Look out here comes a D-O-G

We need help - little monkey's dog obsession is getting out of hand.

Like any 7 year old boy he needs lots of exercise, so we try to take him to the park every day, but as soon as he sees a dog he sprints off towards it. He won't stop or come back when I call him, he just wants to throw a ball for the dog to chase. But it's problematic for a couple of reasons. First, I can't have him running off every time he sees a dog (what if it were on the other side of the road?) Secondly, some dogs are not very child-friendly. Today we met two who growled at him when he tried to play with them. The owners kindly explained they were not good with kids but he doesn't understand that some dogs are ok and other dogs are not.

I don't want to take away the joy he gets from playing with dogs, and it would be near impossible anyway because we see them so often, but I need a plan to make it safe for him to do so. Of course we've thought about getting our own dog, but I would need to supervise him with it all day - and life is difficult enough already.

So can anyone help with ideas or just some insight into how we can manage an obsession like this in a safe way?

We are normal... just a bit different that's all.

I think most people would find our 'normal' pretty weird or scary, exhausting or tedious. They might also find it funny and full of love but it depends which way you look at it. And I can look at it from different angles many times each day.

Normal today was watching my son have an epileptic fit three times, his little body shaking all over. Normal is getting his 8 year old sister to rush for the emergency medicine bag, and grab a towel to mop up the saliva.

Normal in our family involves carefully calibrating each activity to decide whether or not little monkey can cope with it - and whether we can cope with his behaviour. There is no spontaneity; instead everything needs to be thought-out and planned, with a back up in case it goes wrong.

I guess some people would be annoyed to hear him repeat the same sentence over and over - sometimes 50 times a day. They might be horrified to learn that he still uses nappies - especially if I asked them to change one. But all this is normal to us.

Some things about our 'normal' are just great - the joy when he learns a new skill, the fun we have dancing round the living room, the happiness in his little face when one of us return home. Best of all are the endless stream of hugs and kisses from our little man - now there's not many 'normal' 7 year old boys who want to hug and kiss their Mum eh?!

To us all these things are so normal that we don't even notice them anymore, and I've come to realise they are just a variation. I have always said that my son is normal, just a little bit different to other kids. And this life is normal even if most people wouldn't recognise it as such.

Thanks to Renata B at Just Bring the Chocolate for starting the #definenormal blog-hop - please check out more posts on the subject by clicking on the links at her website. http://www.justbringthechocolate.com/blog/ 

I love my autie

I spend a lot of time talking about when life is difficult or when things go wrong, and I spend far too much time talking about my failed attempts to toilet-train my little boy. So as it's World Autism Day I thought it would be nice to talk about the good things, and why I love my little autie.

I love the way he jumps up and down and flaps when he's excited
I love the way he is bold and brave and will try anything physical
I love the way he can say simple sentences now and sometimes even 'please' and 'thank you'.
I love the fact that he's happy and learning at school
I love the way he throws his arms round me and shouts "Mummy!" when he's happy
I love the way he's brilliant at puzzles
I love the way he takes pride in being able to write his name
I love the fact he's made me see the world from a different angle

In short I love my little monkey, who has autism and epilepsy and severe learning difficulties.