A story about a boy named L

 This is a story about a boy named L. Yes, our L.

A boy who at the age of three and a half received an Autism diagnosis, which began a series of changes for him.

Prior to receiving L's Autism diagnosis, life was difficult for L. Whenever we attempted to raise concerns about L and how we thought that he was different from other children his age, our concerns were brushed off by early childhood educators and various medical professionals. We were told that L was just being a boy, that he was just a naughty child, that it was our parenting skills to blame for L's differences and everything in between.

L struggled to maintain friendships with children his age. We regularly heard other parents tell their own children, in ear shot of us, don't play with L because he is a naughty boy.

Then we received L's Autism diagnosis and everything made sense. He made a wonderful friend in Master H. L began early intervention therapy. L started school and he began to hit milestones and overcome obstacles.

When we moved back to Queensland, we made the decision to keep L back in Prep - in effect he would do two years of Prep (the first year of primary school,) as he had already completed the prep equivalent in Western Australia. We've made a few brilliant decisions for L thus far, and going back into Prep was definitely one of them.

He had another year of the foundation skills needed in primary school and has not looked back.

L has overcome many obstacles to get where he is today.

Late Thursday afternoon, one of the Special Education Teachers at school rang me to say that the school had nominated L for a Courage award and were we able to attend the award ceremony on Sunday morning.

The Lions Club gives out Children of Courage awards to children who have shown courage in overcoming challenges that they encounter, achieving goals and so on. The awards were established in 1983 in WA and were introduced to the Bribie District in 2002.

We're so very proud of everything that L has achieved so far and we know that his future is extremely bright.

The Lions Club also gave Henry a Courage award for assisting L on a daily basis ❤❤

By the time the awards were being presented, L had entered into shutdown due to the noise echoing in the hall and the fact that there was a lot of focus on L and the six other children receiving the awards, hence O being in the photos as she was being the amazing big sister that she is in supporting L.

Mrs S just had to have a photo with Henry.

The Lions Club president, Michael, and Mrs Brooke Savage, our local councillor.

Every step so far, L has had us behind him, encouraging him. And we couldn't have done this without the amazing support team around him and us. His therapy team (Tara, Katie, Kira) in Western Australia, the amazing teachers (Mrs S, Mrs A and Mrs S) and support staff (Mrs DS and Mrs S) at the school that he attended in Western Australia. The parents of the children that he formed strong friendships with in Western Australia - you know who you are. The early childhood educators and OSHC staff who not only believed in L's capabilities but also encouraged him to step outside of his comfort zone - Stevie, Sharon, Jess, Katie, Dannii, Alisha, Beth, Kayla, Dan, Emily. Zaim - L's support worker who was just amazing. The teaching staff (Miss L, Miss E, Miss P and Mrs S) and the support staff (Miss K, Miss J, Miss A, Miss B and Mrs H) at his current school as well as all of the staff behind the scenes at school. Thank for believing in L and for encouraging him to reach for the stars.

O's turn to shine

 

Both of the little superheroes make us proud every single day, but last month it was O's turn to shine.

This year marked O's first year of high school. We were all a little nervous about high school, O included, but she hit the ground running an has not looked back. In the first few days of the new school year, O came home raving about the new group of friends that she had made - they all shared a love of Anime. There were no nerves at all from O.

Last year, O applied (with the encouragement from us and the teachers at the Primary School) for both of the academies that the high school run alongside their regular classes. One is focused on STEM units and the other is the Academic Academy. O was offered a spot in the STEM academy. And it is exactly where O needs to be.

Every other student in the STEM Academy is like minded, they all love STEM and they want to be at school. O is loving every minute of it.

O's anxiety has tried to get the better of her throughout this year, but O has been determined to not to let her anxiety take over.

Towards the end of last month, we received the news from the school that O was to receive an Academic Excellence Award for her efforts in class. We've always told both little superheroes that grades really don't matter to us, we just want them to put in the most effort that they can into school. And O has done just that.

O, you have put in the effort at school all year and very mush deserve this award. The world is your oyster, we are so very proud of you and can't wait to see what your future holds ❤❤

Assistance Dogs 101: School drop off time

 

School drop off's have always been difficult for L. The transition from the car to his classroom can be very rough for him. Henry makes it just that little bit easier for L. 

Twice in the last week and a half, L has had very rough mornings that we could see were building to a meltdown about going into school. Twice Henry has gone through his paces in helping L to calm. Twice Henry has worked his Assistance Dog magic.

Loads of Henry cuddles, lap lays and overs, quite a few nuzzles to disrupt L's self harming behaviours and just being close by so that L knows Henry is there when L was ready. Henry is the calming influence that L needs.

It was also wonderful watching the other school students reactions to seeing Henry in action. Henry is a wee bit popular at school, every one loves saying hello to Henry in the morning. But as soon as they see that Henry is helping his boy, they hold back from saying hi. 

They were so very respectful and gave us the space that L needed. And afterwards, when the students that saw myself and Henry leaving school, they told Henry what a good boy he was for helping L.

This is an Assistance Dog at work, not only helping his boy but also raising awareness and acceptance of Autism and Assistance Dogs.

Little Stars

This photo of L came up in my memories last month. It is of O waiting patiently at the gate at his Tara School, aka Little Stars. Little Stars is one of the early intervention therapy centres run by the Western Australian Autism Association. After we received L's Autism diagnosis, we applied for L to attend the centre.

Going to Little Stars really was one of the best decisions that we made for L. He was accepted for who he was, he made so many friends, he loved all of his therapists and therapy assistants, especially his Tara. L further developed his strengths and learnt new skills.

L attended the centre once a week for three hours and he participated in his speech and  occupational therapy while at the centre. And L loved going to his Tara's School. His very first therapy assistant was a lovely lady by the name of Thara, but all of the children and staff called her Tara. From the very first session with Tara, the centre became known by L as Tara's School. L and Tara had a mutual love of Batman!!

Most importantly we learnt how to view the world from L's eyes and how to support him in the way that he needed. We learnt how to help him navigate the world around him.

Little Stars was one of the first, and big, steps in L's Autism journey that L needed.

Funnily enough it was also at Tara's School that we accidentally met one of L's former educators from his previous child care centre. This educator was so very surprised to spot L at the centre, they were there to observe another child who had recently been diagnosed with Autism. This educator dismissed our concerns about L, by saying "oh he's just a naughty boy."

Mmm, actually no he wasn't. He is Autistic! This educator looked very taken back when I informed her why L was at the centre.

It is photos like the above, that remind me just how far both of my little superheroes have come and all that they have achieved so far on their Autism journey.

Cooking with Henry

A few weekends ago, L wanted to do some cooking with Henry - he saw a clip on YouTube of someone who made dog biscuits with their dog helping, 

So L and I sat at the computer and researched how to make simple dog biscuits. We found a few different recipes and L chose which recipe to use. We decided to change the recipe just a little, so the dog biscuits would be even yummier.

L then helped to write out a shopping list of the ingredients that we would need to make the biscuits. After checking the fridge and pantry, we went shopping and purchased the ingredients that we didn't already have.

Once we had gathered all of the ingredients and the kitchen utensils that we needed, L sat down with Henry (and myself, I was the camera operator!) and started recording.

I'm not sure who had more fun, Henry or L. Cooking is a great skill to learn how to do and one that we encourage both little superheroes to have a go at. L has a food aversion to peanut butter, so it was great that he had a go at mixing the ingredients together, for him peanut butter is a big food smell to deal with.

He needed some assistance towards the end with forming the balls, so I stepped in. Henry took this as his opportunity to sneak a few uncooked biscuits off of the tray!!

And the verdict from Henry about how they tasted, delicious! He gobbled one down before I could get a photo of him with the biscuit.

L is currently looking for another recipe that he can make with Henry, but preferably one that doesn't have peanut butter in it!

Henry's Simple Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:

3 cups of wholemeal or plain flour.

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons of peanut butter (make sure that it doesn't contain xylotol)

Half a cup of chicken stock.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until they form a stiff dough.

3. Use your hands to form small balls of dough, about the size of a large marble. Flatten each ball onto the lined tray.

4. Bake in the oven for 18 to 20minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

5. Cool on a wire rack and once cooled store in an air tight onta8ner in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Assistance Dog 101

This is what post meltdown now looks like in our household. 

Before Henry was placed with us, meltdowns could last for hours. Now, Henry picks up on L's change in emotional state before a meltdown begins and he can usually calm L very quickly.

One evening last month, L was having a rough afternoon. He wasn't in meltdown but was very close to it. This confused Henry, he really wasn't sure what L needed. Henry was on alert, it was as if he sensed something was wrong. He would not take his eyes off of L. But once L entered meltdown mode, Henry stepped in and took over. 

Henry was nuzzling L's face to try to stop L from hurting his head. Henry was laying over L, providing deep pressure to L's legs which calms L. Henry was nudging L's arms every time L moved them back towards his face, reminding L "I'm here, pat me." And Henry lay on L until L was ready to interact with Henry and myself. All this without being prompted by myself. 

Watching just how quickly Henry can calm L when he begins to enter meltdown mode, is truly amazing. Henry's training kicks in and he takes over. 

And once L was calm and able to verbalise to me, he said "Henry amazing, he really helps me." 

When an individual tells you that their service dog is life changing, please believe them. 

Henry has truly been life changing for L and for our family.

This is a service dog in action.

#teamhenry #labradorsofinstagram #servicedog #assistancedogs #autismassistancedogs #littlesuperheroes #smartpups

To the Bullies.

*** Please note, if this post brings about emotions in yourself that cause you distress, please seek advice from a trusted medical professional.***

This is something that I posted on my own social media profile some time ago, but I feel for my own closure, I need to post it here.

This is going to be long, if you don’t have time to read, scroll on. If you do read it, I don’t want your pity, I just need to get this off my chest as something happened that has brought back memories that I thought I had buried.

To the people who made the choice to bully me in high school - at the time you made me hate myself in a way that I will never forget and also never want to revisit. You made me want to disappear so that the emotional pain would go away. You made me question every part of myself and my being. 

You bullied me in class at school, out of class at school and out of school. 

Some of you also made the decision to be nice to me when other people weren’t around, yet you’d become the bully again when there were other people present which made your actions and words even more confusing. You spread rumours about me while at school and then continued well after we all graduated from year 12. 

You are the reason why for so long, I cut off all contact with and chose not to associate with, anyone that I went to high school with. It was a huge emotional struggle to meet up with a few of you many years ago and it brought back many many horrible memories, to the point that I again chose not to associate with you for a long time. 

You are the reason why I will never attend any school reunions that are organized, no matter how much people tell me you have changed because clearly you have not.

You made me hate my final year of high school and if I could repeat one year of my life it would be that final year of school at a different school so that I could escape the daily torture. 

While I will never forget what you did and said, I thought I had forgiven you, however I don’t think that I am at that point yet.

I think that it is also very sad and pathetic that all these years later, you still feel the need to be the bully and that you still think bullying is okay.

On the flip side, I want to thank you as you made me who I am today. 

Your bullying has made me realise that I can achieve anything that I set my mind to and that I don’t need approval from anyone. 

Your bullying has made me stronger, I can put up with anything that life throws at me and I will pull through. 

I have a husband who loves me for who I am and supports me with whatever I chose to do, I have two gorgeous children who I am very proud of. I have family and friends who love me for who I am, who don’t want me to change who I am. 

Your bullying has made me understand the damage that words can have on a person and I will never ever let my children or any children in my care go through what you put me through. 

Your bullying has now made me confident. 

Your bullying has made me extremely proud of what I have achieved in my life. 

Your bullying has made me successful in all areas of my life. 

Your actions have made me stronger and I thank you for that, and I am willing to bet that, that was not your intention.