SHARING SATURDAY




Hi this weeks Sharing Saturday is celebrating anything that glitters, shines, sparkles & shimmers.

The images I have chosen give me the feeling of space, freedom & warmth with just a tiny mix of magic & wonder.

This week I am sharing

 "World Autism Awareness Week"
27th March  - 2nd April

You can check out The National Autisic Society for further details of events taking place this week.

 www.autism.org.uk 


Last Sunday our eldest daughter celebrated her 16th birthday. She has Asperger Syndrome & so these special occassions need some fine tuning & massive consideration to her special needs & reqirements.

 She wanted to sparkle & shine on her birthday, so we all helped her to do just that!

She struggles constantly with sensory overload caused by sudden unexpected sounds, movements, suprises, excitment, disappointment. It is very difficult for her to regulate her  emotional & sensory responses to unexpected things or changes in plans.

This means lots of lists prepared by herself & military style organisation of events. Pretty much every detail, including her gifts being choosen & shopped for by herself then wrapped by us & opened on the day. Familiar guests & favourite food that she likes etc. It can sound like she rules the roost & she is manipulating everyone? We have learnt over the last 2 years this level of control is about feeling able to cope with the situation, funtioning as best as she possibly can without experiencing sensory overload or emotional shutdown & promoting a feeling safety & prediction.

Since her diagnosis in October 2013 age 14 I have read, researched, blogged about our new understanding of autism & living with it daily. We are able to be more compassionate & respectful about her needs, which I am delighted to say really worked so well on her special day. I also blog as a way of educating others & also processing our family life as we live it. 

It is a constant re-learning for us all.

Even though the day was a long one with only three other family members joining her party, she was able to enjoy every minute & experienced NO meltdowns! She used her weighted blanket during the day at various intervals to keep the weighted therapy going & keep her overwhelming emotions under control.

Also this year she felt really comfortable deciding the theme of the party. For some months now she has been interested in "My Little Pony". Table accessories, balloons, our homemade birthday cakes & gifts were all featuring the characters from this animated programme. She herself knows it is made a much younger audience, but doesn't let that embarrass her. We are comfortable with that as she learns from the personalities & social situations in the storylines. This is something lots of people with Aspergers do. Actually it is very useful & we encourage it as part of her social skills development. 


She was so thrilled to have received several birthday messages online, from friends who also share her passion of Disney & Sims. Especially hearing from one very special friend who lives in California & works at Disney! These new friends have connected with her by reading her own wonderful blog, which she started over a year ago. Also from her Disney Pin collecting hobby, where she trades with people around the world for many limited edition pins.

Making & keeping friends is very difficult for most people with Aspergers & our daughter struggles greatly with social interaction.

 These special friends became our magic & gold dust for our beautiful daughter on her 16th birthday.



The day was made up of our kind of happiness, which to others may feel very odd & strange, but for us it is our way of life & we are so proud of both our  wonderful daughters.

 My hope is to continue to educate not only myself but also others who are interested in learning about autism. By writing about our newly developed world of prediction, scripting & therapy it may help others to understand our daughter's behaviour & other people on the spectrum too.
 It has become a passion of mine, my hobby, my voice.

  I would very much like this post to be my personal contribution to raise more awareness about autism during this very important week.


If you would like to take a look at our daughter's wonderful blog just click onto the link below.
theperksofbeingme-x.blogspot.co.uk


Thank you for reading my post today.

Until next time, take care.
xx 

All images are taken from Pinterest

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