Friday, May 18, 2012

AUTISM AND THE TEENAGE YEARS !

It has arrived!
Missy started developing physically at the age of 8 but now it seems the Teenage Angst has set in .
This afternoon I have been doing laundry whilst Missy has been playing games on Cbeebies.
Each time I went into the dining room to take clothes off the dryer or put them on the dryer  she would peek around the corner of the dividing doors to see what I was doing.
Last time I went in to put clothes on the dryer I asked her if she wanted to help hang up the clothes as she was so interested.

" NOPE ! " was the only evidence that she had actually heard me as she didn't even look up from Cbeebies when I spoke.


Are you sure ?  You can always help with the ironing  .

Missy peeking :)





Dining Room

NOPE !!!!

I have always been pretty sure that Missy understood everything that was going on and understood everything I said, now I am convinced :)

Friday, May 11, 2012

QUICK BEFORE THE STARGATE CLOSES!

Anyone else feel like we have entered a Twilight Zone and we are in an alternate universe as far as the price of food is concerned?

Today I did a VERY small shop at ASDA and bought this little lot for almost £24.
Anyone else out there think this is a lot of money for such a small amount of food and for a shop that is over 80% Own Brands ?
I totally realise that those who produce the food and sell it have to make a profit to provide jobs and a livelihood for others but I truly believe that we have entered scary times.
I have the added problem that my 11 year who is profoundly autistic still has selective eating issues and will only eat certain branded items and for those I have no choice but to buy Robinson's squash or Yoplait fromage frais.
I also buy vitamins and supplements that help with my health issues and supplements of course because I am a woman of a certain age  :)
 I do not think that those in the upper echelons of our government have any idea what it is like for the little people who need to buy food and pay their bills and pay their mortgage or rent  on a very small amount of money.
I think the members of parliament need to get involved in some Life Swaps , similar to the Wife Swap show .

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

IT SEEMS I AM NOT ALONE Autism and Lack of Sleep

I found this article an immediately thought WONDERFUL and started to read hoping for some wonderful new advice and help.
But sadly NO :(
Niamh has no double bed and telling her to go to sleep when she awakes in the night does not work because she is too wrapped up in her singing to listen!
Sitting with her makes no difference and the 'Supernanny method' of moving further and further away does not work as he singing just carries on no matter what!
Oh well,we shall carry on carrying on.
Any suggestions gratefully accepted :)   that is a very weary :)


Sleep clinic for children with autism
 Sleep counsellors at a special school in Manchester are helping autistic children and their parents deal with disturbed sleep patterns
 Louise Tickle The Guardian
 Tuesday 22 September 2009 
 Christine Hoyle is a sleep clinic co-ordinator at Inscape House. Photograph: Christopher Thomond Jacob, now 16, didn't get anything approaching a decent night's sleep from the day he was born until he was 13 years old. Nor did his mother, Marianne Bailey, for whom thousands of disrupted nights unsurprisingly resulted in chronic exhaustion. "He'd wake throughout the night, so we could be up from two or three times up to 12 times," explains Bailey. "I'm a light sleeper so I'd hear him and would be the one who got up. Jacob would be rocking, moaning and knocking his head on the bed. I tried asking the health visitor when he was two or three, and tried various things, even leaving him for two or three hours, but nothing worked. He'd only stop when I'd go in." The reason for the sleeplessness is that Jacob is severely autistic. It has become increasingly apparent that one of the problems suffered by children with autistic spectrum disorders is a lack of ability to sleep. Jacob needed his mother to be close by to calm him down after waking in the night, and so Bailey ended up having to share a bed with her son throughout his childhood. By the time he was 12, though, this was starting to feel inappropriate, she explains. It was at this point that his special school, Inscape House in south Manchester, part of the Together Trust, was able to suggest a way forward. Having heard about work done by an organisation called Sleep Scotland in teaching children sleep techniques, five years ago a group of specialist teachers from Inscape House decided to train as sleep counsellors. The disturbed sleep patterns experienced by autistic children had become increasingly apparent to teachers working in the school, says Christine Hoyle. Their shattered and drained families were desperate for help, but often thought that disrupted sleep was just part and parcel of their child's diagnosis. This, she says, need not be the case. The hope was that intensive support could be offered in methods of helping children get to sleep, and then stay asleep, that was tailored to their individual needs. "Because of the nature of autism, children might have erratic and prolonged settling down routines such having to go up and down stairs a certain number of times, or they might have to repeatedly check on their family. They may wake frequently or they might be very sensitive to light and sound," Hoyle explains. "Every child's situation will be different." Clearly it's no fun for anyone to be constantly tired, but the long-term effects are much more destructive than simply feeling a bit weary. Parents of autistic children find, says Hoyle, that being deprived of sleep over long periods greatly affects their ability to cope with the other challenging behaviours they are presented with. They also state that lack of sleep is one of their worst causes of stress. From the child's point of view, sleep is crucial for learning and development. "It's when we're asleep that learning is consolidated, so it is vital that children learn to sleep well," Hoyle explains. "If they experience sleeplessness over a prolonged period, it's going to impact on their ability to learn." Steve Tyler, principal of Inscape House, notes that some traits that make life particularly difficult for autistic children can be exacerbated when they are not properly rested. "There's irritability: people with autism – particularly our young people with severe needs – find interaction difficult anyway," he says. Sleep deprivation makes interpreting the nuances of social relationships even harder for them, and frustration can ensue. The Sleep Clinic piloted by Inscape House five years ago now works closely with parents of children at the school – and increasingly at other special schools and mainstream schools in the north-west. If a child is referred, counsellors will interview their parents to gain a detailed understanding of the sleep and bedtime patterns that have emerged over the years, and then guide them to make small, gradual adjustments over many weeks and months. Recalling the start of the sleep programme that was instigated for Jacob, Bailey says: "One thing we did was to get rid of the double bed so that Mummy couldn't get in." 
 She still had to be in her son's room, and initially sat with him on the single bed until he went to sleep. She then moved to an armchair by the bed, then moved the armchair across the room, then shifted it to outside his door. Moving the chair around a corner so it was out of sight was a big step; it was then placed at the top of the stairs, and finally, she was able to go downstairs, though had to stay within calling distance. This process took many months, not just a few nights. And Jacob would still wake up moaning, at which point his mum had to begin the process of sitting with him all over again. A second idea was to give Jacob cues about his bedtime routine that he could refer back to. Because he can't read, a picture story illustrating the routine of what happened at bedtime was stuck on his bedroom wall. "It's a story with very simple words," says Bailey. "Now Jacob is older, he will go to sleep on his own; he will pull his duvet up … I'd say it almost as a mantra, and he'd eventually say it with me." Sticking to a firm routine is the key, says Hoyle, once the family and sleep counsellor have worked out a plan that takes account of the child's particular sleep problems. But parents are likely to need patience, persistence and enormous commitment in order to see results. It took about a year for the various techniques used to take effect, says Bailey. Jacob still wakes most nights, but is now able to settle if he can hear her calling to him to go to sleep. "I have had odd nights where he has slept through, and that's fantastic," says Bailey. "It's not a complete cure, at least it's not been for us, but it's an improvement. And I am a bit less tired, because to have a night's sleep is lovely."

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

SLEEP OR THE LACK THERE OF




They say the older you get the less sleep you need but this is certainly not true in my case.
I seem to fall asleep constantly but thankfully not whilst I am driving!



Beauty seems to be awake later and later recently and eventually seems to fall asleep about 1.30am and whilst she will then sleep all the way through until it is time for school, 5 1/2 hours sleep is just not enough for me.



'Many people with autism, and their carers, suffer from sleep problems, such as insomnia. By the age of one year most children should be sleeping through the night. If after that time your child is regularly unable to sleep or if they have a period of good sleep which is disrupted then this constitutes a sleep disorder Sleep problems of children with autism can be persistent and severe. Specific problems include■Problems falling asleep
 ■Frequent waking during the night
 ■Early morning waking
■Short duration sleep
■Irregular sleep patterns
■Bed-wetting or soiling
■Daytime sleepiness
For most children with with autism spectrum disorders, these problems gradually improve over time but, for some, they don’t. There is some evidence to show that some interventions – such as anti-psychotics, cognitive behavioural therapy, and melatonin – may help some people with autism sleep better.'





The only answer I seem to have at the moment is that if she is still singing at 12 midnight then she comes into my bed and if she continues to make a noise then she is told that if she continues to make a noise then she will be back in her own bed and it works every time.
By 12.15am we are both sound asleep.
I want to take her over to Heath Park daily to 'play' on the adult exercise park to try and wear her out but the constant rain at the moment says NO!






We have tried the Melatonin but it didn't really work and I am not sure that I want her on meds for the rest of her life so for the moment it looks as if it is me and Beauty and 3 lotso Bears that stink of strawberries in a bed made for two !

Perhaps a sleep camp might work :)



MISSY

MISSY
BEAUTY

MAMMA BLOGGING ABOUT BEAUTY AND HER SISTERS


An Irish Blessing

(A Blessing from St. Patrick)
May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.