Reflections
The pressure to “fix” autistic kids is hurting families
I’ve been raising, loving and supporting my own autistic children (four of them: 27, 20, 14 and 11) for 27 years this year. We’re a completely autistic family, with additional forms of divergence thro...
PDA accommodations for children can be challenging for parents and carers to identify
My youngest says "No" and all its variations in response to almost every request I make of them.
And I don't flinch.
This is an accommodation. It is a means of balancing what feels off kilter for a PDAe...
Advocacy for Education is not an attack on Educators
Whenever I write or speak about barriers to education for autistic children, or inaccessibility, or childism or discrimination, I am always met by those interpreting my lived experience as a dir...
How will they learn they are safe to say No?
(ETA: This is not a post regarding my personal life as a parent. My child's school are incredibly supportive and wonderful educators.)
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I was not surprised at a recent PSG when I asked about a child...
Raspberry slurpee on the carpet: How I coregulate as a Mum to PDAers
Two weeks ago, my ten-year-old spilled a raspberry slurpee on my bedroom carpet.
I was exhausted and snapped. I raised my voice in panic and frustration and immediately regretted it.
For many of o...
What is PDA?
What is PDA for me? I can only share my own experience.
When I was interviewed this year by a national newspaper on PDA, I told them I only care about families who are in crisis and having a hard tim...
Firmer boundaries, comfort zones and PDA
I recently heard a Clinical Psychologist recommend parents of PDAers do the following:
- Have firmer boundaries
- Use declarative language ("It's important we shower for healthy skin" to have child ...
When Productivity Meets Burnout: The Importance of Slowing Down
This year saw my beginnings in trauma therapy. While there are many definitions of what trauma therapy is, and varied approaches, I’m clear on one thing: this has been the most significant and most pa...
Am I more than neurodivergent?
In order to identify as neurodivergent, I have first had to understand what I diverge from.
Most people hear the term neurodivergent and hear that I am diverging from ‘typical’.
Typical neurobiology.
But...
Are your PDA children short and sharp with you in front of others at times?
This can actually be culturally and socially appropriate.
We accept that teens do this as part of their identity formation and separation from us into their transition toward a sense of self in adole...