Just living and learning
There’s often a turning point for families who have a child who could be considered neurodivergent. It usually happens when they move beyond the family nest and into wider society. It may happen at a play group or nursery, or perhaps a little later, when infant school begins. Until this time, traits and behaviours, that... Continue Reading →
Thinking of unschooling your PDA child? Congratulations and fasten your seatbelt! You may well be embarking on the most challenging, frustrating, joyful and healing journey of your life. And, if your child is not diagnosed PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), but school has been/would be a bad fit for them, this post is for you too.... Continue Reading →
An understandable fear people have about their children leaving formal education is that if they don't do well at school, they won't go far in life. Since school is really the only model that we all know well, and the model that the vast majority of us and our children pass through in order to... Continue Reading →
One of the most profound shifts I have experienced over these years has been in my understanding of neurodiversity. As with just about everything else, moving away from a mainstream perspective has allowed me to relax into living and observing life in a way that is both far more nuanced and far simpler at the... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this post from the perspective of a parent of an autistic child with PDA. That isn't to say that my child's autism/PDA defines them. It doesn't at all. But it has certainly helped to define my journey as a parent. So far, that journey has led me to a few conclusions, and I'm... Continue Reading →
Time outs, naughty steps and reward charts were never on my radar. None of that has ever made any sense to me. Even so, when my eldest son was younger I had to marvel at friends who did these things, and at how their children accepted them with minimal resistance. It was beyond my comprehension.... Continue Reading →
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A PLACE ON A HILL 