Autism Support Dublin County - ASDC

https://m.facebook.com/NeuroPrideIreland/photos/a.111897804466568/368749132114766/?type=3

💫 Join us for Neuro Pride Round 2: Kids Edition!

🗓️ Sat, 13th Aug
✨10am Storytelling
✨ 10:30am Crafts

🗓️ Sun, 14th Aug
✨12pm Storytelling
✨ 1pm Disney Music Bingo
✨ 2pm Show & Tell

More information:
https://www.neuropride.ie/kids-edition/

Free Sign-up :
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/neuro-pride-ireland-festival-2022-kids-edition-tickets-398111380857

All kids must be accompanied by an adult - all adults must be accompanied by a kid!

Middletown courses, online, list for September and October.

Joint Events - Middletown Centre For Autism 11 Sep 2021 10:00 - 13:30 Full Day Parent and Professional Joint Event Logically Illogical Trainer: Ros Blackburn Online Webinars Middletown Centre for Autism Middletown View details Register now to book Booking closes Wednesday 8 Sep 2021 9am

Information on governments summer programme for primary/post primary in link below.

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/5d15a-summer-provision/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/summerprovision/ #

Summer Provision 2021 These summer programmes will provide children with an opportunity to continue or re-engage with learning, at school or at home

A helpful site for anyone looking for a tutor for July Provision.

JulyProvision.com – Helping Connect Families with Teachers Helping Parents and Teachers Connect Posted on 04/09/202023/03/2021 by jpadmin Originally we created this site to assist families needing help with the July Provision Summer Programme, but now and especially in the midst of this COVID-19 parents and teachers can also use our site to connect for any....

Skerries ETNS are opening a 6 student ASD class for September 2021. This will give 6 more student a school place for the coming year, and hopefully building will start soon on their new 4 class asd facility.
Click on link below for application forms.
https://www.skerrieseducatetogether.ie/forms/enrolment/

Well our little ausome afternoon at Granny Rosie’s couldn’t have gone any better. Even the weather cooperated! Both parents and kiddos had an absolute ball. Huge thanks to Matt and Matthew (best tour guide ever and a complete natural with our chaps!) for making our visit so relaxed and autism friendly. It’s rare that we as parents get to enjoy the days out ourselves so it was massively appreciated. The hot chocolates and coffees were very much appreciated. Can’t wait for our next visit. The kids have already said they can’t wait to go again Granny Rosie’s Farm thank you again ♥️

Ausome afternoon at Granny Rosie’s Farm just for our ausome kiddos and their families. Free of charge. Hope to see you all there 🐑 🐖 🐐 🐔

***11th May at 4.30pm***

Au-some Afternoon at Granny Rosie’s Farm 🐖 🐓 🐐 🐑

Matt and Suzanne have kindly offered to open the farm on their day off, just for our ausome kiddos and their families.
Meet the baby lambs
Meet the new donkeys
Best coffee in skerries for mammy and daddy
Hot chocolate for the kiddos
Farm Fresh vegetables and produce for sale

Hope to see you all there! 😊

***11th May at 4.30pm***

Au-some Afternoon at Granny Rosie’s Farm 🐖 🐓 🐐 🐑

Matt and Suzanne have kindly offered to open the farm on their day off, just for our ausome kiddos and their families.
Meet the baby lambs
Meet the new donkeys
Best coffee in skerries for mammy and daddy
Hot chocolate for the kiddos
Farm Fresh vegetables and produce for sale

Hope to see you all there! 😊

🙌👏

I just want to take a moment to salut all parents of children with special needs.

My son Rumi has always been different, he lives in Rumi land and that’s a pretty interesting place. While his Twin Snow is the people pleaser, she loves attention and thrives off people being proud of her, Rumi couldn’t care less, as he hunts frogs and captures grasshoppers all day long.

I’ve often assumed he had ADHD because his attention span ranges between hilarious to debilitating and his impulsive actions have seen him in trouble at proportions that are simply inconsistent with his intentions.

My little round peg has had me captivated and entertained and heartbroken all at once with his interesting take on the world.

I’ve asked everyone, from child health nurses to teachers if they think he might adhd and everyone has told me that while he’s definitely different not to worry about a diagnosis.

It’s not until recently that his teacher has told me that he’s simply not settling in, I have been there and seen him try and learn and it’s literally impossible.
he wants to do what he’s asked to do, but this marvelous brain of his has other plans, followed by yet another plan half a second later.

Unfortunately there is little point in him even being at school without a full time aid to assist his teacher in drawing his attention back to class as that juggled with emotional outbursts that come from being so misunderstood-would take her entire day away from all the other kids.

So now begins the waiting game, as I try and have him diagnosed in order to get him help.

I have to say though, I have a lot of kids, I thought I’d seen it all until this. Until Rumi started school I’ve never felt like I had to justify my parenting to anyone. My children were kind, they tried hard and while non conventional as I may be, it’s clear I love them the bits.

Now however, I find myself answering questions about screen time and bed times and discipline routines, me a mother of 6. I have spent the last 2 years feeling embarrassed by how much I work and my work hours forbidding me from doing pick up and drop offs. that my husband, apologetic for having so many other kids and a husband with a catastrophe injury to look after and ashamed that I have to work so much in order to keep this whole shop afloat.

So while we wait for a diagnoses that I know he will get because specialists that I know who have seen him yet don’t have the authority to diagnose have said “he’s as ADHD as they come Con!! Possibly even severe ADHD, that kids and sparkly as they come!!”

Starting school has been so hard, Rumi told me that *Ralph was his new best friend and 2 minutes later Arlo told me he heard *Ralph complaining about school to his dad at pickup and his dad said “well what have I told you about partnering with Rumi? Don’t do it!”

I just want to sweep him up into my arms and skip off into Rumi land with him.

They one thing, the only one thing that has been enjoyable about this journey apart from getting to spend time dissecting the most interesting child I know, is special needs mums.

I have approached them for advice and they have dropped everything they were doing and made me feel
like everything was going to be ok, just when I felt like nobody understood what I was going through, it’s like I walked into a Lion the Witch and the wardrobe tunnel and found myself with a bunch I didn’t know existed, women who know more then any doctor every will about their child’s condition and genuinely want to share that knowledge to help other kids, women who survive on laughter and wine because everyday brings another fu***ng surprise, women that have come together to support each other and now I’m kind of grasping why. The judgment is exhausting, the only cure for judgment is belonging, so thank you to the community of special needs mums that have lowered my panic and minimized the effects that judgment of being the “mother of the naughty boy” has had on me.

As my friend Freya and mother to my love nephew said “Rumi cannot focus on things he isn’t interested in without specialized assistance. That is not a choice and he is not being naughty. It’s a fact.”

Women who support me and my perfectly abstract son, thank you so much. We have needed your guidance and love.

Me and Rums probably have a bit of trail and error ahead of us but raising genius’s was never gonna be easy.

Shout out to Kat Abianac and Never A Dull Moment - life and ADHD for loving my boy and seeing his mind as the gift it is 💜💜

Hey folks Anne here as its WAAD heres my gorgeous boy C**t! 💙
At 18 month Public health nurse referred C**t for speech therapy, fast forward a few months we got our batch of much needed speech therapy so we rocked down to health centre for our session! The therapist just observed him for a few minutes then dropped the bombshell out of no where he was showing flags for autism,I knew from 9 months he wasnt meeting his milestones like my previous 2 children but i passed it off to him being lazy🤣
Also he d no behavioural issues either but as time went on it became obvious, and ya know people are talking about him but afraid to say, as a mammy ya tend to blame yourself too! So we were referred for Early intervention and he was finally diagnosed at 3, it's all so overwhelming and once EIT team knew I was An SNA I was more or less left to do it all! Sent on a few courses but left to initiate c**t to the pecs programme between us at home and my hand picked sna for him in Montessori Sarah we broke down the frustration of a non verbal child who could now communicate with us made a huge difference, also he done a full year in seolta preschool skerries which I highly recommend go above and beyond for their kids just pity their wasnt a primary unit here in skerries he could attend for his education, the crathors to travel an hour each way a day to Drogheda for school, but he loves the bus and school and will do primary and secondary too! Now All I need is for him to receive his services in school like his peers anyway another fight to fight!
Anyway this is our beautiful boy who is that lazy at times but works hard in school and his therapies, marches to the beat of his own drum, sings more than he talks, but we're all so proud of this boy, hes come so far and just keeps surprising us and will continue to do so! 💙
Just to add I would have being lost without snowflakes autism support, remember us and social stars and our private speech therapist mairead who travels from tipperary once a month, my fellow autism mammys iv had the pleasure to meet good friends and family! All of you encouraged me and showed light at the end of the tunnel I see you much love, ah sure keep er lit!

Hi everyone. Wendy here, one of the admins on the page. I wanted to post a little about us for WAAD

On this World Autism Awareness Day I don't ask for Awareness as there are very few people at this stage who are not aware of autism. What I would ask for my boys is Understanding, Acceptance and Respect. In my opinion, autism is not a disability, it is simply a different ability. Our children are brilliant, unique, hard work, sticklers for routine and not fond of change but they are truly amazing. As an asd mammy I have learned from my boys to take no milestone or achievement for granted. The fight for equality for our children continues every single day. We fight for the most basic of services DAILY and not just on this WAAD.

I would also like to thank the wonderful people in our children's lives who never treat them any differently to any other child and always invite them to parties. This sounds like such a small thing but makes a world of difference to our children and us as asd families.

Last but not least I’d like to explain that a meltdown is NOT a bratty tantrum or a child attempting to get their own way. It is the brain's neurological fight or flight response to over/under stimulation, the child/adult becomes overwhelmed by sounds, lights, smells or unfamiliar places. PLEASE consider this the next time you witness a struggling parent. An offer of help or a kind word can go a long way and can mean so much to a struggling parent.

Also just to mention that with 20 years of experience of living with autism I’d like to say that my door is always open to newly diagnosed families. I’m no professional but I think I probably qualify as an expert at this stage 😂 💛🧡❤️💚💜💙💖