I talk a lot about my children’s right to inclusion and acceptance. I talk often about autistic people’s rights to be safe, to be free to be themselves. I talk about the rights of neurodivergent people to support that helps them live the life they choose and live it well. Some people would say I mostly write about disability rights, but I believe these are issues of human rights. Today, I’d like to talk with you about another issue of human rights: the rights all people have to safety. Continue reading
Category: Uncategorized
Why I am not a fan of OTARC’s new ASDetect app
My husband and I downloaded and had a look at Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, called ASDetect, tonight. To say we were both uncomfortable with it would be an understatement.
She Played: my year learning unschooling
It’s been a year since we registered to homeschool MissG. I’ve got to say, it’s been a steep learning curve….. for me. Continue reading
Why is it so important for parents to listen to disabled advocates?
There is a fair bit of misunderstanding of the message from disabled advocates in the situation around the discussion involving The Mighty and its history of promoting the voices of parents of disabled children more than those of actually disabled people. Continue reading
Letter to my Autistic Child
My beautiful Autistic Child,
One day when you are older, you might come across stories on the internet. Stories about parents who hurt their children- Autistic kids like you. Continue reading
Assumptions
In my family of eight, six of us are neurodivergent, five have diagnosed disabilities. Our two Autistic kids are homeschooled. Two of our kids go to local schools. The youngest is not old enough for school yet, and our oldest is in tertiary education. Things can be quite hectic around here.
I generally don’t broadcast our struggles publicly because…. well, they are ours, and the kids don’t need to grow up to see me whining about parenting them all over the place when they grow up. Continue reading
I dare you
I wrote this and published it on my old blog in November 2015. A year has passed, and I wish I could say that since then there has been no more news of violence against Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent and disabled children by their parents and carers. The fact is there has been story after story of parents who are convinced their imperfect child is the reason for all their woes, and so they act in unspeakably horrific ways toward them. The fact is, the media is still telling us all to feel sorry for this parents, rather than the victims- their children.
So, today, I am sharing this old piece of writing with you. Because nothing has changed. Continue reading
one of those days
You’ve had one of THOSE days, right?
The ones that start with running late to the early drop off for your kid to catch the train for an excursion, and finish with the topping falling off the pizza you order for dinner because you didn’t make it into the shops (the only task on your to do list for the day) despite having driven past them 5 times. Continue reading
Let’s talk about privilege
privilege |ˈprɪvɪlɪdʒ|noun
a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group
Have you heard the phrase “check your privilege”? People use it when they want someone to think about their attitudes in terms of what they assume due to their circumstances that others can’t assume because of theirs. Continue reading
Every moment is a learning moment
People learn all the time.
Think about it. We are all always learning. Continue reading
