School Bullies

School bullies....

It must be the week for ignorant little children who do not know how to treat other people with respect.

Firstly, I took Zak off to school on Monday morning and two of the grade 6 boys decided that it would be fun to continually sign 'toilet' to him. He said 'no' repeatedly, which is why it caught my attention. They must have seen Ang the aide signing it to Zak. Needless to say, with one of them constantly telling him to go to the toilet and him not needing to go, he got very upset and started yelling and banging his head on the door. I had a look out the window to see what was happening and saw them in action and told the boys that he already said no.... no need to continue signing to him. Needless to say.... he had a quite disruptive day and didn't really settle into the day very well and came home with a headache and quite 'Autistic'.

Of course next day.... same pair.... at it again... well Zak got upset again, but I went out and gave him a cuddle and told the 2 ignorant little bullies that they do not need to sign to Zak and to stop upsetting him. Of course denial is the answer... even when I told them that I saw what one of them was signing. I told the principal that I told the pair of them off and then I was a little naughty .... I signed to Zak .... "its OK they don't think!!!!". It cheered him up a bit and then it was OK for me to leave him at school. Not sure if the teacher or principal have chatted to those two yet.

Then Wednesday night..... I was doing the rounds..'kid check'... and found Missy crying. Went in to ask what was wrong and whammo.... she tells me a bully at her high school punched and kicked her repeatedly in the stomach after school when they were waiting for the bus!!!!

What the hell is wrong with these kids! There is no respect for others, no respect for adults, teachers and obviously parents. I must be really old fashioned, but geezzz.... don't they know right from wrong !?!?!?! What have their parents taught them !?!?!?! Where are their morals and values!?!?! Ignorance is seeming to become the norm !?!?!

So, off to the high school this morning.... HOLY COW.... how very super impressed I was with this fella... sorry deputy vice-principal ... Mr. Stuart I think it was.... he listened to what I had to say and then spoke to Missy and got her side of the story and subsequently spent the rest of the day speaking to students who were either bystanders or involved. He explained the whole process of what would happen.... from talking to all involved, mediation session with the girls involved and finally a recommendation to the principal in regard to one student assaulting another. Escorted Missy back to her class and removed a couple of students from the class and began his questioning.

Then..... he called me back later in the day and let me know how his day ended and that the mediation went well and most left quite happy with issues resolved and Missy ended the day OK with all that had gone on. Then reassured me that it will be followed through with the campus principal and has assured Missy that if there are further problems... she can go to him. Overall I was extremely satisfied with how the school handled the issue and am grateful for that. He was very respectful to each of the girls opinions and listened to them and understood and explained to them that different people react differently in situations, but... everyone has similar feelings. I cannot say how impressed I was with his attitude towards me, Missy and the whole situation.

Hoping this incident will be a one off wonder as far as Missy is concerned. Wonder what will happen to the little turds at the primary school??? I can assure you that I will be keeping my beady little eyes on them every morning!!!

PS: still LOVE the dishwasher!!!
PPS: Naughty Polly still limping after sneaking accross to the boyfriends again! Her comfy bed has now taken up residence in MY loungeroom! She's now officially an inside dog for the next few weeks..

Staying well with Bipolar Disorder

I am off to a public forum on the 21st May in Ballarat. It is run by the 'Insights Bi-Polar Group' I think. I will go along and see what they have to say. From 7-8.30pm and a gold coin donation. I havnt heard of the speaker, but.... nothing unusual there.... Dr Sarah Russell, Ph.D. is the speaker, so hopefully I might learn some new things.

In June I am off to see the Tony Attwood Seminar in Ballarat also. I went to one of his last year, or was it the year before, anyway... found it very interesting and learned heaps. So looking forward to that.

I think if you can take away even a little bit of advice, information or just the knowledge that you are doing ok, then it is worth going.

Went off to parent/teacher interviews with Missy today. She has done really well and all of her teachers speak highly of her. Good manners, participates in class, asks questions if she is stuck and generally nice to have around. I am very proud of her. The start to high school was a little rocky, but she has found her groove now and things are looking good. She has a friend coming over on the weekend. Will go with her to her dads then stay here Sunday night before heading off to school nice and early on Monday.

Zak went to badminton with the grade 5/6 class yesterday... apparently a bit of a legend according to 'the other woman' aide Ang. He had a few good ralleys with her. Might have to set one up in the back yard. There has been a few 'Autistic' days lately, reverting back to some old habits and lacking eye contact altogether. We will get past this....

I may not win every battle, but I will win the war!!!

Been Shopping!!!

I cannot believe that I havn't mentioned that I went shopping!!! Normally shopping is not something that I activly go out and do, but this was an exception.

I went and bought an air compressor. Very impressed with the new toy. Of course I needed to get all the 'stuff' to go with it. Kids are very impressed with the air cut off tool, the air ratchet set, air drill thingy and all the other goodies. But, of course, we ALL LOVE the air nail gun!! This is gunna be great.

Looking forward to making lots of noise and testing out all the gadgets and attatchments.

Polly to the doc again!

Poor old Polly!

After her course of pills, she is still limping and it hasn't seemed to improve. So another trip to the vet today.

Good news.... they didn't weigh her again!! Bad news is she may have fractured a bone in her foot... like our toe bone or a bad sprain. But, of course for her to have an x-ray she needs to have a little sleep to keep her nice and still. Bit like trying to x-ray the little fella really !!

If there is a fracture, she will have to have a splint on and ..... yippee... become an inside dog for a few weeks.

Have the ring the vet back tomorrow to see which they recommend. Sleep and X-Ray to double check or just inforced rest and anti-inflamitory drugs. Will wait to see what they say.

Good thing is she doesn't seem to be having discomfort.... just favoring that foot by not putting full wight on it.

The Great Lizard Escape

Last night when everyone was sleeping..... Bert the Blue Tongue Lizard went walkabout.

There have been many times where I have gone into Missy's room before heading off to bed (quick night time kid check) and found her lizard not in his tank. Usually I just wake her and ask for the lizard and she dives her hand under the covers and out pops Bert... looking all sleepy. Then its off to bed for him.

This did not happen last night, I was in bed earlier watching TV.

At around 1.30am I was awoken by Missy crying, upset and talking a mile a minute. Trying to work out what was wrong when not fully functioning is not good. Needless to say, once I figured it all out... the great lizard hunt was on. I should mention that Bert is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but lovable all the same lol

After half an hour of looking in Missy's bedroom (I could call it that.... it is a room with a bed in it.... but, I call it the pit, suits it much better) I went for reinforcements. Off to the caravan in the shed to wake up the teenager!! That in itself could have gone a little pear-shaped...but Missy was really distraught. Needless to say.... we gave up the search at 3am. He was in that pit somewhere. Could not have gone far. We were a bit worried about him getting too cold though.

Good news..... after an EXTENSIVE clean up with Pams help and a few garbage bags, a couple of loads of washing and holy crap... there is floor in there!! Good old Bert was found safe and well..... if not a bit chilly.... curled up under the edge of the rug in the room.

An hour cuddled under my jumper and he was all back to top form and back in his tank under the light. Fresh blueberries and cherry roma tomatos and he is a happy little dude again.

Ahhhh...... still loving the dishwasher. Wonder if I will ever get sick of it?

Team Zak

Just a quick note to the anon. person who left a comment.... thank you and no there is no Mr. or Significant other to carry the load.

I have a group of people that I reffer to as 'Team Zak'. These legends are firstly my other two kids, assorted family, and a few special people who not only see Zak for the cool dude he is, but work with me to help Zak reach his full potential.

The girls are great with him. Of course they get frustrated at times, but big sister Alex will walk down the street with him and lift him up so he can touch each and every last one of the street signs/parking meters/posts on the side of the road/power poles/fence posts and climb up to her shoulders if he catches sight of a dog (near or far) or let him show her the 'his best' way of playing the playstation. (of course constantly repeating levels and wiping out all their saved games in the process).

Missy is the trampoline guru in this house. Zak and her can spend ages outside just jumping around and recently have discovered the fine art of wrestling. Which in one way is great for his 'dont touch me' side, but not as great for my 'no fighting' rule, because as I get told... only playing mum, to which I constantly reply... one day its all gunna end in tears!! I think that because of the whole bi-polar issue, she has made such a great acheivement to come into Bunnings with us all and not get upset when Zak sings the ad jingle and hovers around the Dulux paint or chucks a tantie because he wasnt allowed to have ANOTHER tube of bloody liquid nails.(we have lots) It is alot for a 12yr old to be proud to say... 'yep, thats my brother' when people stare, pass comment or some other completely ignorant/uneducated negative behaviour (sorry pet hate there)

There have been many occasions that we have had to pull out of an activity half way or not even made it there because Zak was having a 'bad day' - which really means, too crowded, too noisy, too much stimulation or just plain scary for him. Autistic days can be a nightmare for him. But, they accept it and of course are a little disapointed. The good news is.... these times are getting few and further apart. I am so lucky with my girls, there are arent that many kids you could say... lets have a BBQ picnic at the park for lunch and Zak has a maccas meal because he doesnt eat 'regular food'. They tend to just go with the flow on most things.

So to my girls.... you two are bloody legends...... but yes you still have to clean your room!!!

Pam is the chief babysitter/councillor/advice guru/sign language fluent/jargon buster for Human Services/advocate for me when things are goin' a bit tough/voice of reason when the world is shouting. Zak reffers to her as Ma when he is not well. When you lip read, Ma and Pam look the same, and he learned ma before he could say Pam. So when his world is all topsy turvy and there are issues... he reverts back to Ma. When I go off fighting fires Pam comes over and runs the ship. Good thing about this is... she takes no crap from any of them!!!!! Clean rooms, dishes done, kids fed and lots of laughs to boot. For her, just your average teenager, child with bi-polar and child with Autism are just a walk in the park. Her biggest thing is.... 'lucky I didnt have a daughter.... they never shut up' I think secretly she loves it..... but I would never tell her that!!

Then there is her hubby Bob.... all I really need to say here is... when Zak was diagnosed with Autism they asked what words he said. They were: Bob, Bobby, my Bob, Bob boy and up. I dont know what happened, but one day the boys were in the shed and Zak came out filthy dirty and saying Bob. Even to this day.... I say to Zak.... 'hi Zak' and he repeats 'hi Zak' and then I say 'hi mum' to which he says 'hi mum' ....... but Bob nooooo.... Bob comes in and says 'Hi Zak' to which the little turd replies EVERY TIME 'Hi Bob'. Drives me crazy

Grandma had her special games that she plays with Zak and heaven forbid if we try to do them with him.... he does that with Grandma ONLY!!! When Zk was little Grandma used to tell him he was a little shit.... it was all really good until he learned how to talk.... then guess what he called Grandma for about a year.... yep you guesed it.... little shit. The speech therapist thought it was great... the sh sound and the t sound on the end... it was great talking!!

Ang is his aide at school.... being at full-time mainstream school, has not only been a fight all the way, but getting a great aide is soooo lucky. Ang is worth her weight in gold. I reffer to her as "The other woman in Zaks life" as she is. The way she has the... of course he can... attitude and outlook make it easy for him to make acheivements regularily a great success. Also, another one who takes no crap either lol His very first aide Lyn (grade prep to 3) was alot like Ang and gave him the best start to his education that I could have hoped for.

Now comes 'Nicole the Spoiler'. Nicole is the one who tickles in bed at night when he is supposed to be sleeping, presses play that one more time, one more treat is ok, gets maccas for Zak on pottery nights when the Missy and her girls are off to pottery, lets him print reams of WB and Spyro logos on her computer and generally is the laid back bending rules are ok one. Fun is the number one priority there. I must admit, Zak likes to have a bit of rule breaking fun with Nicole. He gives me a sly little smile when she is giving him a second fruit stick. Cheeky bugger. Of course, she is such a sucker for his big blue eyes and that look he gets. I just have a chuckle and think to myself... I remember when those tricks worked on me.... but she is still a learner with Zak.

The there are the likes of Vera, Rose, James, Chrissy and all the others who in their own ways make up part of team Zak. Whether it be encouraging his language, supporting and complying to the ways that we go about teaching Zak new strategies, up for a cuppa to listen to me when it all seems a bit uphill, checks on his progress and celebrates his acheivements with enthusiasm. It is so important to be surrounded by people who are positive, loving and supportive.

So finally, I am so lucky that I have such good people around me who are supportive, proactive, funny and make me realise how lucky I am to have such a great little family and of course.... to constantly reassure me that .... yes I am nuts, yes doing a great job, yes still nuts, being nuts is a good thing, playing with the kids before cleaning is of course perfectly acceptable and yes.... too much coffee will do you NO HARM!!!

I just love living in this non-stop rollercoaster that we call 'our family'.... wouldnt have it any other way.

Well done - $13 835.25

Well done to the CFA members, both seniors and juniors, from Ballan, Greendale and Gordon!! Your tin rattling efforts raised a massive

$13 835.25.

A new record.

Many thanks to the residents of these areas for giving so generously ;-)

PS sorry if we woke too many of you up lol

Naughty Polly

Polly (the dog) has been limping for a few days and I came home yesterday and it was worse. The poor thing.

Needless to say.... off to the doggy doctor for her. Well quite a few dollars later... the naughty little (well she is not that little) doggy had hurt herself when she was escaping to go over the road to meet up with her boyfriend!! She spent about 2 weeks being the resident houdini, nicking off whenever we werent looking to go over the road. Good thing she didnt go off anywhere else, think she likes the good-o's over at Pams.

I am not sure how to explain to her that she needs to not run around too much and keep of the leg for a few weeks. I think a few days is going to be trouble. She has been sleeping inside at night, but trying to keep her still is a definate no go.

Good new is.... being the little piggy she is... her tablets just get chomped on down in no time at all... not even sure if she chews really.

Also apparently she is a little.... hmmm.... how to say this delicately.... podgy. At 48kg she is not a tiny little thing, but according to the vet... in good shape. Recon round is a shape lol So we might have to cut down on the doggy treats, but she looks with those big brown eyes and of course... everyone will give her one over the couse of the day.

Good Friday Appeal - tin rattle day!!

Today it was up early and to the station. Some of senior members and lots of our Junior members did the annual tin rattle around town for the Royal Childrens Hospital God Firday Appeal.



Off we went in our cars and the truck went out also, off to our designated area to collect. The Fire Brigade and Juniors have done this every year for lots and lots of years. The locals are used to us now I think. Door to door we went, with a big smile for those we woke up on their public holiday ;-) In our area, two of the Junior members and myself did quite well... our tins were nice and heavy when we returned to the station at 11am. There were many similar stories from other members and juniors when we all got back. Of course the juniors were trying to work out who had the heaviest tin and there was a cry of 'I got a $50 note in my tin' that was very impressive! Again the local is our town did a great job to support this appeal.



All of the tins got taken down to the Ballan Fire Station where they are all collected and counted. All of the fire brigades in our local area collect, and as a group we get a tally of the amount we raised. Still waiting for this years tally to come over the pagers.



After taking the tins down, we took all the juniors to McDonalds for an ice cream. Phew... there were people everywhere. Lucky we all had our uniforms on and we didnt loose a single one!

School Holidays !!

It is school holidays again... yippee....

Like school holidays... no getting out of bed too early, no lunches, uniforms to wash and no homework!!

Teenager off to a party with her friends. Missy stayed a couple of nights at her friends house and now they will be here for a few days. Zak had sleepover at Pams last night.

Of course with the whole house to myself last night.... did I party hard, have friends over, a romantic interlude even????? ..... nope, went to bed early. I think I must be getting old. Last time I went out to a club I found the music too loud and there was nowhere to sit.... yep, I am officially over the hill. lol

Teenager thinks I am moderately matured, but I think she is just trying to keep on the good side of Mums Taxi service lol

I recently got some books from America from amazon.com. There is a great selection of books about Autism. There is one in particular called: The Ten Things Your Child With Autism Wishes You Knew. It is brilliant!!! I have read it and given it to his teacher and aide at school and they have read it too. So now, everyone on 'team Zak' will be reading it. It gives great insight to living with Autism and it is a very enjoyable read. The author has a child with Autism and she has a great positive attitude. None of that....'poor me, I have a child with a disability... (my pet hate)., just accept, love and get on with it!!!!!! Loved it. Like alot of information about Autism, you have to sift through it to get to the stuff that is applicable to your situation and family. Not everyone is an expert on Autism, but as the mother of an autistic child, I can assure you that I AM the expert on Zaks Autism. Each autistic child has different issues within the autism range. These range from the ability to communicate, speak, function independently (toilet, shower and feeding), sensory, the ability to cope in our world and many other issues that are unique to our children.

That said, if Zak didnt have Autism, he wouldnt be the little fella we all love and enjoy being with. Autism is just a part of who he is, it does not define him. Just as bi-polar does not define Missy. And of course Alex is not the 'average' teenager. All my kids are different and unique and I am sure life would surely be very dull if I lived in a 'neuro typical' household.

Pam and I bought a new toy..... woodsplitter... whoo hoo

No more splitting wood by hand, gunna have to tough it out and pull on the lever... yeah baby.... just thinking about it makes my back feel great!!!

Loving the heating part of the air-con. Its turning me into a lazy bugga... just press the button and presto... its warm :-)