Autism Ignorance ......

I cannot believe that in this day and age, there is still reluctance and ignorance against children with a disability.

As you will all know... my dude... Zak has Autism.

The other night I made a suggestion about including him in an organisational activity group with my of course my support as his helper and was met with..... ignorance!!

I can't say that I am angry by it because I am not..... just upset and disappointed.

The persons ignorance was shown loud and clear. The comment about his 'noises' made me go into mother bear mode and in my usual manner, said it was the acoustics in the building, trying to make light of his hurtful comments. I did not like the feeling that it gave me in the pit of my belly. It was just his opinion and attitude towards my fella that I thought was antiquated and well past due for overhaul. I guess he will never know the joy of knowing this special, funny, unique and of course handsome little bloke.

I felt the need to stand my ground and mention anti-discrimination and equal opportunity for all.... even though the ignorance was limited to the one person.

Oh well... lucky for me... I have been there and done all that before... but, it still stings when I look at his sweet smiling face.

Feel free to leave you words of wisdom and opinions......

Positive Partnerships

Supporting school aged students on the Autism Spectrum.

Just finished a two day workshop in the positive partnerships. It was a good couple of days. There was alot of information and it was of course a good chance to meet up with parents in a similar situation to ours. We all had children on the autism spectrum.... some at the higher end... aspergers and some with low functioning autism (thats our category).

The facilitators (teachers/instructors) were full of great information and quite respectful of our position as parents/carers. It was never a case of them telling us what to do with our kids.... just leading discussions and making us aware of different tools we can use to assist us.

All in all, I think the program has some great points to make..... there is a dual program running.... one for parents/carers and one for teachers/educators. It is great that everyone is trying to get on the same page so to speak.

All of us have a similar goal... to make sure our child/student has the best opportunities in their education..... and alot of our issues were similar.

There was some great sharing of knowledge and systems that parents have used and had great success, which can now be tried with other kids in similar circumstances. You just never know... a new strategy seen through a different perspective can make a big difference. There is never one single answer, fix or strategy... each child with Autism is different.... their needs are different and therefore some of the 'tried and true' parenting techniques that have worked on your 'neuro typical' children for years, just wont work. Its good to get a few more tricks to put into your never ending bag of solutions, adaptations and trials.

But wait...... there is more.....

The positive partnership people have a website that can be accessed by all. Its not just for parents or teachers of children on the autism spectrum.... anyone and everyone can have a look and then do a couple of learning modules if they want to. I think its a great way to get out there and educate people who do not have a great deal of knowledge about autism and want to learn at their own pace. Which ever Government Department, University or Association thought of this idea..... bloody ripper!!! It is just so pro-active. That what I like. Positivity. It is way too easy to get bogged down in the negatives... so good for you guys!! ( have of course posted the link on the page)

PS: The darling dishwasher is still without a name.... but it has been confirmed that she is a girl... 'cause lets face it... a bloke could NEVER get the dishes as clean as she does!!