Today people have been wearing blue, or onesies, or buildings have been lit up, to raise awareness of autism and the charities that support families with autism. Awareness should be everyday, its understanding that needs to improve, but I quite like having a set day that really raises the profile and perhaps gets people asking about it. Recent figures from the National Autistic Society suggest that 1 in every 100 people has autism, but so few people know anything about it despite such a hefty figure.
I remember when I started noticing William was a "little bit different" and I got on to the internet looking for lists of development milestones in babies for hours on end to try and fight off the niggling feelings, and googling his specific problems - "why doesn't my son respond to his name?", "child has stopped talking", "late walker", that kinda stuff. Again and again the term "development red flags" appeared in search results, and I really started thinking, "sh*t this is worrying. And there our journey began, and I knew what was going to be the outcome.
William often plays "inappropriately" with toys, he loves to spin cars and will put them upside down and watch the wheels go round. He can't do imaginative play yet. Many a time I've sat with his plastic tea set pretending the tea and cake is scrumptious (sound effects and all) and he just walks off thinking I'm a nut job.
He's very sensitive to some lights, particularly halogens and strip lights. He's distressed at public toilets, possibly due to the lighting but we've not figured that one out properly yet.
He has no awareness of danger, particularly when it comes to road safety, and has taken the hands of strangers in play centres to help him onto equipment. Not so bad at a playcentre, but if that happens in the street that's a big worry.
He is very passive, hence needing a high level of adult input to help him learn. He really would sit eating bananas all day if he could. And that gives him the farts. And we don't want that. Trust me.....
I make no secret of Williams autism, but unfortunately so few people really have any inkling of the difficulties that people with autism face. Since his diagnosis, I have often thought about the people in my neighbourhood that I grew up thinking were "oddballs" or were labelled as "local weirdos". Looking back and now having my own experience of learning difficulties, its entirely plausible that these people, usually men, had similar problems, maybe they too had autism, and that makes me feel bad. I guess we will all have been guilty of making fun of these people at one time as children. One day William might well be that "local weirdo" and I can't bear the thought of someone making fun of him, calling him names or purposely doing things to distress him. You see a lot of things in the news about this stuff and as a parent I know I can't protect him forever, but hopefully I can find a support network that will be able to help.
Alex is well aware of William's autism, but treats him no differently than any other child, apart from making sure he simplifies his speech so William can grasp the basics of what he's saying. It's quite cute. In the mornings, Alex will come and ask William if he wants to go downstairs with him, then Alex will put the TV on and they will play for a while as I sup my strong coffee after 3 hours sleep.
http://www.wikihow.com/Explain-Autism-to-People
This is a pretty good link with some useful info. I don't like the word "autistic", it sounds like William is sick or suffering something, and the article does go on about "abnormal" behaviours, which is a bit drastic, but the general info is pretty good and I urge you all to have a read and see what we go through. I must say though, that William does not do any of the dramatic facial expressions seen in this article ha ha.
Soon I will be getting my butt in gear and sorting out the formatting of this blog, I'm a bit rusty on the HTML stuff and have little free time to get info onto my page, but after having a few compliments about the blog my head is swelling a bit and I think i'd better make a bit more effort before you all get bored. Perhaps when I've had a good nights sleep. Ha ha! Never happen. Wonder why ;)
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