Monday, May 24, 2010

Pentecost Cake!


Here is our Pentecost celebration cake which I found here at Catholic Cuisine. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find strawberries to represent the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit, but somehow I don't think the children minded as I used lollies instead! Next February I need to remember to buy red hearts (seven gifts of the Holy Spirit) because they are very hard to find in May!




Thursday, May 20, 2010

Ever Wondered What Sensory Processing Disorder Means?

Last week I listened to a radio interview where a mum was explaining what autism is. For parents of kids with an ASD we understand the lingo. We know the meaning of words like meltdown, severe expressive language delay, OT, sensory processing and so on.

While I listened to the interview I realised that if you haven't been exposed to autism you would have no clue what sensory issues mean. Whilst the mum who was interviewed did a great job of explaining how autism effected her son, I realised what a long way we have to go before everyone understands how ASD impacts the lives of families and individuals.

This quick video explains what sensory processing is and how people with sensory processing difficulties can work to overcome these challenges.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

Plans to Eradicate Autism.

At first glance eradicating autism appears to be a noble and worthwhile cause. Autism can be extremely difficult for individuals and families to deal with. After all, no one thinks "Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a child with an autism spectrum disorder." However, many of the world's most gifted artists and scientists were probably on the autism spectrum. How much poorer would human civilisation have been without many of these people?

With a prenatal test for autism being developed, a world without the beauty of autism is what some would have us aspire to.

I find it difficult to articulate how sickened this makes me feel. Someone is assuming that perhaps our life would have been better if we were able to choose to abort our children with ASD.

What will be next, a test to predetermine a persons propensity towards mental illness so that those people will not have to burden society?

With prenatal tests for Downs Syndrome we have seen the numbers of abortions skyrocket for children with Downs. There is little doubt that when a similar test for ASD becomes available many families will choose to abort because they will be led to assume that having a child with autism is too difficult. Increasingly we as a society are continually looking for the easy way out without questioning what we loose when we take the easy road.

When did we start to believe the lie that only a perfect child is worth having?