Life as I know it

I haven't really had time to sit and write for such a long time. It has been such a busy two years filled with emotions, big changes and really new beginnings. This last two years has been the time where i learnt the most about my children and their conditions and also people and their perceptions.  It has been the year to really teach me about myself and who I am as a person . When I think back about this last two years I wonder how we have managed to get through some of it in one piece. I rarely take time to sit and think about all that has gone on in our life. I think I purposely tend to take things one day at a time because that is my survivor mode. That is the mode I set for myself all those years ago when Mia was diagnosed. 9 years ago. 9 long years in some ways and 9 extremely quick years in other ways. At the start of every school year emotions are high in our house. We never know what way Mia or her sister and brother for that fact will take to the new teachers, back to sc...

Since today is autism awareness day i decided to write about how autism has made us as a family who we are. i had never even  heard the word autism until my daughters creche and pediatrician mentioned it to me. Mia was one when she was first thought to be a bit delayed in her development. At least that's how it all started but really from the time Mia was a baby Autism was always going to be a part of our lives we just weren't aware of it yet. i still remember myself and Daniel and my mum looking up the word on the internet.. it felt like looking at a foreign language. surely Mia couldn't be autistic? But as we read on it was all at once clear Mia was very much showing the signs of Aspergers Syndrome. When you go through the process of having your child assessed it is a lonely and frightening journey. Its not a world your used to. Pediatricians, Psychologists, OT's, Psychiatrists, doctors all telling you your child has a disability. you feel winded yet relieved. Then yo...

Dear mam, Writing a simple happy birthday to u did not seem sufficient enough to tell u how much u are loved and adored. You deserve to have the best birthday today and I'm so proud and honoured to call you my mum. You have been the best mum from the first moment you became a mother. I don't know anyone else like you. You are so gentle and caring towards us et u cam become a proper momma bear protecting her cubs and grand cubs when needs be, all my childhood memories are happy ones remembering how many fun adventures and trips you and dad brought us on. You taught us what true love is with your amazing and rare love you have for eachother and for us. You taught us how hard you have to work to get things you want and need. You gave us a strength I never knew possible.you taught us respect and a sense of humour to carry us through the hard times . There has never been a time where you haven't had our back. Never a time when we couldn't have a cuddle or kiss from you an...

Mia arrived in 2004. It's hard to believe we started this journey that long ago. Our little baby girl is growing up yet I find myself struggling to think to far ahead. When you have a child with a disability it makes the world a far more scary place. Mia has Aspergers Syndrome. When Mia came into our lives we were 19. Teenagers as Mia now likes to remind us with her funny sense of humour. 'I cant believe you had a baby when you were only a teenager!' she likes to give out to me for that :) .In her mind teenagers are people who wear lots of make up and go out dancing all the time and have no responsibilities.My answer to her is always truthful. 19 is to young Mia to have babies but  God works in mysterious ways and he meant to give you to me.She loves that answer. to me that is the truth. God changed my life at that age. Mia became my reason to live again. To love again. She was perfect.To ease the heart-wrenching sadness we had felt for the year before after loosing my dad....

It's been a busy month so haven't got to write much! The kids are back at school so now I can sit in peace and write :) . We had a very good summer with mia compared to last year and i could feel myself wanting to write about how far we have all come. There was certainly bad days and a new issue for us to deal with. Mia is now suffering the most horrifying panick attacks. Weve not witnessed them before. After thr first one myself and dan were so scared for her and upset ablut how it affected us all we thought god is this how are life is going to keep going? All these new issues for Mia and us as a family to deal with. It made me think about how many 'new issues' we had to deal with over the years and how we had tackled them together and made it through. Thats what aspergers is. A constant merry go round of issues that your child has to learn to deal with and it affects every member of your family. The worst thing you can do is let the negativity take over. It shadows al...

Mia is finished july provision and it went really well for her this yr. she loved it. She got to avail of having special needs assistants there all the time. She doesn't have one usually. It was great to see her being comfortable. She bounced into the autism unit everyday chatting away to her friends, real friends that understand her and don't think she's odd or to loud. They're all so excepting of each other is so lovely to see them all be happy. Mias anxiety was quite low which was great. You'd pass the parents dropping their kids of and the smile you would give each other said so much you understood each other and their kids. No judgment. Just acceptance. I felt so relaxed Mia being there. When you have a child like Mia you worry 24/7. It becomes normal to be that way. So a break was great. Some days you wouldn't even see the autism side as much as we would normally. I decided to plan something for August as I knew it was gonna be a long month for Mia and us....

For five years we have talked about someone coming to our house to help us with Mia. Many weekends if not all we've said to each other god home help be great now. For five years we've fought for our daughter to have her right to help her live with her condition. And help for us. Before I started this blog I had fought for years and was tired and we had lost our faith in the system. When I decided to start writing this it was like I had the strength to fight again. I emailed the HSE everyday different people all in the one department. I was done playing nice and having my daughter just be a name on the waiting list. I was done trying to juggle everything and being constantly overwhelmed .last week I got a phone call to tell me that Mia had been granted 4 hours home support. I was shocked and thought it was too good to be true. I was so happy for her. Finally someone was realising what she needed. I met with the autism nurse and Mia's new home worker on Wednesday. I was nerv...