Autism Awareness Month Day 1

Kicking off Autism awareness month with our own superstar’s birthday. I don’t think it is any coincidence that Nae-Nae was born on 1st April. She tells me she is a born prankster and she’s not wrong. She was sent to make us laugh again. I faced a very low time before she was born but when she was born she was just perfect but I didn’t realise how perfect she would be for our lives until much later.

Our day kicked off in the usual way on 1st April, waking up Nae-Nae to sing to her and give her birthday cards. We saved the presents for the evening so she isn’t distracted from her morning routine. She was so happy about today. It’s a day when she knows, no matter what she will be celebrated… Well… If she hasn’t planned any April fool jokes that could get her in a lot of trouble. So I went through the drill with her about appropriate and inappropriate April fools jokes.

I remember one year she did something that could have got her internally or externally excluded from school for the day but thankfully they discovered that she just didn’t know what was an appropriate joke at the time. I reminded her of that day and she laughed her head off but then apologised for laughing and agreed that what I described wasn’t a safe joke. It’s clear that she is getting better at understanding particular concepts in the merry world we live in.

She asked if we were going to feed the ducks after school. I didn’t plan to and wondered why she would suggest that? She then reminded me that it’s something we do every year on the last day of the spring term (which isn’t always on her birthday). She explained that I always pick her from school and we go to the park and feed the ducks. In my head I was thinking do we? Always on the last day of term? Then she continued by telling me what happened each time in 2015, 2014, 2013. Ok, why do I feel the need to challenge the memory of a child on the spectrum?

My children’s memories for things are off the scale! When you think they are too young to remember things forget it. Just because they don’t talk doesn’t mean they don’t take it all in. Nae-Nae and JJ were talking to me the other day about all the cars I have had since they were born. To hear JJ tell me which car I drove when he was two years old and I only kept it for a short while just amazed me, but then Nae-Nae told me which car I drove when she was under a year old. At that point I was knocked out in astonishment. How the heck would they know that and retain that information all this time and then drop it on me 11-13 years later? They really fascinate me!

Anyway I agreed to take an hours lunch break so I can meet her from school as she finished half day and go feed the ducks before returning back to work. I really didn’t remember about this ritual otherwise I would have booked the day off work. I wasn’t about to let her down either especially on her birthday. She’s already mapped out her day in her head and I’m not one to crush a child’s dreams.

MrJK decided to take the baton from me and do something similar to what I did last year to raise awareness of Autism locally. He wasn’t about to wear a onesie all day in town but he decided on a t-shirt with words of his choice “Autism isn’t a disease, No cure needed, Be aware” on the front and “Autism Awareness, Love, Accept Support” on the back. When he asked me to make it up for him I nearly fell off my seat lol. I shouldn’t be shocked but MrJK is not usually one to want to draw attention to himself but he planned to walk around town with a white t-shirt over his jumper with big bold words on it to spread awareness. This is simply amazing. It just confirms when something is dear to your heart we can do the unthinkable.

I felt like such a proud wife as I saw him set off into town. I was working so I couldn’t join him but for good reason as it was his turn. It wasn’t for me to get in his light. He needed to shine his light within our community independently. He came back advising me they lots of people stopped to read what was on his top and he greeted them with a smile but no one approached him. I was just proud that he did it. It was a great things for JJ to witness also seeing his dad his role model walking the streets spreading a message for the good of his children and others like them. Just beautiful.

The sun shone beautifully all day. Spring is finally here! We had a lovely trip to the ducks. I told Nae-Nae perhaps the ducks were still in Spain on their migration holiday. She just looked at me with one of those looks like mum don’t try and wind me up cos it’s not washing anymore. I just wanted to prepare her for the eventuality of the ducks not being there but thankfully they were.
She grabbed the bag from me and told me she’s going to feed them. Err no! I wasn’t about to miss out on all the fun so I grabbed the bag back and explained that we were going to share like a good mother and a good daughter otherwise she would have to just stand there and watch me feed the ducks lol. Yes that worked.

As she fed them she repeated a sentence over and over again “They all want some” “They all want some” “They all want some.” As she said that lots of visions for other things came to mind as if that sentence was a message to me as well. I took notice of it anyway. Even at our ages it’s a really therapeutic thing to do. We could have stayed there all day but I needed to get back to work.

On the way back to the car we noticed the playground part was really busy. On a normal day if it was busy Nae-Nae wouldn’t go anywhere near it but today she asked if we had 10 minutes to stop there. We did have so off we went. I just laughed with shock. When you think you have worked out this girl  hmmmm don’t assume anything cos the next day she will do something to what we expected. She definitely aims to shock.

She had a quick play while I had a quick chat with one of my chicks who I have never bumped into in the park before in all the years we have lived her and she is Nae-Nae’s godmother. Perhaps that’s because we hardly ever go there unless it’s the end of term obviously. I need to start visiting it more again cos it’s so beautiful. But to be honest parks haven’t been an easy place to go throughout our journey. Some very challenging times have occurred in the park, but the woods is a big favourite in our house. It quiet, no large crowds, no queues and there’s more to see there than you think… That’s a story for another day.

Nae-Nae had a wonderful day and was blessed with some amazing gifts. Even though swimming was cancelled and she chose to start her SATs revision today, she had a fabulous day. As bedtime drew near I made myself a drink of orange and Ribena mix, had a just a sip and put it down as Nae-Nae asked me to read her a story from a new book we brought her. I started reading and she was distracted and asked “What does your breath stink of?” Lovely way of putting it… Its a good thing i’m not easily offended. She wouldn’t let me continue reading as she had a look of disgust on her face. “Is it alcohol?” she asked. LOL I just laughed. Her senses are amazing cos I only had a sip of the juice so how did she smell it? However, I completely understood why she would mistake the smell for alcohol but actually it wasn’t. So I fetched the drink and let her sniff it. She was happy and let me continue reading. If anyone thinks of getting drunk around her, forget it cos she will tell you about yourself and you will be too scared to repeat it in future lol.

She laid down peacefully as I read and fell asleep like sleeping beauty. I reflected on how far we have come and just marvelled at life. It’s not always fun and games but its an amazing journey and all things are possible.
Please tune in tomorrow when I get to spend my day with lots of other special beings. #AutismAwarenessMonth

Peace and Love

MrsJK