...
Tuesday 4 September 2018
Summer holidays with PDA - Part 2
September 04, 2018
Villages Nature
A while back I posted about the first part of our summer holidays so I feel it's only right that I update my blog with the second half. ...
Monday 27 August 2018
Are family holidays the only way to go?
August 27, 2018
Villages Nature
Having just returned from a week’s holiday to France, now seemed like a good time to recap what lessons we’ve learnt about holidays for our ...
Saturday 11 August 2018
Summer holidays with PDA ~ Part 1
August 11, 2018
PDA Life
So I don't know if anyone noticed, but I went to all the effort of freshening up the design on my blog a few weeks ago. As soon as I ...
Tuesday 24 July 2018
BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards (BiBs 2018)
July 24, 2018
PDA
I'll be honest, I've always felt a little awkward about mentioning awards and asking for nominations. Most people do, I guess. The...
Tuesday 17 July 2018
School Life with PDA ~ July Update
July 17, 2018
update
Thanks to a few busy weeks/months, it's been a while since I managed to write an update of our life with PDA on this blog. I do tend to ...
Wednesday 11 July 2018
Our PDA Story {Week 38}
July 11, 2018
This is our PDA story
Over a period of about four years, I've been publishing posts in my blog series ' Our PDA Story '. The idea behind it was to sha...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Holiday travel with Pathological Demand Avoidance (type of Autism)
July 10, 2018
travel
Holidays and travel can be particularly tricky for families living with children with Pathological Demand Avoidance . I've seen a coup...
Monday 9 July 2018
Harry Potter Goblet of Fire at Warner Brothers Studios
July 09, 2018
WB Studio Tour London
Any Harry Potter fans out there?! If you are, and you've not yet made it to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Watford (near London), I...
Thursday 21 June 2018
Ten things you need to know about Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)
June 21, 2018
PDA Society
Our fifteen year old daughter is autistic. She was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two and a half. This blog began the day aut...
Saturday 2 June 2018
FestABLE - a Festival of Specialist Learning
June 02, 2018
SEND
Today, I should have been somewhere else; FestABLE , a huge festival which aims to enable young people with disabilities to achieve better o...
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Half term moods
May 29, 2018
PDA
May and June are always particularly quiet times for me on the blogging front. Largely because birthdays are happening (eldest in May, Sasha...
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Positive PDA Action Day
May 15, 2018
PDA Action Day
Today is PDA Action Day ; a day to talk about Pathological Demand Avoidance and to spread understanding as far and wide as possible. If you&...
Sunday 13 May 2018
School refusal and an autism podcast
May 13, 2018
school refusal
So last week I was writing about the positives of autism and PDA , and then this week it all went a bit 'tits up' if you'll pard...
Wednesday 9 May 2018
Our PDA Story {Week 37}
May 09, 2018
This is our PDA story
Time for week 37 in my blog series ' Our PDA Story ' which aims to shine a light on the experiences of other people and families liv...
Tuesday 8 May 2018
Autism and PDA Positives
May 08, 2018
positivity
Earlier today, I came across an infographic on Facebook which I thought was well worth sharing. Designed by a lady called Harriet Cannon , w...
Saturday 5 May 2018
A Relaxing Retreat for Bloggers
May 05, 2018
Tots100
Some people may think this blogging lark is easy and a bit of a doddle, but I can happily admit that I take it very seriously. That's wh...
