The Mask.

There is one aspect of my children's autism that people really struggle to comprehend and understand.

"But they look so confident and calm."

It's called Autism Masking. And yes it is very real.

People struggle with the concept that a child can hold it together all day - that a child is quite capable of holding in all of their anxiety and frustration - and appear to be perfectly okay on the outside. And yet when they arrive home, to their safe zone, they explode.

People just can't seem to fathom that my seemingly calm and confident 9 year old daughter can turn into a Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde character the minute she leaves the school ground. L has also recently started withholding his anxiety and frustration throughout the school day and exploding at home.

At times we have resorted to recording O, and L, when they have been in this state of completely-out-of-control at home to show the school what occurs on a semi-regular basis. Until we show O's teachers a video of her melting down at home, they simply cannot believe that the mild mannered, courteous child that they see day in day out, is capable of such an action.

It is simply heartbreaking to have to watch your child in this state knowing that there is absolutely nothing that we can do to help them.`

I've spoken to O about this post and asked her permission to talk about her when she is in a meltdown. She told me that I could share a very short video of her whilst in a meltdown so that, in her words, "people can begin to understand what it feels like." But her body language while we were talking screamed a big fat NO!

So what I have done instead is take screen shots from two points in the video to show what Autism masking can look like.

Before you read on, please no judgement. Until you have walked in our shoes, walked in my nine year old daughter's shoes, please do not judge.

We don't record this behaviour to humiliate her. We record this behaviour to show what an autism meltdown looks like. Please keep an open mind.

This shows a child who at this point in time could not find the words to verbally express how she felt.

This shows a child who knows that we are her safe place. We won't judge, we will still love her unconditionally and we won't try to stop her. We will simply stand back and allow her to vent her pent up frustration and anxiety. We have no choice but to let her vent and get it all out.

This shows a child who has successfully held her anxiety at bay all day whilst at school.

This is a child who has successfully fooled her teachers at school into thinking that she is okay.

This shows a child who is expending so much energy during the meltdown that she will collapse once her body has rid itself of the anxiety that has been eating at her all day.

This shows a child whose strength increases ten fold during a meltdown with the adrenalin that is pulsing through her body.

This shows a child who knows that if she was to exhibit this behaviour at school, she would be frowned upon by her teachers, the school officials and her peers.

This shows a child who knows that to stand out from the crowd is generally not a good thing - she will be singled out, she will be bullied.

This shows a child who is in so much distress that all she can do is writhe around on her bed screaming nonsensical sounds and thrashing her body in all directions, lashing out at whoever comes near her. And yet if we walk away, that makes the situation so much worse.

This shows that the mask of autism is very real. And unfortunately for many individuals who have been diagnosed with autism, this is a much too regular occurrence for them.

There is so much pressure for individuals to suppress their autism so that they fit into the world around them. And the end result of suppressing and holding in their anxiety, is this. A meltdown.

For individuals who have been diagnosed with autism, meltdowns do not stop when they turn the magical age of eighteen. I know many adults on the spectrum who find themselves in a state of meltdown well after they turn eighteen.

The one thing that you can do is be supportive. Please be supportive of parents who may describe this behaviour in their children. Please don't be dismissive of them. Please be supportive of adults who tell you that they themselves feel that they are struggling with the environment around them.

So the next time you see a child, or an adult, who is struggling, what will you see? What will you do?

What really drives the behaviour of our children?

Since the beginning of time, parents, educators, care givers and so on, the world over have found themselves often perplexed over what drives the behaviour of their children, especially when the behaviour is challenging.

Picture this - cave parents pulling their hair out because their cave baby is crying at three in the morning and they cannot figure out what the issue is!

Well maybe not from the beginning of time but perhaps fairly close to it!

Most parents figure out just how difficult it can be to interpret behaviour very early on - think back to day one of becoming a new parent!

From day one of being earth side, babies express their needs and wants through crying and other noises, but mostly crying! When you really listen to a baby crying and making noises in general (and parents are great at doing this!) you'll notice that the noise that they make will differ depending on what they need - hunger, thirst, tired, bored, over-stimulated, happy and so on. A baby will cry to "tell" us what they need or want.

Until a child begins to develop their language skills, they will continue to express their needs and wants through crying and other means. Even after their language skills have begun to develop, behaviour can still be perplexing.

And if your child is frequently distressed, as L was as a baby and toddler, parenting can become even more confusing and frustrating as you try to read, interpret and meet your child's needs and wants.

There is a saying that I learnt very early on in our Autism journey …

Behaviour is NOT done on purpose,

Behaviour IS done FOR a purpose.

The purpose is often done to serve as a means of communication. Our role as a parent or educator or care giver, is to figure out just what our children are trying to communicate to us!

I've had many discussions with various people over the last three years about the above statement and quite often have heard "but when a child is exhibiting attention seeking behaviour, there is no purpose." I beg to differ!

All behaviour, including attention seeking behaviour, is done for a purpose. Attention seeking behaviour is usually done wilfully and is quite often within a child's control. BUT it is still serving a purpose - to gain attention from an adult or from other children.

There are numerous other reasons behind a child's behaviour including sensory driven behaviour.

Sensory driven  behaviour is exhibited in response to input from the child's environment. Quite simply, sensory driven behaviour relates to how our brain takes in, analyses and responds to sensory input from and through all of our senses - quite often known as sensory processing difficulties. Both O and L have sensory processing difficulties - they are both over-responsive and under-responsive to a host of different sensory input.

Quite often O and L will end up in a state of meltdown due to the overload of sensory input bombarding their bodies. When they enter into this state of meltdown, they are not aware of their actions or words - their brain takes over with the fight/flight/freeze response to get them as far away from the sensory overload as possible.

A meltdown is a form of communication - in that moment O and L are physically unable to find the words that they need to tell us what is happening, hence the screaming, yelling of non-sensical sounds, the thrashing about and the lashing out.

Likewise a tantrum is also a form of communication however a child throwing a tantrum is in control of their actions. A tantrum can be started and stopped at will. There is a YouTube clip that I have seen numerous times that shows a young child stopping and starting a tantrum as soon as he sees his parents. It illustrates that a child throwing a tantrum is in fact in complete control of their actions. Here is the link if you wish to check it out! 

A tantrum can be called a learnt behaviour. From very early on, children learn various behaviours in the hope of eliciting a desired outcome from their parents - smiles, pouting, stomping their feet, puppy dog eyes and so on. A tantrum is a conscious behaviour as the child chooses to act in that particular way and is in control of their body the entire time.

A tantrum has a defined want. A tantrum may start over a desire to want something (a lolly in a shop) or to get out of doing something (going to bed.) During a tantrum a child will often look at their parents to gauge their reaction and a tantrum can be stopped and equally started again with ease. During a tantrum a child may try to negotiate with you or make demands. You can reason with a child throwing a tantrum - it may not work, but you can reason with them. A tantrum will often stop when the child either gets their own way or when they realise that they aren't getting the reaction that they wanted.

It is vital that you know the difference between a meltdown and a tantrum as how you respond to both will differ. It is also important to note that a child can throw a tantrum but end up in a state of meltdown. Both O and L have meltdowns on a regular basis but they are also known to throw almighty tantrums. And they really, really dislike it when I remind them when they are in the midst of throwing a tantrum, that I can tell the difference.

How you respond to a child in a state of meltdown is completely different to how you respond to a child throwing a tantrum. If you give in to a child throwing a tantrum, you are reinforcing to the child that to get what they want (for example a lolly at the shops) all they have to do is throw another tantrum. A child who is in a state of meltdown needs to know that you are there for them.

One of the tricky parts with any behaviour that a child is exhibiting is working out what the child is trying to tell us. At times, it is incredibly easy to work out what they are trying to communicate to us. At other times, it can be very difficult. 

It can be helpful to start a journal noting the date, time and activity that the child was engaged in prior to the behaviour being shown and/or what the child was asked to do prior to the behaviour beginning. You may start to notice patterns in your child's behaviour. You may start to notice that your child is triggered by particular environmental factors - noise, bright lights, foods and so on. A journal can be particularly helpful if a child's behaviour is beginning to disrupt their daily routines or the frequency or intensity of the behaviour are becoming on the extreme side of the scale.

Once you have worked out what purpose the behaviour is serving, you can then come up with a plan to manage the behaviour.

If you ignore an attention seeking behaviour, the child may become bored and stop as they're not getting the reaction that they want.

Is the child sitting on the floor fidgeting with her shirt anxious? Telling her to stop fidgeting is going to make the situation worse. That child may need assistance in recognising her own anxiety and managing the anxiety.

The child who is screaming in the playground may not yet have the skills to understand sharing or turn taking and is becoming frustrated at other children not giving them the toys that they want. Perhaps we need to teach this child about sharing and turn taking.

There are some skills that you too can do to assist a child with their behaviour.

What YOU can try to do is to remain calm. A child in distress needs calm. I will be the first to admit that it is incredibly difficult not to respond to a child with emotion but chances are that if you respond to a screaming child with yelling, the situation will become a lot more intense.

Remember, that your child is not giving you a hard time. Your child may be having a hard time. A hard time dealing with the sensory input. A hard time communicating to you with words what their needs and wants are in that moment.

Take a deep breath, or two, before you start to respond to your child. Ground yourself so that you can try to remain calm.

If the behaviour is too challenging for you, walk away and re-ground yourself before going back in for round two, or three!

And above all remind yourself that your child is not doing the behaviour on purpose. They are trying to communicate with you.

Hey You ..... You are a Warrior and You are Awesome!

**** Please note that I do not receive commissions of any description for this book review, it is simply a book that we have found useful.****

Anxiety is one of those hidden issues that is not only hard to see but hard to understand and hard to explain to others. It is also a disorder that not only adults can suffer from. More and more children are being diagnosed with anxiety disorders and while there are many books that provide strategies to manage anxiety, there really aren't that many that are aimed specifically at children.

Recently O's Occupational Therapist read two books with O that explained Anxiety in an easy to understand manner. And the titles of the books are, well awesome!

The first time that O was introduced to the first book, Hey Warrior, her eyes lit up with excitement as she was explaining the book to me.

A few sessions later O was introduced to the second book, Hey Awesome.

Naturally I then had to purchase both books! Not only for O but also for myself - both titles sounded intriguing. I came into both sessions half way through and became hooked on the books!

When armed with the right type of information, children can and will do amazing things - O and L continually prove this to us time and time again. These two books do just that - they both give children the information that they need to understand what anxiety is and what they can do to manage their own anxious feelings.

O has struggled for a long time to recognise the internal feelings that are associated with her anxiety. The first book, Hey Warrior, assists the reader in understanding why anxiety feels the way it does and where the physical symptoms of anxiety come from within the body. The second book, Hey Awesome, provides strategies to assist children in managing their anxiety.

We're overdue for a book review from O, so without any further ado, it's time for O to take the reins.

Q. Why do you like these books?
I don't like them, I LOVE them! I love both of the books because of their titles. Just reading them, Hey Warrior and Hey Awesome, makes me feel good inside. It's like the titles are reminding me that I am a warrior and I am awesome! And when you open up the cover of Hey Warrior it says "For you, brave one." Just that reminds me that I am brave.

I like that Hey Warrior explains what anxiety is, where anxiety comes from and what part of the brain - the amygdala - is responsible for anxiety. The book also helps me to understand what happens to my body when I get anxious. After I read this book with Hannah, I felt more powerful knowing that I can be stronger than my anxiety. I really like the illustration of what the author thinks the amygdala looks like - anxiety sounds scary but the illustration shows that anxiety really isn't scary.

The back of the book is great too because it reminds me of all that things that are cool about me.

I like Hey Awesome because it gives me lots of strategies that I can try when I become anxious. I like that the book reminds me of what my strengths are. Reading this book makes me feel good inside about myself. It reminds me that I am strong and even though I get anxious a lot, I am bigger than my anxiety.

The illustrations in both books are beautiful. And the way that the author has written both books, makes them both very easy to understand. It's like the books speak to me when I read them.

I hope that the author keeps writing books like these.

Q. Favourite quote from Hey Warrior?
I have a few but my two absolute favourites are "You and your warrior will be buddies - but with you in control" and "Always remember, anxiety is a sign that you're about to do something really brave."

Q. Favourite quote from Hey Awesome?
I love "You make the world better for everyone around you," "You're king of your kingdom, queen of your queendom and you're awesome" and "Anxiety shows up to check that you're okay, not to tell you that you're not."

Q. Would you recommend the books to other children.
Oh definitely! I think if these books were in the library at school the librarian would have to make a wait list for them. If other kids have anxiety, they need to read both of these books. I'm so happy that Hannah read to them to me.


Q. Do you think this book would be good for adults?
I think it would be good because anxiety is really hard to describe. So maybe if parents read Hey Warrior, it might help them to explain anxiety to their children.

Q. Rating out of 10 stars?
Ten out of ten for sure! These books are amazing!

The author of both of these books is Karen Young and you can buy copies of both of these books through this link!

They look normal to me!

There is something that I need to get off of my chest, and it is all about the following statement ....

"Are you sure that they're autistic because they look normal to me!"

That statement is like a double edged sword. Depending on who says it, and I'll explain later, it can be taken as a compliment or taken as an insult.

I'm at the point that I can tell simply by the quizzical look on a persons face and by their tone of voice if they are genuinely not familiar with autism. Likewise I can tell when someone is being downright rude and ignorant - usually by their tone of voice.

I've touched on this subject in a previous post in regards to what does autism look like but feel that I need to write about it again. It honestly astounds me how regularly we hear this statement. It is heard at least once a week, and this worries me.

It worries me equally as much just how little society knows about autism.

If this statement is said by someone who is genuinely unsure about what autism is and how it affects individuals, there is a look of curiosity on their face. When it is said in this manner, the statement can be taken as a compliment. As a compliment it means that my children appear to be no different than their peers.

When the statement is uttered by someone who has a preconceived idea about what autism is and what autism looks like, it can be taken as an insult. It is usually uttered in conjunction with their eyes being rolled and a tone of "look-I-really-don't-think-you-know-what-you're-talking-about." I've even had someone say this and then ask a bystander if they agreed with them about my children not appearing to be autistic.

Depending on how this statement is made, my response will alter. I will either take the opportunity to spread a little autism awareness OR I will walk away after making a smart alec comment.

But regardless of how this comment is made, it is really hurtful. It is hurtful to my children, it is hurtful to our family, it is hurtful to others who are also on the sepctrum and there are many reasons why ....

It is hurtful because that statement is made when viewing a child, or adult, who has come to realise that they have to suprress part of themselves so as not to stand out in the crowd.

It is hurtful because that statement is made when viewing a child who I know has been desparately trying to hold in all of their anxiety from having their routines changed at school.

It is hurtful because I know that my children have successfully mastered the art of putting on a mask in social situations so that they blend in with the crowd.

It is hurtful because the person making the statement has engaged their mouth before engaging their brain!

Please, please, the next time someone informs you that their children, or they themselves, are on the spectrum, do not respond with "oh, but they look so normal!"

A night in the life of L!

I'm often quizzed about L's sleep patterns. Roughly a month ago, this is what occurred on a Saturday night when L decided that he simply did not need to sleep!!


I called lights out after reading 10 books to L and O. L could have kept going, Mummy couldn't and O needed to go to sleep.

O was out within seconds of the light being turned off. 

L  on the other hand .... well, read on ....

10.30pm L decides to tell me about Aquaman's pet fish named Goldy who looks a little like an overgrown goldfish but he's green and sparkly! Thanks, go to sleep buddy! Can I give you some melatonin please?

L …. "No, I go to sleep aself."

11.00pm I thought L was asleep and watched a video on a social media site of a fella who farted in a mates car only to hear a little voice say "oo, he say naughty word." Ahh fudge, go to sleep buddy. Cue discussion about farting in a car and wanting to show said video to Daddy, "but I not say naughty words." Nope, we don't say the naughty words. Melatonin time? 

L …. "No, I go to sleep aself."

11.05pm We need a torch, not sure what for, but we need a torch. Seems to be a life or death situation so off we go to find a torch. Okay, go to sleep buddy.

11.30pm L sets off his Falcon figurine who unbeknownst to me, was in the bed. Scared the poo out of me! "Oops sorry Mummy!" Go to sleep, please.

Midnight "Mummy, I move over so you got more room." Thanks buddy. "No, you put your head on my pillow Mummy!" So we're squished up against the window in about 30cm of bed and I'm not allowed to move into the metre of spare bed. Go to sleep dude! Please can I give you some melatonin? 

L …. "No, aself!"

1.00am I find Thor's hammer in the bed. Fark! "Oh there it is, I lost it today!" Well I found it!

1.30am I get a palm on my face and a little voice whispers "I sing you a song Mummy! Baby shark do do do do!" with a big smile. "You record me please?" Ah why not, you're awake, I'm awake. "I sing softly so we not wake sissy!" Good idea. Video is too dark. "Lucky we gots your torch Mummy!" Yeah lucky! Now I know why we needed the torch! Two videos later with me trying not to giggle too loudly. Can I please give you some melatonin, it will help you sleep! "No, I not need it!" But Mummy does!!! For the love of God, please go to sleep. Mummy at this stage is thinking of a book called "Go the $#@& to sleep!"

Sometime after that L fell asleep meanwhile I have "baby shark do do do do" running on a loop through my brain!

Lucky you're cute L and that I love you because hooley dooley, it was a loooong night. How could I be cranky with his cute gappy face looking at me!

And that my friends is why I am tired!

Baby Shark doo doo doo doo! You're welcome!

Unschooling My Little Superheroes

A few months ago, L woke on a Saturday morning and asked, "It a school day?" This is usually his first question when he hops up in the morning.

Our usual answer every week day of "Yes, L it is a school day," is met with groans of disappointment and protests of not wanting to go to school. L is coming to love school, mainly because he gets to play with his friends, but he is still isn't a huge fan of the place.

However when we reply with, "No buddy, it is Saturday which means no school," we're met with yells of glee!

This particular Saturday he came out with "Yay, it unschooling day!"

Now, how L came up with the term of "unschooling," I have no idea as neither I nor Daddy Superhero have ever mentioned that term before to L or to O. But it got me thinking.

In a way, when it isn't a school day, could we be inadvertently "unschooling" our little superheroes? Are all parents, regardless of whether their children are home schooled or attend a school, "unschooling" their children outside of regular school hours?

If you look up the definition of unschooling in the Urban dictionary (I do love the Urban dictionary) it states that unschooling is a form of home-schooling in which there is no set curriculum or regular classwork. Unschooling is an education in which learning is more student led. The Urban Dictionary also states that in unschooling, most activities can be educational.

Mmmm, this got me thinking.

I have always said that if you give me a household chore or a physical activity or a game, I can turn it into a therapy activity. And during a therapy activity, one or both of my children are learning new skills or practicing skills so therefore it can be considered an educational activity.

So I then started to go through the photos on my phone to see what "unschooling" activities I could find that O and L have participated in over the last few years, and hooley dooley there are quite a few. I sat down with O and L and asked them what they remembered about the activities. I wanted O and L to tell me how they thought the activities could be considered an unschooling learning experience.

So from my little superheroes point of view, here is their unschooling journey!

2018 - Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast!

O says that she learnt about how wrestling works - the rules and how to wrestle, she saw some great sportsmanship and she got to see the many different countries that make up the Commonwealth. O also said that "the Commonwealth Games show that no matter where you live in the world, we can all come together as one and compete in so many different sports and get along so well with one another." This kid really is an old soul at times!

L said he learnt how to run around on the wrestling mat!

O has decided that the Katy Perry concert was a learning experience as she learnt that with her head phones, she can listen to rock concerts and not get upset by the loud music. O also said that she learnt a lot just by listening to Katy Perry's song lyrics - that if she believes in her dreams, she can do anything and "If Katy Perry can overcome and get through her anxiety to perform in front of thousands of people, so can I!"

Both O and L said that when we do science experiments or do research on the computer or on the tablets or read books, they are learning! Yep, true this!

O is always asking questions, in fact she always has. And some of the questions that she asks, even I have to look up the answers! A few years ago we watched a TED talk on the School in the Cloud - it is a truly fascinating concept - and we loved the concept, so we decided that from now on O and L (when he was ready) could have supervised, yet open, access to the internet to research the topics that they chose. Doing research on the computer has fast become one of O's favourite past times!

We went on a road trip to see the Glasshouse Mountains a little closer after O did some research on them.

We do science experiments. We make slime. We dig for fossils and shark teeth. 

We play with simple electrical circuits. We make robots. We talk about how the world around us works. O and L love doing all this and more. For as long as I can remember, I have loved science.  When I was in primary school I can recall doing a science project on the common slater that you might find living under pot plants in your backyard. So it makes my inner science geek very happy that both of my little superheroes have an interest in science!

We do art and the messier the better! L told me that he likes to find out how to make different patterns when we do painting. O said that she likes that she can express her feelings through art.

"Mummy, we learn about nature!"

We do learn about nature. Ever since O was a toddler, she has loved learning about nature and all the wonders in it. We go on nature walks and look for the signs of invisible wildlife - think animal tracks, animal droppings, nests, bird calls and so on. O loves to impart her knowledge of the importance of having nature reserves so close to housing developments!

Both O and L love getting into the garden and finding grasshoppers, cicadas, stick insects, frogs, snails and any manner of other mini beast that they can find in the garden. They were fascinated by the tiny speckled egg shell that we found. They were equally as fascinated by a yellow bulb mushroom that we spotted in a nearby park.

We've made friends with the magpies that frequent our back garden. Both the little superheroes marvelled over the fact that the magpies would follow them around the yard and should either O or L go inside, the magpies would stand at the back door and warble a beautiful song until they were joined outside. We watched over several weeks as several spiders built the most amazing tangle of webs in our front garden. 

We've been lucky enough to watch a HUGE grasshopper while it was shedding it's exoskeleton and then watched on in amazement while it's new exoskeleton was hardening.

We've been lucky enough to catch several stick insects and praying mantis - all released back into the garden of course after my little superheroes had finished studying them. We watched as a stick insect lay it's eggs in front of us. Both O and L were amazed that from those little eggs, a tiny gangly stick insect would hatch!

O …. "Mummy, what about the baby magpie that we rescued that had fallen out of it's nest?"
L …. "Yeah, it swoop you and Daddy when you hide in the umbrella. That funny!"

Daddy superhero found a baby magpie in a park near where we used to live that had fallen out of it's nest. The little superheroes learnt all about how native wildlife can be rescued and looked after and then re-released back into the wild.

O …. "Oh and the bee hive! It was so big when the tree broke in half! That apiarist that came and rescued all the bees and put them in a new bee hive. It was so cool!" Note that O used the correct term to refer to the bee keeper!!

Even for me, the bee hive was very cool. During a storm a tree in our area had partially fallen over right at the point where there was a huge bee hive. The sheer number of bees in the hive was incredible. What amazed us and the apiarist that came to relocate the bees and their hive, was that the hive was very much active even though the weather was not the best. The apiarist took a number of photos and videos during the relocation and afterwards, which both O and L watched over and over again.

L …. "Mummy, my bats! I like bats!"

Ever since we were on holidays in North Queensland several years ago, L has developed a love of bats. The flying variety! For Christmas last year, we were able to get him a Ultra Sonic detector so that he could listen to the bats talk as they flew overhead where we live. He loves getting out into the backyard with his detector held high to listen to them. We've also listened to ants as they scurry up and down a tree and we've listened to the cicadas in the backyard. 

We visited a flying fox colony so that L could listen to the bats "talk" to each other using his Ultra Sonic detector.

O …. "L, Mummy and you used to go to Perth Zoo, remember?"

We sure did! When we first moved to Perth, we were at Perth Zoo so often that we took out a family membership. One of the places that L used to adore was standing in front of the elephant enclosure - he could stand there for hours! On one visit we were told about a program called "A to Zoo" that the zoo ran for young children. The sessions were run weekly during the school terms and would focus on different animals. Well we signed up and L had a blast. The sessions involved listening to a story about the focus animal for the week, singing a song about the animal, doing a craft activity and then we'd visit the animal. L never said much during the sessions but his little face always lit up when we visited the animals!

O …. "Mummy, would we be unschooling when we go to the Botanic Gardens and to the  Museum and the Art Gallery and to SciTech and the Science Festivals?"

Me …. "What do you think? Do we learn anything when we go to those places?"

L …. "No! We play and have fun!"

O …. "Well I guess we do learn too!"

Me …. "What do you learn about at the Botanic Gardens?"

O …. "We learn about the native plants and how to look after them!"

O …. "At the Science Festival we learnt loads of news thing! We made circuits, we learnt about different animals, we used the virtual reality goggles to dive on the Great Barrier Reef with the marine scientists, we looked at the corals and sponges, we learnt about space. Oh my gosh, unschooling is so much fun!"

When we moved to Perth we discovered SciTech - a hands on science museum. We spent many, many hours exploring SciTech!

I took O to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane earlier this year during a sensory event and she had a ball. She made music and digital art. O was mesmerized by the art work. The week before the event we went as a family to the Museum in Brisbane and both of my little superheroes explored every inch of the museum and it's exhibits!

One of O's obsessions is space - stars, planets, asteroids, moons, astronauts …. you name it, she has most likely researched it at some point in time. So, we star gaze and moon gaze on a fairly regular basis!

We even braved the cool weather and watched the lunar eclipse that occurred earlier this year. One of O's items on her bucket list was to watch a lunar eclipse. Now she wants to watch a solar eclipse!!

O …. "What about when we went to the animal shows in Perth. We got to hold Owls and snakes and pat lizards."
L …. "But not the llama, Mummy, you not like llamas!"

You are very right buddy, I do not like llamas on account of being spat on by one many years ago!

We figured out very early that O loved snakes! At Perth Zoo she would bypass the little snakes in the Reptile House and go straight to the huge python. So it is no surprise that every time we went to an agricultural show or reptile show, O would end up with a python of some description around her shoulders! It was also no surprise that she would then encourage other visitors to pat and hold the pythons all the while talking to them about what she knew about pythons!

Sometimes we end up learning when we visit the most unusual places, like McDonalds! Several years ago we stopped in a McDonalds for some lunch as we were out and about and instead of automatically being drawn to the playground, O and L sat at a huge light table! It was brilliant!

O …. "What about when we learnt to bake bread because we watched the bakers make bread at the shops!"
L …. "What?!"
O …. "We went into the shops with Mummy and Daddy and we saw the bakers making the bread. So Daddy went and got all the stuff that we needed while me and you stayed with Mummy to watch the bakers. They showed us how to knead the bread and told us all the different types of rolls that they were making. And then they gave us some dough to take home so that we could bake our own bread."
L …. "I not remember that!"
O …. "I do! The bread was so delicious. And then the next weekend Daddy helped us to make bread! Bread tastes so much nicer when you bake it yourself!"

O …. "What about when Poppy taught me how to pin insects like they do in Museums?"

Poppy (my Dad) is a bit of a insect enthusiast, so on one visit to us in Perth, he and O went out into our garden and caught a few insects. After school one day, Poppy helped O to pin the insects so that O could have her very own insect collection just like the Museum that Poppy volunteered at!

During school holidays we do therapy of a different kind. One school holidays we did several paddle boarding sessions. This was an opportunity for both of my little superheroes to not only try something new but also to do some impromptu physical exercise.  

O …. "Mummy, this year on Anzac Day I got to learn more about the wars when I talked with the veteran. That was really interesting!"

L …. "Mummy, the crocodile we seened with Poppy! It got sharp teeth!"

This was an encounter that was purely by chance! Not only did my little superheroes see and pat a baby crocodile, they explored the wetlands and went on a nature treasure hunt. The crocodile though, was definitely the highlight for L!

We learnt about Australian Fur Seals when we visited Neil the Seal!

We are lucky enough to be currently living on an island that is visited by seals every now and then. Neil had made him or herself at home for a short while, moving from beach to beach on the island. So one evening we went for a beach walk to visit Neil the Seal. It was magical to watch this small wild animal sleeping on the edge of the water.

We do beach therapy! Beach therapy is lots of fun and usually involves digging in the sand, wading in the shallow water, finding hermit crabs, collecting sea shells, looking for sea creatures in the water and getting very, very dirty!

On one beach visit, we found a strange but beautiful looking animal. After a lot of research O discovered that we had found a Rose Petal Bubble Snail - it is in the above photo on the bottom right. O discovered that the Rose Petal Bubble Snail is a species of sea snail that lives in shallow water, crawling and burrowing into the sand. During her research O also discovered that the Rose Petal Bubble Snail feeds on polychaete worms, mussels and slugs.

L …. "We go'd to the fire man! And the police man too!"

While we were living in Perth, we were fortunate enough to become friends with a few of the local Fire Officers and Police Officers. So we visited their work places and were given guided tours of the stations. L would revert to being non-verbal while O would ask a million and one questions!

L …. "And we gotted the strawberries! I LOVE strawberries!"

Me …. "What did you learn at the strawberry farm?"

L …. "Ummmm, to eat strawberries!"

One of the strawberry farms near us, recently opened up to the public so that people could come and pick their own strawberries - fill a box for $10! Can't go past that!

We regularly involve the little superheroes in cooking. At one point last year, they were both very insistent that we cook fish for dinner so we visited a fish market where the little superheroes chose the fish for dinner. They watched on as the fish mongers cleaned and scaled the fish for us. They then helped Daddy Superhero to prepare the fish. We brought two fish thinking that would be enough. Once the fish were cooked, O and L devoured them! 

We go on playground adventures! We climb trees, we take calculated risks! We swing upside down! Playgrounds are wonderful places for risk taking and proprioception input!

So as you can see, unschooling is everywhere! I'd love to hear what you and your family do to "unschool" your children!