thepajamagang

My brother is autistic

My neurotypical son wanted to be interviewed about his brother, so here it is: How old are you? Almost 10 years old. What do you understand autism to be? That’s hard….I’m not sure– I think his brain works a little differently than mine. What do you love about your brother? That he plays with meContinue reading “My brother is autistic”

Camera Roll – January

I can’t believe it is almost the last day of January today. January always feels like an odd month to me. I’m never as productive as I plan to be but I feel that is because of the early evenings, cold days and recovery from the holiday period. Hopefully February will bring lighter days andContinue reading “Camera Roll – January”

Sledging

So first of all, is it sledding or sledging? My American friends think I am pronouncing ‘sledding’ wrong (as this often happens when I say words that are perfectly normal to me, and they have no idea what I’m talking about). As an English person I would say ‘sledging’, and Google tells me that sledgingContinue reading “Sledging”

TAKIWATANGA

The Maori word for autism is ‘Takiwatanga’. It means ‘in his/her own time and space’. I think this sums up my son perfectly.

Bailey

Let me introduce you to our dog Bailey. She technically is a labradoodle, but she looks more like a fox red Labrador with skinny legs. She is 20 months and still acts like a puppy! She can still be a little crazy at times, but I’ve been told that Labradors may not calm down untilContinue reading “Bailey”

Drinking water

One of my goals this year was to increase the amount of water that I drink. I’m finding this goal hard. One of the reasons is because is it so cold where I live, that I don’t want to drink something that is also cold, so instead I opt for tea. Therefore, I’m starting thisContinue reading “Drinking water”

Autism Positives

Things to remember that my son is great at: He is honest and straight forward. He is compassionate and forgiving. He is less likely to judge others. He is empathetic to both people and animals. He is great at spotting patterns and doing things that require repetition. He has an excellent memory and attention toContinue reading “Autism Positives”

Just live

I read this quote the other day and I’m taking it into 2022 with me: ‘If you died tonight, your employer would advertise your job role by the end of the month. But your loved one, chosen family and friends would miss you forever.’ Don’t get too busy making a living that you forget toContinue reading “Just live”

Hyposensitivity.

While autistic people can be ‘hypersensitive’ (over sensitive) to specific types of sensory information, they can also be ‘hyposensitive’ (under sensitive) to other types of sensory information. Autistic people can often seek out things they are hyposensitive to, in the hope of experiencing greater sensory stimulation from those things. I think my son is hypersensitive toContinue reading “Hyposensitivity.”

Things that were NOT on my list to do today … part 2

Checking my dogs poo for the screw she ate last week! So far, no screw and the dog is acting normally. Building my second lego project of the week. It’s a good job I LOVE building lego. Being outside in temperatures that feel like -19 C (-2.2 f). I think, so far that is theContinue reading “Things that were NOT on my list to do today … part 2”