AnnaKennedyonline

Raising autistic children and adults can be physically and mentally demanding especially now during these difficult times no matter how much you love them.

My youngest son, Angelo, was diagnosed with Autism and a severe sensory processing condition and nocturnal epilepsy at the age of three.

My older son, Patrick, has a diagnosis Asperger's Syndrome.

At that time, in the 1990s, I was told my sons were unique and there was no one else in the area in the same situation with children on the spectrum. It made me feel isolated. Some parents look for someone to blame but there isn’t anyone.

Your children havn’t changed they are still the same only now they have a label for their condition however, in the 90’s not one person sat down with us as parents and shared with us what ‘autism’ was and which was the best approach to use. The only information I knew at that time I was the film 'Rain Man'.

When you begin to read about autism many books say children on the spectrum have problems with social interaction, communication, impairment of their imagination and no two children are the same.

In the early days reading books highlighting early intervention is crucial, yet people are left to deal with finding out information themselves until it reaches crisis point.

As much as you love your children, it can be physically and mentally demanding especially with the lack of sleep and juggling many balls in the air with appointments and trying to hold down a job.

Patrick’s now 31 and works full time for 3 years at Pinewood Studios.

Angelo is 28 and attends the Vocational College we set up working daily on improving his independent living skills. He still has a poor sleep pattern and only sleeps a few hours which sometimes I find mentally draining. Now , with the Covid pandemic I am extra vigilant with Angelo since he is unaware of the dangers of covid and I am doing my best to keep him safe. He is frustrated because our routine has changed however, I am doing my best in creating a temporary new routine until we are able to return to normal whatever that maybe.

I speak to many parents of autistic children and adults through the autism charity AnnaKennedyonline I set up in 2009 . Parents share their frustrations with system and highlight difficulties with the SEND Education system and how they have to fight for the correct provision that meets their child’s needs.

Many parents share difficulties autistic adults have of securing employment. Everyone deserves a job no matter what their disability. Its quite clear the legal framework around disability and employment that exists would work well if it was applied. The problem alot of the time is it is not applied usually through the lack of awareness.

When autistic individuals reach their late teens or early twenties, you need to be vigilant and continue to support them as parents – their behaviour through no fault of their own can be and is often misinterpreted and autistic adults can get into difficulties . I have spoken to parents where their teenage or adult children have been involved in ‘Mate Crime’ and subsequently been arrested when caught or many have been sectioned due to mentalhealth difficulties because they have been failed by the care system.

Of course, I’m worried about the future for my sons –that’s why my husband and I have tried to put in place everything we can to try and give our sons the best education and support to help them both become as independent as they possibly can.

There is more awareness now than when my children were diagnosed however, we need acceptance and autism and overlapping conditions are still not well understood among the wider society.

Many children can cope in mainstream schools, colleges and the work place others just simply cannot. Small reasonable adjustments are required to adapt their environment. This can make a huge difference to the individual and this will enable them to excel and progress within the right and supportive environment.

Some children and adults will need day-to-day support and will require this support for the rest of their lives like my son Angelo. Angelo does not have a sense of danger and always keeps me on my toes . The most scary thing he did was that he ended up sitting on next door’s chimney because he likes heights – he sees no danger in that or went missing for 4 hours when we were on holiday !!

Every day is a learning curve for all of us some days good some days not so good....

As long as you know and can put your hand on your heart that you have tried your best that's all you can ask of yourself.

Recently I have been speaking to mum's struggling with their childs mental health , autism and the system.

It requires an enormous amount of resilience to parent their child who is experiencing mental health difficulties and diagnosed autistic .

Parents need to take care of their own emotional health too.

Sometimes our health and social health care system can let the most vulnerable people of society down.

You have to continue advocate for your child as tired and drained as you may be feeling and dont worry if you have to ruffle some feathers .

I know it can be really hard however , sometimes the only option is to keep pushing .

I remember reading a few years ago an article that mothers of adolescents and adults diagnosed with autism experience chronic stress comparable to combat soldiers and struggle with frequent fatigue research finds. These mums also spend significantly more time caregiving than mums of those individuals without disabilities.

Bottom line is when your child is in crisis, dont knock on the door, kick it down and make them listen.

Take care, there's no shame in asking for help and take it one day at a time.....

Announcing our performers for Autism’s Got Talent St. Ives Roadshow 2021!!

Kidz R Us

Aston Avery

Jessi Kay

Sky Boswell

Lauren Lovejoy

Kieron Lee

Jono Blythe

Studio 4 Dance

Autism’s Got Talent St. Ives

The AGT Roadshow will be taking place on Saturday 2^nd October at:

St Ives Theatre

Lower Stennack,

St Ives,

TR26 1QG

Tickets will be on sale at the Kidzrus theatre St Ives https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/venueplan/rbcfBLPYpKhx

This show is a star studded spectacular event will showcase amazingly talented performances by adults and children with autism. The performers consist of singers, actors, musicians and dance troupes, will fly the flag for autism and show what people with autism are capable of. Autism’s Got Talent provides a platform and great opportunity to replace negative aspects with hope, fun, laughter, and inclusion. This showcase is unique to any other projects across the world.