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.