Differently Abled..? A Story About Letters, Literacy, And Being Nonverbal In Two Languages.

This is a picture of something Penguin created in a drawing app on his iPad last night. He was laying down, scribbling away on the screen, with a contented smile on his face, looking like he was very pleased with his project. At first glance it might look like a random mess of scribbles, and … More Differently Abled..? A Story About Letters, Literacy, And Being Nonverbal In Two Languages.

Interoception: The Lesser Known But Oh So Important Sensory System

How much do you know about our senses? Most people are very familiar with the five senses that helps us process information about the world around us: Our sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell (a.k.a. the visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory and olfactory senses). Then there’s the vestibular and proprioceptive senses, which are both to do … More Interoception: The Lesser Known But Oh So Important Sensory System

Why do I See My Autistic Son As Both Disabled AND Differently Abled?

[If you’d prefer listening to a recording of me reading this post, rather than reading it yourself, please scroll down to the end of the post to find two audio files (as I got interrupted, and haven’t yet worked out how to fuse the two files together, sorry).] I regularly come across discussions on social … More Why do I See My Autistic Son As Both Disabled AND Differently Abled?

Talking About AAC And Us, On The ‘Let’s Talk Autism’ Podcast!

Earlier this week I had a chat with Meesh and Christelle of the ‘Let’s Talk Autism’ podcast! This week they’ve been doing a super impressive ‘podcast marathon’ of 7 episodes per day for each day of the week, to highlight Autism Awareness Week. So a total of 49 short episodes (each about 6-9 mins long) … More Talking About AAC And Us, On The ‘Let’s Talk Autism’ Podcast!

Helpful Online Resources For SEND Learning At Home

In this post, I’m listing websites, blogs, facebook pages and groups etc which I’ve found useful when it comes to helping me support our son’s learning and development. He’s autistic and nonverbal, with learning disability, and although these resources are based around what suits his needs and abilites, I believe many of them can be … More Helpful Online Resources For SEND Learning At Home

Scribbles In The Night

Every now and then, Penguin surprises us with new examples of how his mind works. He’s autistic and nonverbal, and in many ways he experiences the world differently to most of us. His sensory processing is different to the norm (as I’ve written about previously here & here) and his thoughts, learning and communication are … More Scribbles In The Night

How Pumpkin Carving Sparked A Communication Milestone For Our Nonverbal Teenager

I hope everyone’s had a happy Halloween out there, even if it might be a bit different to usual this year. For me, the most memorable moment of this Halloween week happened on Thursday evening, when Penguin and I were making a start at carving the largest of our pumpkins… I used his AAC (we … More How Pumpkin Carving Sparked A Communication Milestone For Our Nonverbal Teenager