Sleep Deprivation - Santa!

It always amuses me when I read other Autism related blogs and articles, what we find ourselves dealing with on the run up to Christmas. For this family it was sleep deprivation at its finest!  We are pretty used to lack of sleep and functioning on reserve energy but this was something else.  Boy Wonder has developed this fear of never waking up. He has got it into his head that unless someone wakes him up he will stay asleep forever. (we can only dream!!!) To manage his fear he has decided that he needs to remain awake. So not only are we battling with the usual sleep difficulties, we are now up against a very determined ' I will stay awake'  mentality.

Secondary to the sleep issues Boy Wonder has remained just as fearful of a strange man entering the house, being reported to Santa for being naughty (as Boy Wonder truly believes that he is a bad child, no matter how we reassure him.) and being forgotten.  So all in all the build up has been a barrage of stress and anxiety.  Cat Girl on the other hand has been very excitable as most children are and enjoying the fun of Christmas for what it really is.  A difficult balancing act for us but a brief glimpse of a 'typical' child believing in and enjoying the spirit of Christmas is the perfect tonic at times when our heads are caving in!

Christmas Eve brought a very late night due to all of the above and so Christmas day started at a nice, respectable 8am.  We went through the usual routine of walking around the house to make sure that nothing was in the house that shouldn't be and then we entered the lounge to find arranged presents around the tree.  Cat Girl ripped through wrapping paper and giggled excitedly.  Boy Wonder meticulously opened presents and placed them where they needed to be. Santa had got him a adoption certificate for Winter the dolphin from Dolphin Tale which he was fascinated by.  'I am actually being trusted to adopt Winter?!'  We later announced that we are taking them to swim with dolphins in the summer and we thought he was going to burst!

We had a quiet dinner and then family came for tea,  Boy Wonder became fixated on the time they were coming and paced the house for quite a while.  Towards the end of the evening he started to get irritated and attempted to control what was going on around him.  He had done well to last this long to be fair as the change in routine was huge and the whole day, no matter how well planned was at times unpredictable.

Boxing Day was an improvement on last years almighty low as Boy Wonder and Super man went to the football.  This seemed to install some normality into the day and the fact that they won was a bonus. The snow fell in the evening and didn't stop which meant that a day sledging, tomorrow would be in order.

Oliver, Oliver!!

As many parents and carers of children with autism can relate, there is always a story to tell about lack of services and substandard education provision. We too could tell such a story and I guess it is because of this that our Son's achievements in musical theatre make us so proud.
Four years ago Boy Wonder, aged five and newly diagnosed with autism and adhd embarked on a musical theatre class. We thought that this would be a good opportunity as he was forever singing and performing and has a phenomenal rote memory so was able to remember all the lines in a school play as well as his own. A good start we thought!
Being more than a little cautious I spoke with the staff at Chesterfield Studios about Boy Wonder's needs which included him being very literal and routine led, hyperactive with no fear of danger and adhoc seizure activity to name but a few quirks. This was received with open arms and we never looked back.
Boy Wonder’s confidence went from strength to strength. He took part in various performances and never batted an eyelid when faced with solo parts and big audiences.
We then looked to expand his skills and he started dance classes and piano with the Studios.  In the first year Boy Wonder came out with distinctions in his ballet and tap exams and worked hard to get through the high anxiety he has about being picked on for being a boy and dancing.  His achievements were remarkable especially as everything else seemed to be crashing down around our ears as far as his education was concerned. His anxieties were so high on a daily basis that his ability to function became more and more impaired which meant that the theatre and dance teaching could have quite easily collapsed too. However, they went with him and adjusted their teaching to suit his changing needs.
In June 2014 Boy Wonder auditioned for 'Oliver' with the Operatic Society and got the part of a work house boy and a member of Fagin's Gang.  He was beyond excited and eager to start. The rehearsals commenced and he found out quickly that they were hard work and required a good attention span. However he showed great strength of character and pushed through his difficulties to make sure that he was doing it right.  The main problems were the echoey and loud environment of the rehearsal studio, long rehearsals and repeating of parts of the show to ensure that the boys had it absolutely right. He asked many a question, needed clarification on phrases that he didn't understand and this was met with reassurance and a smile every time. We frantically searched for moulded ear plugs to help dull the noise.  Once located the Company worked quickly to rush the order through and with these in place, Boy Wonder’s coping ability increased significantly. We spoke with his Doctors about how to manage his medications and although they were also juggling a lot of other health type issues with him, they worked with us to provide him with the support he needed to keep him fairly level.  The excitement and eagerness to perform was enough to convince the clinicians that this was a great opportunity to increase Boy Wonder’s self esteem and confidence which was taking a battering in other areas of his life.  The Studios staff supported the production with the Operatic Society so therefore Boy Wonder was around familiar adults who were used to getting the best of him. 

The performance soon came around and before we knew it the opening night was upon us. On stage Boy Wonder put all that he had learnt into action. He and the boys excelled and thrived on the experience.  The cast and stage management team as well as the staff were supportive and encouraging throughout which spurred them on more so.  It was evident that Boy Wonder presented as a swan as on stage he was cool, calm and collected yet back stage he battled with his anxiety levels, social abilities in the dressing room and perception of failure if he got the tiniest thing wrong.  On the opening night we were met with an unforeseen challenge as Fagin was made up with long grey hair an extended, crooked nose and a beard.  I caught sight of the spectacular transformation first luckily and was able to prepare Boy Wonder for what he was about to see.  Boy Wonder has a fear of old people!  Especially ones with white / grey hair and wrinkled faces. The actor playing Fagin was very good and came down to the dressing room to assure Boy Wonder that it was only make up and not real.  He inspected it closely before accepting this but in the end was happy that it was just pretend.  As parents we chaperoned each of the six nights to ensure that we could keep him on track and this paid off. Not a meltdown in sight! Instead we had a very happy little boy at the end of it all who has not only learnt a lot about performing but has built some positive and long term relationships.  Now he is eagerly awaiting his next opportunity and so are we as it is possibly the best therapy he could access. This couldn’t be achieved however with the hard work and dedication of the team of the Studios and Operatic Society.   

Turbulent Times

It has been with intention that the blog hasn't been updated due to the turbulent (yes more turbulent than usual!) nature of the past few weeks.  There is much to update with the schooling situation and also with the Oliver performance so I will separate the two and cheat by posting the article that I have written for the National Autistic Society magazine on Oliver, in the next post.

Now that the Christmas holidays are under way we can sit back a little and reflect on the situation as it stands.  Boy Wonder has struggled terribly with being at school and this has resulted in fixed term exclusions for hitting out, days and nights of crying due to the level of anxiety being so high that he just couldn't communicate it at any other level and aggression that has been irrational and uncontrolled.  During the 'Oliver' performance Boy Wonder disclosed to the boys in his dressing room and then to us that he was going to run away from school the following day because he hated it so much.  I talked to him at length about it but he kept repeating that last time he stopped but this time he would keep running.  There was no consideration for the danger that he would put himself in and it concerned us greatly that this thought would be played out due to him being fixated by it.  The following day, I disclosed the heightened risk to his school by writing it in his communication book and attempting to tell someone. Instead I was told to write it down a second time so ended up leaving the school without having communicated it at all, verbally.  After an hour of no feedback I contacted the wider support network /LA by email and after a further hour received a brief contact from school acknowledging the information.  An hour before school ended, I received a second phone call stating that Boy Wonder was fine and had been out at every play time with the usual supervision (which is minimal) and was fine.  It was at this point that I hit the roof!

With the situation as it stood and the fact that Boy Wonder's complexities were clearly not understood or indeed respected, we made the decision to take him out of school until such a time that his safety could be understood and managed.  This resulted in two weeks out of school with no argument from the LA and the Education Welfare Officer stating that there was no case to answer.  We spent the time looking at other provisions, namely specialist schools that offer the full curriculum, home schooling through lots of walks in the country side, baking and tending to the animals and doing a great deal of work on anxiety levels and communication.  The LA stepped it up by following through on a multi element plan, writing to the panel to increase statement hours and paving the way to a longer term plan.

In the final two weeks of term we agreed that Boy Wonder could return for three afternoons a week as long as full 1:1 supervision was agreed.  This went ahead but the time in school was anxiety inducing and no real work was achieved, despite school's optimistic effort to try and cram a full term's work into six hours of per week. The Ed Psych visited the school to observe the situation and wrote a report which we are yet to see but he wants to discuss as soon as school starts back.  Boy Wonder didn't attend the Christmas festivities for a variety of reasons, mainly lack of ability to cope and exhausted support at the end of their tether.  Instead we opted for restarting the Art Therapy sessions at CAMHs and Boy Wonder enjoyed a lovely first session back where he opened up for the first time as well as announcing to the waiting room full of people that he Art Therapist looked different as his hair was grey! This caused  few chuckles.

So the school holidays couldn't come quick enough and now that we are a few days in, Boy Wonder has started to settle.  Although his cat has been run over and broke his leg, Boy Wonder is doing okay (once he got used the external fixator in his leg and shaved fur!).  At the start of the new term we will start with a couple of hours schooling in the mornings and a meeting with the new head and ed psych to agree a way forward.

But for now we will focus on Christmas and let Boy Wonder, (especially now his lap top has been fixed by Uncle Geek and he has installed Mine Craft 'mods') enjoy his time out.  Merry Christmas everyone.

Catching up

Its been two long weeks since the return to school.  A mixture of upset, anxiety and sheer frustration seemed to be the order of the day (every day!) and little sign of anything improving.  After three days of crying and banging on windows and doors to try and get out once I had dropped him off in the mornings, Boy Wonder lost all motivation to go to school and on Thursday, point blank refused.  I attempted to coax him but my heart wasn't in it and so therefore we had a chill day at home and spoke no more about it.  Later in the afternoon Boy Wonder was visited by an audio technician who fitted him for some noise filtering ear plugs, these are to help him to cope with noisier environments. A few phone calls also took place throughout the day and basically concluded that Boy Wonder should take time out as he needs and steps should be taken to source a more suitable and equipped provision.  The Ed Psych stepped up his position and made in roads to securing the pathway for this and outlining the provision required for it to take place.  We made arrangements to have Boy Wonder cared for on the Friday but after an evening with the boy next door, he decided to go as he had been invited onto the special dinner table with him.  This day turned out like the others.

The weekend mainly consisted of football, dance and rehearsals.   Boy Wonder was less stressed and enjoyed his weekend, until it reached Sunday tea time and the anxiety rose in him and he became very vocal that he didn't want to go to school.  We spoke to him about looking at another school where one of his theatre friend's goes.  We described what it was like and the specialist areas for children with autism and for the first time Boy Wonder acknowledged the positives and said that he wanted to visit.

The second week was a little more settled, Boy Wonder's work station had been moved into the I.T room and provision was made to keep him in there full time and not attempt any integration into the classroom.  This had caused a fair few difficulties in the previous week.  On Wednesday evening during drama, Boy Wonder  went very pale and blinked continuously for at least thirty seconds.  The staff thought he had had a seizure so sat him out once his colour drained.  He recovered after a few minutes and remembered nothing of it except that he could feel an eyelash in his eye.  On Thursday he went to school and I informed them of the previous evening.  At 10.30am they rang to say that Boy Wonder had gone very pale and had diarrhoea.  We arranged for Grandparents to collect him,  thinking that it was anxiety related as opposed to the virus that was going around.    He spent the afternoon resting with no further symptoms, therefore he went to dance and football as normal.

And then it all got a bit messy.  In the middle of the night Boy Wonder was very sick indeed.  This carried on throughout Friday and knocked him off of his feet.  No further seizures noticed but he was possibly ill for the first time in a long time, albeit a virus that would pass in a couple of days.  The visit to the potential new school had to be postponed due to him being ill but I managed to have a meeting with his current teacher who said that she felt that Boy Wonder now needed more than they could give and supported the potential move.

Luckily everyone else escaped the virus except for me but by the end of the weekend we were all back to normal. Boy Wonder's ear plugs arrived on the Friday and he tried them out at rehearsals today.  They seemed to really help him cope with the noise levels.  Early days but we are hopeful that they will make a difference.

School Holidays

As is generally the case, Boy Wonder settled nicely into holiday mode and his mood lifted.  We intentionally kept the weekend low key with the usual football and dance on Saturday and staying at home on Sunday.   On Sunday afternoon I gave Boy Wonder the fresh cream chocolate cake recipe and he and Cat Girl made the cake from start to finish on their own with just a little help to put it n and take it out of the oven.  The cake was for Super Gran's birthday so they also made some mini fresh cream chocolate sponges for us.  They were very nice.

On Monday we went to the supermarket in the morning and brought a few bits plus a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  Boy Wonder coped well as it was only a small supermarket and he got to talk to the British Legion chap selling poppies whilst I packed the shopping.  He and Cat Girl bought a poppy snap band each and Boy Wonder asked lots and lots of questions about the war, being in the army and death (of course.)  The man asked him if he would like to be in the forces and he said 'No, I am going to be a Marine Biologist and look after Dolphins.'  They then had a lengthily conversation about this.  Once home and shopping unpacked, we picked up the cake and headed off to Super Gran's for her birthday lunch. Boy Wonder helped to make lunch, mainly to distract him from bear hugging his sister and bouncing around.  They are now in their new house and he is still getting used to it.  A friend arrived unannounced to deliver a birthday present to Super Gran and this sent him into a mild panic. 'Who is he? Why is he here? Can't we have lunch now?' After reassurance and a firm hold hug he settled again.

The rest of the week Boy Wonder and Cat Girl went to the Ju Jitsu holiday club which wore them both out and Boy Wonder went to two adventure days and to Club Inspire. Cat Girl spent some time with Grandads having chill days.

Boy Wonder remained fairly settled throughout the week and on Friday they both went to Halloween parties and Trick or Treating.  Boy Wonder dressed up as a vampire and Cat Girl as a skeleton.  They both ended up with a bucket of sweets each that they promptly hid from me!

It was my birthday on Saturday and so both children were up early to give cuddles, cards and pressies.  These were a heart shaped locket with their photos inside and a photo frame from Cat Girl with her photo in it. I even got breakfast in bed which consisted of a  marmite on toast, a cupcake and and beaker of pop.  The remainder of the weekend consisted of football and dance for Boy Wonder as usual and Grandad took him to watch his team play football.  Super Gran and Biker Gramps babysat Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning as Superman had arranged to take me away overnight for my birthday and a meet up with some family.  

We had a lovely time away and the children enjoyed their time with  Super Gran and Biker Gramps.  Once home we spent the day around the house and had visits from family and friends to bring birthday cards.

As the day wore on Boy Wonder started to become tetchy and very vocal about not wanting to go to school.  We had a chat about it and although we are still non the wiser what was agreed after our meeting last Friday, attempted to reassure him that they were trying to help him.  Boy Wonder seemed just as convinced as we are that things will improve soon.  (which isn't very convinced!) but we agreed to give it a go and that I wouldn't be far away if he needed me.

A late and unsettled night ..........

Decisions .......

The last week in school has been hard work to say the least. Boy Wonder made it very clear that he didn't want to be there and made it very difficult for me to leave him, averaging half an hour of negotiations each day just to stop him running out of the door.

Although Boy Wonder managed a full week without exclusion, it was by the skin of his teeth. There were many a challenge faced with refusal, defiance and aggression and although these are clearly surface level descriptions of the real anxiety difficulties , this appeared to be the mindset of the exhausted support circle.

Collecting from school became equally as complicated as it became impossible to make a quick exit due to Boy Wonder running wild, without shoes around the classroom and even the school. Classroom semi trashed, items thrown and tables used as a race track were some of the displays of manic behaviour, resulting in meltdown each time. After an hour of leaving school however, Boy Wonder calmed and regained composure.

To say that I feel physically exhausted would be an understatement. Just getting to and from school each day proved to be a strenuous workout. Cat Girl, however became more and more emotional due to witnessing the torment that Boy Wonder was going through and his outbursts of anger. We had a good talk about why Boy Wonder is like he is and that nothing he says or does is personal. The bear hugs are the biggest problem as he is a very strong little boy and although he is doing it for sensory feedback rather than anger, being squeezed within an inch of your life is not pleasant!

On Thursday Boy Wonder had his follow up appointment with the Consultant. He has put on 4kg in a month and grown 1cm. As he is also sleeping better, eating well and is generally more settled at home without the anger explosions, she decided that the positives of being off of the medication at present outweighed the negatives.   Therefore no medication has been added and he is being reviewed again in the New Year. We are in full agreement with this as school aside, he is coping remarkably well with strategies alone.

We had a visit to a school with an autism unit on Friday morning which was initially just a 'going through the motions' exercise as there is no space. However, the Head certainly knew his stuff, the resource area was just what he needs and it is as inclusive or as segregated as it needs to be for the child. There are also children at the school who Boy Wonder knows through his drama group so a ready made friendship circle. Although there is still no space, Boy Wonder could access the school through mainstream provision and make full use of the facilities. A strong contender!

In the afternoon we had a lengthly meeting at school to discuss the Multi Element Plan which unpicks 'behaviour' and reactions to the school day. Although we have not previously seen eye to eye with the ed psych, he did talk a lot of sense and did a very good job of identifying the triggers and hot spots. Obviously it wasn't anything that we hadn't already identified but for once the words were spoken by the local authority and we just nodded in agreement.  The meeting concluded with a decision to remove all pressure from Boy Wonder and opt for a1:1 out of the classroom approach to try and build bridges and improve his negative thoughts about the school day. We left them to discuss the finer points of this, the main one being space to do it.

We collected the children from school and had a fairly settled exit and evening. The last day before the holidays effect should be bottled!

Birthday Boy!

Last Friday after school brought Boy Wonder's go karting party. He and eight friends took to the track at an indoor karting centre. The staff were excellent and removed the lap times and positions screen so that they could just have fun without the upset and pressure of competition. Boy Wonder really struggles with this and combined with two other children with ASD the emphasis needed to be firmly on fun rather than meltdown!

A friend made a wonderful Minecraft cake for Boy Wonder and they had pizza for party food. All in all they all seemed to have great fun and it was nice to see Boy Wonder have a positive experience with his friends.

Saturday was the big day and this started at 6.45am when Boy Wonder opened his eyes. After his shower and changing into his football kit ( early match) he came into our room for present opening. Cat Girl bought him a beautiful carved wooden dolphin which he loved. He also had some Lionel Messi football boots, a season ticket for his favourite football club, biking gear and games for his XBox. He seemed very happy and once everything was open he had breakfast and bounded off to football with Superman, insisting on wearing his new boots.

After lunch Boy Wonder went to dance and then on to watch his favourite team play football with Superman. Cat Girl and I went shopping and prepared the buffet for family who were visiting at tea time.

Everyone started to arrive early evening as Boy Wonder and Superman returned from football. We were a little unsure how he would cope but all in all he held it together fairly well. Lots eaten and lots of playing before we said goodnight to everyone.

Sunday was a chill day in comparison. After Cat Girl's horse riding lesson we visited a friend to give her a birthday gift and then went to Supergran and Biker Gramps new house ( as they moved over the weekend.) Boy Wonder was very tetchy and complaining of the smell of  paint which was quite faint now. To finish the weekend we met Boy Genius and family at a play centre for a couple of hours of energy release. The play centre was fairly quiet so didn't present with any real problems which was nice.

We arrived home about tea time and settled down to eat and watch tv.   Boy Wonder started to get quite upset and saying that he didn't want to go to school and that he hated it. We provided lots of reassurance and distraction which eventually proved to settle him and get him to sleep.

Fighting fire with fire!

Last weekend was a busy event, with football, dance and meeting friends in the park on the Saturday and a more relaxed day on Sunday to prepare for Monday back at school. This was hindered somewhat by Boy Wonder and Boy Genius falling out on the Saturday and Boy Wonder totally losing control in the park, car park , throwing stones, putting himself to the floor and once in the car, kicking about with great force. This lasted throughout the evening until he finally fell to sleep quite late on. Sunday morning was spent negotiating a truce between the two boys and Boy Genius taking the lead in apologising by text, to which Boy Wonder reciprocated.

We arrived at school a little late on Monday due to high anxiety. Once there however, it was like nothing had happened and that I would just leave. This didn't fill me with confidence so I asked to speak with the Head. I was asked to wait but whilst doing so the behaviour lady that I spoke with last week arrived. We spoke about how things had been and I told her about Boy Wonder disclosing that he was shouted at when he was bad and told that he deserved to cry. I explained that these were Boy Wonder's words and that he could have misinterpreted things, however if this was what he was hearing it would have a negative impact. We both spoke to the Head and she agreed to look into what Boy Wonder had raised. We also spoke about physical intervention should it be required only to be told that if a child left school they would inform parents and police but not stop them physically. Oh dear! I was told to write a letter of consent to restrain Boy Wonder if required but this doesn't sit well as the training isn't there for the people working with him to do it safely. I guess this is a weighing up of risk decision,

Boy Wonder managed a full week at school albeit a very stressful, anxiety rising one. As the week wore on it became more and more difficult to settle him in, taking half an hour on Thursday before he would physically let go of me. Lots of tummy aches, chewing and shirt shredding alongside crying and general unsettled mood. Parents evening basically described  keeping him in school and settled was the aim, school work being practically non existent.

More meetings are planned for next week with the Consultant and the local authority to decide the MEP ( multi element plan.) Hopefully we will see some movement, however after more calls this week the statement has still not been released.

Escalation

The school week has been a cocktail of events, none of which included any learning except maybe for a growing appreciation for the level of complexity surrounding Boy Wonder. Many a phone call has been made to try and rush the statement through ( when I say rush it has already been two weeks since the finalisation meeting.) After much discussion the statement has been finalised at 15 hrs plus OT provision which is not nearly enough given that he is currently soaking up full 1:1 hours. However, finalising means that the post can be advertised and then emergency funds can be applied for through a Multi Element Plan to top it up. The MEP is the next step up from an IEP and it provides external behavioural management and risk assessment support.

I met with a lady who had been drafted in to provide support for Boy Wonder and the school and we discussed his history and complexity at length. She stated that her observations of which there had been many over the last ten days were that he wasn't coping and the current provision is not suitable to meet his needs. Hallelujah!! Our OT had also come away with the same conclusion although she had been saying this for the past year along with us, but was now expressing concerns over health and safety not just learning needs.

Following the exclusion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly settled except for the battle of getting him through the door. He spent these days away from his class and predominantly on his own with a TA. On Thursday morning the battle to get through the gates was harder still with Boy Wonder voicing that he hated school. We got to the class room where we discovered a supply teacher that he hadn't met before who was Asian. Boy Wonder became highly excitable and voiced loudly that she was Asian over and over. I took him into the room next door to calm him whilst Cat Girl went to find some help.  Help arrived, Boy Wonder was told that if he continued to be racist I would be notified. I took a deep breath and then asked him if he knew what 'racist' meant. 'No,' he said with a blank expression. I explained it and also explained that Boy Wonder hadn't been told about there being a different teacher and he was merely commenting on what she looked liked albeit not in an appropriate way.

And then came the almighty crash. A phone call at 3.10pm notifying us of an incident where Boy Wonder had verbally abused his teacher and physically assaulted the TA. We were called in for a meeting, joined by the lady that was supporting Boy Wonder and the school as she was with me at the time of the call. The incident resulted in a fixed term exclusion for one day and the understanding that the risk management needs escalating somewhat.

After the meeting Superman took Cat Girl to Ju Jitsu and I took Boy Wonder home. We spoke about the difficulties during the day and about how he behaved. He understood that his behaviour wasn't acceptable but said that he couldn't help it as he was so angry. I asked him what made him angry and he very clearly stated that his teacher and TA were stopping him from learning by not letting him in the classroom. He couldn't learn when sat in the corridor or in a different classroom as his teacher wasn't there. I explained that he was disruptive in class which was why he is taken out and be said that he knew he was bad but it was too noisy and busy in there. He finished off by saying how much he hated school.

Thursday evening was spent eating like he has never done before ( like he had been starved, which of course he hadn't but he obviously used a lot of energy.) and drinking a lot of cordial.

Friday was spent at home doing project work with a clearly planned timetable to include breaks! Boy Wonder had a fairly settled day, not getting up until 10am. Biker Gramps sat with him for a bit whilst I caught up on some stuff. He had him exercising and practising his piano. Grandparents brought over a massage chair to help Boy Wonder and my hands as I was massaging him for over an hour last night! Many more phone calls and notifications of escalation in procedure and a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the way forward.

High Risk

Sincere apologies for the lack of 'blog.' It has been a turbulent eight days in a lot of ways. Last week concluded with a grande finale where the behaviour scale hit a 10. Superman picked up Boy Wonder quite literally that day and removed him from school. Boy Wonder has taken to bolting out of the place he is in, into his classroom and running around it at high speed. A game of cat and mouse then ensues before he is either caught or he runs out again. He has also escalated this to bolting out of the school main door. Eeek! He is now wearing an 'Alert me' band!

In comparison the weekend was reasonable. Saturday was spent at football where they won again, dance which was non eventful and then onto a super car afternoon. I had bought a high speed passenger lap package for Boy Wonder and a supercar drive for Superman last Christmas and we hadn't got around to booking them until now. Boy Wonder chose a Ferrai and Superman an Aerial Atom. They signed up and Superman was given the insurance spiel. BoyWonder became quite upset that his Daddy was refusing insurance and set to work telling him that he must have it as it is very likely that he will crash. In the end Superman gave into the pressure and bought the insurance, much to Boy Wonder's relief. The super car team asked if Boy Wonder would like to come and work with them as he seemed very well informed about super car safety. That would certainly bump up their insurance sales! Boy Wonder went in the Ferrari for four speed laps reaching 155mph. He came away absolutely buzzing from the experience. He seemed to know an awful lot about the car when he had finished so probably interrogated the driver at high speed! Superman drove the Atom which looked nothing more than a kitted up go kart. It was very fast and he got a score of 87/100 for good control which is apparently very good for that car. He was impressed and wanted it writing on his certificate!

We went on to Pizza Hut for tea which went well until it suddenly became busy. Boy Wonder then retreated to the floor in the corner of the restaurant, behind our table. He put his headphones in and stayed there. The pizzas came out and he rejoined us at the table, his ability to cope quickly deteriorating. We quickened the pace, did the dutiful ice cream machine and whilst Cat Girl finished off, I took Boy Wonder outside to calm. The table next to us with the well behaved child appeared quite bewildered by Boy Wonder's oddity, although I was hoping that even they could see that a child  rocking, hiding in corners and bolting at every given opportunity was a little more than just 'bad' behaviour.

On Sunday we went to an autism friendly viewing of Dolphin Tale 2 as Boy Wonder loves dolphins. It was a good job we did this as he would have been thrown out of a standard viewing! He loved the film and talked about all of the facts about dolphins that he knew ( which are many!) whilst rocking, jumping about, climbing and random bear hug grabs at Cat Girl. He did become quite distressed with a girl who was shouting during the performance. She appeared to have little verbal communication so what she verbalised made no sense to him. We spoke about it after and he said that he thought she was stupid for being so noisy. I asked him what others thought about his behaviour and he was unable to make the connection at all, even when I spelt it out. One for another time I think.

In the evening we went to the local theatre where Boy Wonder goes,  to watch 'A Night at the Musicals.'  He was able to sit through this with plenty of snacks and his friend with him. They both sang along and danced all the way through which gave him an energy outlet, Cat Girl fell to sleep in the second half.

Over the weekend we did some work on behaviours and exploring ideas of what Boy Wonder can do instead of things that he is doing now. We sat together and he engaged for about 25 minutes with some well thought out input. We spoke again about the cinema experience and agreed that he would take the work to school to show his TA. 

The school week started badly with an escalation in anxiety induced behaviour. So much so
 that on Monday, Boy Wonder was excluded from school for being uncontrollable. It was a temporary exclusion from 1.20pm until the following morning. Superman picked him up as he was closer than me but when he got there he said that he had to physically prise him off of a TA who had put herself between him and another child. There had also been another exit from the school by Boy Wonder. He is now catagorised as high risk.

A Step in the Right Direction

It would be fair to say that the week continued in the same vein as it started. The 1-5 behaviour scale that school use to describe Boy Wonder's day hit its first 5 and by the beginning of this week rose to 7. For the literal amongst us this isn't technically possible but I guess it is just an illustration of the heightened difficulties,

The weekend was pretty mixed in terms of mood. Boy Wonder had a busy day on Saturday, his team winning 10-0 at football and then going to dance. Sunday was a more stay at home day with Super Gran and Biker Gramps coming for tea. There were a few incidents with the neighbours children and Boy Wonder being too rough and vocal but we managed it by giving time out and refreshing the 'rules of play.' Towards the end of play he cried and said they he would loose all his friends because he is so bad. We reassured him that his friends know that he can sometimes get over excited but using rude words is not acceptable. He appeared to understand.

A fair amount of time had been spent talking to school about behaviour management strategies and they have gone all out to pull in resources from everywhere possible. It is a classic example of reaction and how the 'system' works. The reality is that home life has seen little change except for an improved sleep pattern and appetite. However, the behaviour at school is what we see at home, hence our lengthly battle for support.

Unfortunately communication this week has resulted in a meltdown this morning. Boy Wonder arrived home with a timetable of when he would be in class ( which is hardly ever and not at all on some days!) he angrily told me that the rest of his day is in reception class with a TA. Oh jeez, an angry child in a class of 4 year olds is just an incident waiting to happen! I agreed with Boy Wonder that I would talk to his teacher about it in the morning.

The school journey this morning was a difficult one. Boy Wonder was already very worked up. I asked him to stay with me whilst I spoke with his teacher which distressed him further. He then caught sight of the school photographer and started shouting ' she's Chinese!' over and over. We got into class and was about to speak to the teacher when someone decided to jump ahead of us. Consequently Boy Wonder became more frustrated and I gave up. We went into the playground.

Before leaving school I spoke with the Head about the potential ticking time bomb of Boy Wonder going in to reception and the added issue of him feeling excluded and reinforcing his belief that he is stupid. She got it and explained that they were crisis managing and are working hard to get it right. I explained that we understood this but the reception class is not the solution. We compromised and agreed the same strategy but in a class with older children would be more suitable.

On leaving school, I heard Boy Wonder shouting me and crying. The next minute he ran at me and clung on for dear life! I sat him down and calmed him. He had run out of the class because he was told he was going to reception. I explained what I had just spoken to the head about and he started to calm. Eventually I left him in the hands of the TA and she took him to the chill out tent.

After a rather long day of worrying and a midday phone call to check Boy Wonder was okay, I collected him from school. He was very high and this resulted in him jumping on the tables and running around them in the classroom. I gathered his belongings and took him out to the car.

This evening was fairly settled due mainly to him being exhausted. Before going to bed he asked if he could take a stress ball to school as he is helping to set up the chill out tent. One little request that demonstrates a huge step in the right direction.

So far .....

The weekend was a stark reminder of life before medication and was consequently hard work! However Boy Wonder managed to hold down a game of football without too much difficulty but dance afterwards  proved to be too much and his concentration spam waned significantly.

Saturday afternoon was spent at home, baking and playing on the computer. Grandparents babysat in the evening whilst Superman and I went out with friends for a short while. The brief description of how Boy Wonder behaved 'he's been a bloody bugger!' made us smile but was probably quite accurate!

Superman took Boy Wonder on a long bike ride on Sunday and we implemented the evening exercises. In short Boy Wonder was highly energetic, impulsive yet happy. It was nice to have a change from anxiety and aggression but by Sunday evening we were exhausted.

One significant positive has already arisen in that Boy Wonder is falling to sleep at a reasonable time and sleeping through the night. This has happened for two nights in a row and although its early days, is the first time that he has ever slept for more than a few hours.

The school mornings so far have been easier than anticipated with Boy Wonder not really becoming too excitable until leaving for school. However, school itself has been a whole different ball game. Boy Wonder has struggled from start to finish. Lots of movement breaks, time out and reassurance required on day one, moving to no assembly's or play times on day two due to not being able cope with the other children. Hitting out, jumping all over the other children and generally be over aroused by the environment meant that more time has been spent out of the classroom than in it.

Although Monday evening was fairly settled, this evening was difficult. Boy Wonder fought , shouted and seemed to struggle with any sort of demand. He eventually settled at Ju Jitsu but during training he got kicked in the face and ended up with a bloody nose!

So far it has been a testing time but the one feeling it the most is our boy and we are determined not to lose sight of that. The side effects to the medication have not only instigated  weight loss but quite possibly contributed to the heightened agitation. Despite the recent difficulties, Boy Wonder does seem happier and that is worth it's weight in gold.  His presentation is also allowing us to pin point the difficulties with greater ease and providing opportunities to put in strategies to help  him. And that can only be a positive thing.

Big Decisions!

On picking the children up from school on Thursday, Boy Wonder came out of the classroom with a shredded T-shirt which was also very chewed. However his teacher and Boy Wonder said that there had been no real problems and it had been a fairly settled day. As we walked outside, he started to hold his tummy and double over, seemingly in pain. Tummy ache is always a difficult call with Boy Wonder as he gets it when anxious but will also use its presence to not go to clubs which often provide a welcome distraction to the anxiety. However, if this is the case, Boy Wonder generally stops mentioning the tummy ache fairly quickly as he has told me once so he doesn't need to tell me again.

We drove to the clubs but Boy Wonder still appeared to be in some pain as intermittently he would hold his stomach and crouch like he was having spasms. This was unusual for him and is only really seen during periods of acute anxiety. Boy Wonder is rarely ill in general terms. We dropped Cat Girl off at Ju Jitsu and I made Boy Wonder an appointment with the GP as 40 minutes on he was still seemingly in quite a bit if discomfort. He didn't protest about going to the Doctors or missing football which convinced me that I had made the right decision.

The appointment ran 40 minutes late which only increased Boy Wonder's anxiety but once in the appointment he was checked over and weighed. The GP said that she was happy that there were no physical indicators to suggest something such as appendicitis but with the symptoms and the state of hisT-shirt, anxiety was the likely cause. She asked for a urine sample to send off and we spoke about his weight ( he has lost another 1kg, making it 2kg lost in a month,) went through his medication and identified the ADHD medication as the only one with appetite suppressant side affects that was likely to be contributing to the weight loss. She also re referred to the dietician for supplement support although was aware that we have been giving Boy Wonder build up shakes daily and this wasn't sufficient to support weight gain. The GP said that she would write to the Consultant and request a medication review and asked me up ring the hospital to request this also.

Boy Wonder rested for the remainder of the evening and the tummy ache subsided eventually.

Yesterday was the day of the meeting with the LocalAuthority and school to agree the Statement of SEN. Before this I rang Boy Wonder's consultant and explained about yesterday and the weight loss. We agreed an immediate medication break from the ADHD medication to allow for recovery and a review in four weeks.  She expressed her concern that his health needs outweighing the positives of the treatment so needed to be managed. Superman and I had, had this same conversation last night and drawn the same conclusion.

During the meeting we discussed the areas that Superman and I had raised as inaccuracies in the statement and were relieved to find that all of the points were recognised and added. The teacher contributed by illustrating a typical day and the difficulties they faced. The new Head appeared very proactive and decisive about things and as a result the statement was agreed in principle ( the actual support hours to be agreed at panel, but I was assured that they wouldn't be reduced!) and we then spoke about the medication change. The Head responded by saying ' forewarned is forearmed and therefore we will discuss a management plan to put into place for Monday as required.' The LA stated that the school can call an early review for the statement at any time should they find that the statement is no longer sufficient. In addition the LA confirmed that the OT is experienced in autism and sensory processing disorder and they are happy for her to liaise with our OT for consistency. A speech and language therapy referral was also agreed along with the use of earphones in class to block out some noise and the use of his ( not so healthy ) high calorie snacks at break time. We ended the meeting and for the first time in four years we felt that we actually had Boy Wonder's needs agreed. We are just hoping now that the statement hours allow for the work needed.

So we are now entering a month of raw ADHD. We have spoke to Boy Wonder about it and he seems  very happy that he will have more energy! I don't think he quite grasped the point but hey ho. Hold on to your hats!            

Challenges and Erruptions

The last two days of school involved similar challenges to that of the first day back. Boy Wonder was clearly overstimulated and this resulted in shouting out in class, using bad words and generally struggling to concentrate for any length of time.

On collection from school on Thursday, he became so high in the playground that his teacher again took him inside. After collecting Cat Girl, we collected him and I was helped to get him to the car. There had been a particular incident during the afternoon which erupted once in the car and consequently lasted for a couple of hours. I took him to dance where he managed a short amount of time but then spent some time out with one of the tutors. He rejoined the group for the final ten minutes.

Friday appeared to be a fairly settled day in comparison. Boy Wonder and Cat Girl went to after school club for a short while until Superman finished work and then came home and played outside. All seemed to be going well until Boy Wonder erupted into a shouting and hitting out frenzy. The other children ran off and we didn't see them again all weekend!

The weekend was a bit more settled with football and dance on Saturday and a five mile bike ride on the Sunday. We visited Super Gran and Biker Gramps new house after the bike ride. The house is still empty and was echoey which sent Boy Wonder straight up! We only stayed for half an hour but he remained high but agitated for the remainder of the night.

The second week back at school seemed to be no different to the first. The afternoons brought a loud and distracted yet distracting Boy Wonder. On Tuesday the decision was made to collect Cat Girl and Boy Wonder from the classrooms rather than the playground as Boy Wonder going into the play ground was becoming an impossible task.

Oliver rehearsals increased to twice weekly this week which meant added concentration for Boy Wonder. Luckily the adult cast are now becoming more involved with the children to join the scenes together. Boy Wonder found the sessions really interesting and enjoyable and can now see how it is all working.

Wednesday night was consequently a late night but once settled he slept.

Do as I say not as I do!

Wednesday morning we got up fairly early for breakfast as we needed to be in central London for 10.30am. Boy Wonder ate his usual toast and muffins and Cat Girl had cereal, yogurt and muffins whilst everyone else had the cooked breakfast.

We packed up the cars and headed for the tube station, establishing the holding hands rule before setting off. The train wasn't too busy to start with but when we switched to the tube it became busier and unbelievably hot. Boy Wonder was becoming agitated by this and was relieved to exit the station.

We got a drink and walked to the Houses of Parliament. Once in the line to be security checked we explained to Boy Wonder that he would need to be quiet and respectful as this was an important place of work for the people that ran our country and not many people get the opportunity to visit. Boy Wonder said that he understood and consequently behaved very well. Cat Girl also did very well to say that a lot of it went over her head.

However, we were utterly amazed at the distinct lack of respect that the M.Ps have for each other and the sheer lack of professionalism to say that they are deciding the 'rule book' for our country. The Prime Minister and other party leaders were in Scotland debating Scotland's independence but there were still some well known and 'respected' politicians there.  A certain gentleman spent the entire question time playing on his phone, others were also doing the same. They were chatting between themselves quite loudly when others were speaking and walking in and out as they pleased. There was also the usual jeering which I guess is a more accepted part of politician behaviour.

Boy Wonder was disgusted at what he saw and spoke about it a lot during the PMQs and after. We had no answers for him as we were equally as shocked. We agreed to write to Mr Speaker with our thoughts.

We were shown around the Speaker's House afterwards and then went into the cafe for a late lunch. The whole of the building was grand but with high ceilings and little soft furnishing it made for a very echoey environment. This was taking it toll on Boy Wonder who became more and more agitated.

We spent a couple of hours around London, having ice cream, going on a high swing ride and watching street entertainers. Boy Wonder was asked to join in with some of the milder acrobatics.

We left Central London by tube at about 3pm as Boy Wonder was becoming more and more unsettled. He became upset by the people begging on the street. This bothers him every time. We got off of the tube and went back to the hotel to pick up the car.

The journey home was very eventful as Boy Wonder kicked and thrashed around for the first hour. We were in Superman's smaller car so this became very difficult to manage. We stopped at a services, went to the toilet and picked up some snacks. After this he seemed to settle a bit better but once home  he escalated again, making for a very late night.

In hindsight it was clear that this trip within the first week back at school wasn't great  timing but the experience ( although not as we expected) was valuable.

Facial Expression Battles

School started back on Tuesday and to say I was dreading it was an understatement. Boy Wonder wasn't ready to go back and nothing further had been sorted out about his support at school, so in affect they weren't ready either.

The arrival at school went okay as although Boy Wonder was verbalising that he didn't want to be there, seeing his football buddies gave him a welcome distraction. I spoke with the TA about key holiday things, in particular the medication not being increased due to his weight loss of a further 1kg and the need for a supplement drink during the morning. I also spoke with both teachers about the burglary just in case either child mentioned in their 'What did I do in the holidays' work, making it very clear that it is done and dealt with and everything is okay.

I went off to work and spent a few hours doing the prep for the interviews ( for my job) as I have chosen to leave this role and work less hours as a consultant. As with many parents of disabled children, there becomes a time when you have to make that decision and for us it was when the hours spent in hospitals and education meetings started to out way the hours spent working. It effectively makes you unemployable which means that only two options remain - stop work altogether or work for myself part time with flexible working hours. I opted for the latter.

I parked on the school car park on pick up and walked into the playground. Boy Wonder came out as I was trying to get Cat Girl ( it is very busy in the first week due to the new reception children.) He started to run off and become very excitable, throwing things around. His teacher and I stopped him and she took him back into the classroom to get his weighted jacket and to try and calm him whilst I got Cat Girl. It took ten minutes to get her from the classroom, but once collected we met Boy Wonder and attempted to leave the playground. At this point he started to shout, throw himself to the floor saying that I was hurting him. The new Head teacher stood and watched with a look of shock on her face. Boy Wonder interpreted this as a cross look so reacted by shouting at her that he was a bad boy and to stop looking at him. We eventually got to the car, followed out by the TA and after a lot of thrashing about in the car he finally sat down. I explained to her that Boy Wonder's confusion with the new Head's facial expression and she said that she would do some work on facial expressions with him. It's so easy to forget that Boy Wonder is shockingly poor at correctly reading facial expressions in new people.

This evening we travelled to London with Boy Genius and family. They had been invited to Prime Minister's Question Time and asked us to join them. We arrived at the hotel and joined them for dinner in the restaurant. Both Boy Wonder and Boy Genius seemed to be still reeling from their first day back at school so moods were erratic and unstable. We did have a good waiter however, who gave us a quiet spot in the restaurant and was very good with the kids.  After dinner we took them back to the rooms to settle down. I settled Boy Wonder down by tickling his back and firm hold which took about an hour but eventually he fell to sleep. He looked exhausted!

Getting Ready for the Return to School

The journey home was fairly straight forward except for a loo and change stop for Boy Wonder. We are noticing the day time incontinence creep back in as school looms.

We arrived home just before tea time and Boy Wonder went straight to his room for some Minecraft time. We unpacked and then all had a Chinese takeaway for tea. As it was getting late, Boy Wonder and Cat Girl settled down although Boy Wonder took quite some time to go to sleep.

We opted for a stay at home weekend in an attempt to allow Boy Wonder time to settle and to get some jobs done around the house. We weighed Boy Wonder on Saturday morning to find that he had lost a further Kilogram. We thought that he had lost weight and this confirmed it. We had a chat with him about having some build up shakes in the day and using a tonic. He agreed to give it a go and to also have them at school.

School stuff was checked and packed. Boy Wonder had chosen a new school bag that he liked and was happy when it arrived. Apparently it was very cool. He said little as we sorted through everything but later his mood deteriorated and he became anxious and agitated over the slightest thing.

The piano we ordered arrived on Sunday morning and although he was pleased to see it, Boy Wonder wouldn't play on it at all. He said that he had to get used to it first. We spent Sunday afternoon tidying out the garage. Both children helped and worked hard. I told them that they could share out and keep any money that they found. They managed a total of 20p! After dinner we watched a film together which was nice.  It was the Lorax and they found it highly amusing!

Monday - the last day of freedom! After a couple of little errands we spent the day around the house and in the garden. Boy Wonder was very tetchy and tearful throughout the day so I just let him do his own thing. By late afternoon he came round a little and had a go on the piano which he really seemed to enjoy. We then went to Oliver rehearsals. This was in the smaller room now and it made such a difference. He was able to focus through the majority of the practice and said that he enjoyed it.

A difficult night for settling down. Tears and upset alongside him being very clingy. Hopefully he will manage a few hours sleep.

Adrenalin Junkies v's Windy Castle Trauma!

The last full day of the holiday and we all went to a theme park, home of Peppa Pig. Cat Girl was very excited! We were hoping that with the majority of children now back at school it would be less busy, we were right. Although we had the queue assist support for the boys we used it twice all day and that was to get onto the Peppa rides as the park's main customers were pre schoolers.  

The first rides we tackled were the bigger rides as the majority had headed for Peppa Pig World. Boy Wonder went on everything with his usual no fear approach. Boy Genius was a little more reserved as was Cat Girl who only liked the little rides. Boy Genius's younger brother required a little height booster being 1-2mm below the height for the big rides. Once on however, he had a great time and became Boy Wonder's adrenalin junkie buddy. 

We had lunch at the cafe near the splash park which was the usual substandard rubbish. The children put on their swimmers and ran around for a while.  They then went on the log flume to finish off the soaking before getting dry. 

This afternoon brought the long awaited Peppa Pig World. Cat Girl was in her element. She bought Superman a Daddy Pig cap which he of course,  loved. Boy Wonder became quite wound up here as it was a lot busier than the rest of the park but he did take Cat Girl on some rides with his pass. There were a couple of occasions here that Boy Wonder ran off at the first suggestion of where we may head next. This is becoming an issue now as he doesn't seem to have any regard for where we are and he is so fast that if we don't immediately follow he is out of sight within seconds. 

We finished the day by going back on the favourite rides. I took the boys on my favourite tea cups ride as I am the 'spinner!' Out of three boys, I made one a bit sick and the other two stagger off. We all then went on the pirate ship  which was great fun! 

Whilst I was 'entertaining' the boys on the big rides, Cat Girl had taken Boy Genius's Dad back to Peppa Pig World as she wanted to go on the Windy Castle. He had gladly accepted as he is not a fan of heights . Superman did try to warn him that Windy Castle was high but he didn't quite get the message. After a short while Superman followed them and found them just getting onto the Windy Castle ride.  This is a cloud carriage with a spinning wheel, a bit like a miniature big wheel. Cat Girl started to spin the wheel and was stopped by big sweaty, white knuckled adult hands gripping the wheel. They went up high and as Cat Girl bounced around in excitement, the responsible adult, who could barely keep his eyes open told her to sit still. Cat Girl enquired as to why his hands were leaking? He explained that he was scared of heights to which she responded 'But you're an adult?!' Needless to say that he was the point of ridicule for the rest of the day as Cat Girl recited the tale over and over! 

We left the park at closing and went on to a pub for tea that had a nice play area in the garden. They also served nice food which was a bonus. Boy Wonder was a little tetchy again by this point but held it together, though ate little.

We finished the night by going back to the caravan and watched Home Alone. In the morning we are traveling home via the little arcade on site and the Ferrari garage in the next town. Here's hoping for a good journey back to reality. 

Aping Around!

Tuesday brought a day at the forest park where the kids rode their bikes after having a go on the high ropes and zip wire. Boy Wonder loved the high ropes and ran round them as if they were on the floor. Cat Girl got half way across the first obstacle, panicked and cried and came back down. At least she tried! These two children are like chalk and cheese. It is nice though to have a child that shows emotion even if it is ten feet above your head! We went to buy a sneaky ice cream when she came off to cheer her up and then sat and watched the boys. 

Afterwards we stopped for a picnic and then got the kids bikes and they rode around the trails to the various parks. It was at this point that tempers frayed and Boy Wonder and Boy Genius seemed to bounce off of each other but not in a good way. Whatever one said or did, the other took the wrong way. It wasn't until two elderly ladies told them both off for climbing a tree that they joined forces to argue their corner. We left them to it as it really was a ridiculous thing to say. 

However things took a dive when Boy Wonder rode off on his bike and was out of sight for about fifteen minutes. He had followed the signs back to the visitor centre but hadn't stopped to wait or turn round and come back to us like he usually would. I went on ahead to look for him and found him sat in a bench at the visitor centre. He was crying and clung to me when I got there. I told him how worried we were and asked why he hadn't come back to us? He said that he didn't know where we were as he went to the ice cream shop and we weren't there. I explained that we were behind him so he only had to stop and wait or turn round and come back down the trail. He didn't seem to understand and was clearly very upset. This was now the second time during the holiday that he had just gone off without thinking. We regrouped and went for an ice cream before heading off to the last park. 

Boy Wonder remained tetchy and unstable in mood. His tolerance levels were low and because of this we decided to call in at a quiet pub to grab something to eat rather than drag the day out too much. This was a very bad idea as when we got there, Boy Wonder ended up in a stream of running water within minutes, up to his knee in mud with one leg. I pulled him out and explained that we would have to nip him back to the caravan to change. He got very upset and bolted over the fence. Superman went after him and caught him at the other side if the grass. We decided to call it a day and went back to the caravan. Boy Wonder was not in a good place. 

Once back at the caravan, Superman and Cat Girl went out to get some food whilst Boy Wonder and I thrashed out the difficulties using visuals and social scripts. The initial surface stuff came out first but this was quickly followed by him saying that he was worried about being in a strange place, not having a routine ( well  not a rigid one) and not wanting to go back to school.  We had a good chat and I gave  him lots of reassurance. We then agreed to watch Home Alone 3 with the takeaway that Superman and Cat Girl returned with .  After a chilled couple of hours we all went to bed. Boy Wonder settled very late again but had a nice lie in. 

Today we opted for a lazy day which started off by going to the pool. Boy Wonder has taken a liking to the sauna and steam rooms which is great as they are very warm ( obviously) and I don't like cold swimming pools!

After swimming Boy Wonder did his ice bucket challenge. We had lunch and then went for a walk to the beach. We stayed at the beach all afternoon and the children played lovely together. They built a huge castle with a moat and protective pebble walls. Afterwards we went to the beach cafe for tea and walked back to the caravan with more ice cream. 

We finished the evening off with a few games in the arcade and then went back to the caravan to watch the England match. A rather uneventful ( in a good way!) and chilled day! 

Sticky buns and Crabbing

After a busy day we decided to opt for a beach day. We prepared a picnic and drove down to the beach a bit further up from the site. The intention was to go crabbing but the harbour car park was very busy so we headed straight for the beach. 

It was a very hot day, in the late 20's which was nice for the first couple of hours but then became unbearable. The children played in the sand and went into the sea. We had ice cream after the picnic and then after a while headed back to the cars. The planes were flying overhead on their way too and from the air show.   Super Man managed some good shots of planes that he had missed yesterday so was very pleased. 

Back at site we all met at the swimming pool before dinner. The children tried out the steam room and sauna with us. Boy Wonder especially liked them and returned with me a couple of times. The pool outside was nice but cool and the indoor pool was quite small but they kept us entertained for a while. 

Once showered and dressed we agreed with Boy Wonder that he could play on the park outside the changing rooms whilst I dried Cat Girl's hair and Superman took the swim stuff back to the van. However, when we went to the park he wasn't there. Superman found him wandering around back inside near the pool tables. He became agitated, thinking that he was in trouble and climbed on the roof of the play equipment, threatening to jump off ( it was quite high.) I talked him down, reassuring him that he wasn't in trouble but we were worried about him. Once down we sat on the bench and talked to him about wandering off and why he shouldn't do it. His anxiety soared and he attempted to bolt. I held him and attempted to reassure him but he fought me all the way. Super Man took over and between us we managed the firm hold technique to bring him down. He was also given his top up medication at this point.  If we would have let him go he would have run off or climbed back up high. He had little to no control of himself so it wasn't an option .  After a few of minutes of fighting us and a further couple of minutes of calming, he went off to play for a little while before going into the restaurant for dinner. 

In the restaurant Boy Wonder still appeared to be quite agitated but this settled down after a short while and he managed to eat his dinner.

Afterwards Boy Wonder and Boy Genius had a couple of games of pool which they played really well. We then headed back to the caravan to settle down. Boy Wonder struggled to settle and was up a couple of times through the night, eventually managing a few hours of broken sleep.

Monday was market day at the local town so we went to have a look around. The weather was changeable to say the least but we managed to have a look at the stalls. We bought the children a sticky bun to walk round with but Boy Wonder became quite preoccupied by the fact that they had been left out on the stall and were they clean? Luckily his has come from an enclosed tray behind the stall but he may have had a point about the others!   The boys purchased a friendship band for each other and a toy car each and Cat Girl bought a cat (of course!) 

A couple of us split from the group to go and look for other things and with Boy Wonder and Boy Genius we went through the underpass to see what was on the other side. It started to rain and plans were quickly changed which meant turning round and heading back through the underpass. Both Boy Wonder and Boy Genius became upset by this as they didn't seem to grasp the need for the  change and we didn't explain it very well. After some work to explain what was now happening Boy Wonder started to settle. We ate lunch in the car whilst waiting for the rain to pass and the went onto the park. It was clear that Boy Wonder's tolerance levels were very low and we would need to firm up our plans somewhat to give him some security.  

We went crabbing before returning back to the caravan to make tea. Crabbing was great fun and once the first crab was caught, Boy Wonder settled into it quite nicely. Cat Girl was not at all keen on the crabs but was happy to hold the net. 

Tea was nice and relaxed. Boy Wonder and Boy Genius spent quite a bit of the evening in the bedroom playing Minecraft but seemed happy enough until it was time for Boy Genius and family to leave for bed. 

Another unsettled night for Boy Wonder.....

The Air Show

On Saturday we went to the airshow. Boy Wonder took his ear defenders and we explained that it would be very busy.  We went on the bus as parking would have been horrific. They all really enjoyed this. Cat Girl announced that she had never been on a bus before. We realised that she was probably right! 

We found a place on the pier that wasn't too crowded and near an older gentleman who  Boy Wonder fired his numerous questions at. The man seemed to enjoy passing on his knowledge so it worked well. After the first set of flights we went into the climbing centre which was a very good find. The children spent an hour and a half on various climbing walls. It was calm and quiet in there and with the added bonus of proprioceptive activity, proved to reduce the building anxiety. Boy Wonder finished off by performing the 'Leap of Faith' with great ease ( due to having no fear!) which consisted of climbing to the top of a ladder, walking out on to a platform and jumping into mid air to grab a 'punch bag' type piece of equipment before dropping to the floor ( controlled by a harness and pulley.) We all congratulated him but he didn't seem to get why it was a big deal. 

We left the climbing centre and headed outside to watch the Red Arrows. Superman had his camera ready and managed some good shots. All the children enjoyed the stunts which were very well timed to avoid collision! These guys are very talented. We headed off to get something to eat before attempting to catch the bus back. It was extremely busy so we thought that we had done well to find a quiet restaurant. However, once in and seated we noticed that it had a high ceiling and wooden floors which made for an echoey environment. This sent Boy Wonder straight up! He lost control quickly and started to shout, kick Cat Girl and generally thrash about. I gave him his ear defenders and sat next to him for a short while giving him a firm hug. He started to come down, looking through the air show programme and left the ear defenders on for the remainder of the meal through choice. The noise was obviously problematic. 

After dinner we decided to stay for the night performances and sat on the sea front to watch them. It was less busy now as most of the crowd were queuing at the bus stop, hence why we had decided to hang back a bit. Eventually we headed for the bus only to be told that the bus we needed had stopped running. It was only 8pm! The bus driver directed us to a different bus company where we could catch a bus to the local supermarket near our site. It was either that or a taxi which wasn't really an option as it would be stuck in traffic for a good while with its meter running.

We waited at the bus stop for what seemed an age. The children were fed up and tired, the roads were chaos and the queues of people were a mixture of agitated queue pushers and silly drunks. Eventually the bus arrived and the bus manager ( obviously sent in to manage crowd control) helped us get the children on the bus first. He ended up doing this twice as the first time it was the wrong bus! Eventually we were on our way and with the help of a few kids on the bus in front, Boy Wonder and co. were kept entertained ( and overexcited ) for a good part of the journey back. 

Once at the supermarket, Superman negotiated his way through the housing estate back to the site and we headed to the caravans. It was now about 10pm so we went straight to bed. Boy Wonder took quite a while to settle but in the early hours he fell asleep. 

The holiday begins ....

The holiday journey started fairly early on Friday morning due to the expected traffic travelling to the Bourneworth air show. The journey was fairly uneventful except for the usual resistance from Boy Wonder to stop for food. We arrived at the caravan site at midday. We met with Boy Genius and family and went for a walk along the beach, stopping for ice cream and a paddle ( which turned into a full dip in clothes for the younger two!)   We headed back to the site, picked up our keys and unpacked everything just as the food shopping arrived. 

Later in the evening after meeting up to have pizza we decided to go down to the entertainment. This consisted of the entertainers waxing each other ( we have clearly missed something here!), bingo which was unlike any bingo I have ever witnessed! ( the participants were echoing every number call's description I.e two little ducks, quack quack.) some of the descriptions were also very random. We decided that if we came in every night we would also get sucked in to this crazy behaviour! The children had left us right at the beginning of this madness to play pool and the 2p machines. We took it in turns to perform five minute checks on them as there was no way out. The evening went well until right at the end when Boy Wonder and Boy Genius had their pool game interrupted by Boy Genius's younger brother. (When together they don't include him very well so fights occur.) this resulted in Boy Wonder pushing him away from the pool table by his neck and me having to separate them. Boy Wonder ran, slipped on some water, banged his arm and bolted out to the smoking shelter and curling up in a ball. As I went out to him, he shouted to be left alone as I had hurt him which invited three half cut women who were out smoking, to involve themselves! After fending them off and getting Boy Wonder inside, he ran again and Superman intervened and caught him by his arm. Boy Wonder shouted out again that we were hurting him which of course got attention, especially off of the three women who had now come inside. I sat Boy Wonder down and explained that what he was shouting out was going to get mummy and daddy into a lot of trouble. I looked at the arm that he had fell onto and it was slightly red. We agreed to hold hands on his other side and walk back to the caravan calmly. Of course we were not nieve enough to think that this would happen but removing him from his audience was our only real aim at this stage! We arrived back at the caravan with some shouting along the way. Once inside he exploded into a barrage of 'I hate, I will do's' finishing in lots of crying and repeating of ' I am a bad boy!' Once calmer we explained that we cannot help him if he makes out that we are hurting him in some way as other people think we are doing wrong and  will involve themselves or ring the police. Boy Wonder was shocked by this as although this is not the first time he has done this, it is the first time others have involved themselves. 

Boy Wonder got little sleep that night so we let him sleep in for as long as we could.