As a parent to a child with Aspergers Syndrome who writes about the condition and runs a support group, I’ve come to hear about a number of charitable organisations designed to assist the child with additional/complex needs or serious illness along with their families! One of these organisations is the ‘Family Fund’ an organisation that’s aim is to assist those families described above in way of providing them with grants to assist in a number of areas. This can be in a way of providing families with a means to purchase essentials, such as a washing machine to replace one that has broken, a contribution to a parents driving lessons to make getting about far easier, family fund even provide families with vouchers to enable them to enjoy a family break together in UK resorts such as Haven and Butlin’s holiday camps. Some families are even offered assistance to enable them to enjoy a trip aboard and this is done in way of providing the family with ‘Thomas Cook Holiday Vouchers’ known as the “Happy Holiday Vouchers” 

 However, lately it would seem that a certain number of families are accruing such assistance on false pretences. This is being achieved as it has come to light that a certain number of applicants are falsely obtaining Thomas Cook vouchers, only to sell them on for their own financial gain.

 Family fund has recently highlighted how huge a problem this is becoming as more and more reports are being given by the public, all stating that they have either been offered these vouchers to buy at a reduce price, of that of their overall value, or they have come across advertisements/ads on Facebook groups from members trying to sell this vouchers. 

 Family fund regrettably cannot help everybody that applies and due to the growing numbers of applications made on a yearly basis, its pretty common for the fund to offer an award much smaller than they would have liked to give. The families who are obtaining these vouchers for they own greedy need, are actually depriving families who could really benefit from such help. 

 Despite the difficult funding environment of today, the Family Fund continue to assist as many families as they possibly can with the added help of donations and fundraisers stepping in to offer their help. The Funds last annual review of 2010/2011 shows how the fund was able to help support some 56,700 families across the UK. Yet, we now have to ask ourselves, just how many applications were in fact genuine? 

 What is somewhat harder for me and many others, to understand, is the fact that those selling tickets online are actually families of a child with a serious illness or disability! These parents should know more than anyone how much these grants make a difference to those families applying. They are not only depriving their own child, but hundreds more, by gaining tickets given in good will, only to sell them to gain 100% profit. 

 Have you recently brought any of these tickets? Have you seen any “Thomas Cook Holiday Vouchers” known as the “Happy Holiday Vouchers” which clearly display the family fund logo, being sold on facebook groups or pages? Maybe you have seem them on local parenting pages or free ads like gum tree or even Ebay as displayed here. 

 I decided to blog about this today as I have many parenting bloggers on my reading list as well as twitter and facebook list. Like me many of these readers/followers use such forums and I am asking for you all to keep a watchful eye out for these vouchers.

 If you do see any, or have accidently obtained some, please contact the Family Fund on their Facebook Page and help stop the unlawful selling of these tickets and also the reissuing of these tickets to the families involved! Remember, members of the Family Fund can apply on a yearly basis, we need to stop the scum in their tracks!

 Thanks for reading 

Claire Louise

All you have to do to join in, is upload and picture and await the captions to come pouring in!

So, can you give me a caption for this picture?

To join me in this weeks #Satcap visit Mammasaurus blog

Its week three of my journey to keep fit as one of ten parent bloggers sharing our experiences as part of the Next blogging network and in celebration of the launch of the ‘Davina for Next’ new fitness collection.

I had planned to write this update on Wednesday, but life being life didn’t permit it. Still, better late than never.

So… have I been good?

Well, sort of!

This week was tough and although I did pretty good on the workout front, the diet didn’t go so well! I guess 1 out of 2 isn’t two bad. My excuse is, it’s nearing that dreaded time of the month and my body just arched for some bad but incredible good tasting chocolate and the odd cream cake. Yes, I felt a little guilty having polished one of, hence the reason, I properly had another.

Nonetheless, I continued with my crunches, squats and push ups and worked out to a few dance videos over the week.

My aim for this week would have to be getting back on track with the healthy eating plan, as well as working out to my dance DVDs on a daily basis.

Sadly I still haven’t managed to make it to the swimming pool or have a night out dancing, though these are still on my “todo” list!

As for my beautiful red slab shoes from the Davina for Next collection of innovative footwear, I’ve worn them almost daily and they are still in perfect condition (not a single mark on them) they are just so comfortable and the high number of complements I’ve been given in regard to these shoes, is overwhelming. I know a few of the other girls on the plan love them and a few of my readers have even order themselves a pair (ladies you really wont be disappointed, these shoes are great).

To finish up, I’ll leave you with this exclusive video form the lovely Davina McCall herself.  I was sent it last week from the lovely PR who works for Next and I must say I found it to be very inspirational and motivating.

Enjoy…

Those other 9 bloggers joining myself on this mission are listed below, checkout how they’re getting on by clicking the links below!

• Jessie’s Crazy Kitchen
• Nadine – X
• Clairejustineoxox
• Super amazing mum
• Marisworld
• Snugglebubby
• Pret-a-Style
• Mummy Mummy Mum
• Mum of oneRelated articles

• Davina for Next – Week 2 (aspergersinfo.wordpress.com)
• Davina for Next, working out in style (aspergersinfo.wordpress.com)
• Week one – Getting fit with Davina (aspergersinfo.wordpress.com)
• Davina McCall’s Spring 2012 Collection for Next (lifeloveandlivingwithboys.wordpress.com)
• New Year, New You with Next and Davina McCall (fashion-mommy.com)
• Davina McCall: Biggest Loser hosts joins show’s contestants in toughest workout yet (thesun.co.uk)

 We all know that eventually the day will come when as a mother we are required to have that little chat with our children, you know, the one about the birds and the bee’s!

Image via Wikipedia

 I have two son’s Little man (aka A boy with Aspergers) who is 11-years-old and 2-year-old Harley. I also have a daughter ‘Alice-Sara’ who will be 9 this Sunday.

 Yes, I guess I had assumed that daddy would speak to the boys and mummy would speak to her daughter. I would do it in a way that provide her with understanding , not embarrassment nor looks of horror, the terms “Bird” & “Bee” would be widely used, and we would live happily ever after!

 Well, this was in-till I discovered my son, “Little man” wasn’t your “typical” child! Little man sees the world differently, he sees it in “Black & White” and this means only one thing, the subject at hand, would need approaching in a very black and white way!

 There would be no “Birds” nor any “Bees” here! Instead it would be text-book, very, very text-book! Lets remember, this is a child on the autism spectrum, metaphors wouldn’t work, a literal understanding is what he has and using the birds and bees example would only result in confusion (he would be expecting bees to grow pubic hair, have a breaking voice and a use for condoms)

  Guess what? Daddy wouldn’t be doing it nether, mummy would… Fan-bloody-tastic is that!

 Not long after Little man started at his independent special school, especially for children on the autism spectrum, we received a letter home, explaining how some of the boys had fell into the conversation of “Wet Dreams” while on the school bus. Little man goes by  taxi each morning so he wasn’t involved in the conversation but with such small class numbers (no more than 6) I knew it wouldn’t have taken long for him to hear about the subject, my guess is he found out by playtime!

 The letter just raised the subject of how our boys are now growing up and we may want to consider the talk that many parents dread!

 If truth be told, little man has been known to make some pretty random, yet inappropriate comments with reference to a sexual nature for a while now. He said some things in his old mainstream school to a ASD outreach worker. I was red-faced when I read her report and on meeting her she told me he was saying such things to her without any concept on they’re meaning! OK, he knew a little but not enough, yet it certainty warranted a talk! Instead I tried to address it by telling him it was inappropriate and he shouldn’t be saying it! I know it wasn’t a great way to deal with it, yet I guess I wasn’t ready, or didn’t want to be!

 It’s not just that Little Man has Aspergers, it’s also the fact his growing up, I’m therefore getting older which isn’t great, but I’m also losing my “innocent” Little man and before I know it, his going to be this teenage boy with a changing body, hair in places he never knew possible, mood strings and a deep voice!

 Little man has already stated he likes girls and wants to marry more than one (goodness me, do I have a bigamist on my hands)! I guess like any mother, I don’t want my eldest child to grow up, and if anything have that bit of an extra reason to worry.

 So… Yes, we did have a talk, quite recently actually! Little Man, to no surprise, asked a lot of questions and patiently awaited my answers. With every answer it sparked another question and I answered as honestly and correctly as possible. One question was will my “penis grow bigger?” another was “How do you make babies” followed by “What happens once the sperm gets in there” to which I then directed him to this amazing video, which seemed to do the trick and if anything it literally amazed him, rather than grossing him out.

He now knows that once upon a time, he looked like an alien!

He also states that he has thousands of potential “Little Man” clones swimming around inside him, which his saving for his adult life.

 I guess his saving them to share with all them wife’s of his!

 Well, till the next lot of text-book questions, requiring text-book answers, comes along, I feel I’ve done my best for now!

 Now I guess I just sit and wait for those pending teenage years of mood swings and body hang-ups!

For now… I’m just going to enjoy my Little Man being just that…

 A Little Man

Related articles

• The Birds and the Bees (missbiggulp.wordpress.com)
• Proposed DSM 5 Changes and Autism: What Parents & Advocates Need to Know (pdresources.wordpress.com)
• Asperger’s Syndrome (crossroadscounselingcenter.wordpress.com)
• A Failure to Communicate: Asperger’s and Social Relationships (robertmoran.org)
• Book Review: Raising Resilient Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (spectrummymummy.com)

Image by llamnudds via Flickr

Win a family Big ticket to the Blackpool Tower attractions worth over £100 

 I’ve been asked to host a fabulous competition enabling my readers the chance to get their mitts on a fantastic prize and have some fantastic days out in Blackpool.

 The Blackpool tower hosts an array of fantastic attractions and is now offering families the chance to experience them all (7 in total)! What an awesome prize! 

 The Big Ticket is valid for 1 visit to each attraction within 90 days from purchase

 Here’s a little bit about what Blackpool Tower has to offer.

 Blackpool Tower Eye: Embark on your journey to the top of The Blackpool Tower as you step into the lift. Once you’ve reached your destination, the doors open, and you are met with floor to ceiling, uninterrupted views across Blackpool and beyond. The views are said to be Breathtaking, with a view of the entire coastline, its sure to be a rememberable experience.

The Blackpool Tower Ballroom: Stepping onto The Blackpool Tower Ballroom dance floor is like stepping back in time. From the opulent balconies to the intricately painted ceiling, you’ll fall in love with this special hidden gem. Listen to the organist play the grand Wurlitzer as you enjoy a delicious afternoon tea and watch the world dance by. This is a magical place and would be a truly romantic place to be come Valentine’s Day.

Image via Wikipedia

 (New for 2012 – A series of high class seasonal balls)

Blackpool Tower Circus: Built between the tower’s four legs, is The Blackpool Tower Circus – a unique setting for a unique show. Each season Blackpool’s favourite double act, Mooky the Clown and Mr Booo find new ways to give you a giggle alongside world-class acrobats performing amazing acts. The 2012 season will run from Easter until November.

New for 2012 – The main season will show with an all new cast of supporting performers

 Jungle Jims:  This is the ultimate place for fun, a massive indoor play area come adventure playground, with huge Inca Gods guarding the entrance. Inside, awaiting all your brave explorers, is a fun-tastic range of swinging, sliding and climbing contraptions plus a fabulous interactive quest to find hidden treasure! Jungle Jim’s features huge four lane slides, sports area, ballpits and slides on the lower level offering softer play for little ones. 

New for 2012 – Exclusive hire for birthday parties and children’s events

Madame Tussauds Blackpool: This is one for those  celebrity lovers as this attraction allows its visitors the chance to experience, getting you up close and personal with Britain’s best-loved celebrities (well, their wax works that is)! You can join the cast of your favourite TV shows & soaps, stand beside your favourite pop-star, meet some film stars or mingle with footballers.

 So, who do you want to meet?

New for 2012 – Look out for new celebrity figures as we add to our amazing collection

The Blackpool Tower Dungeons: Delve into Britain’s most horrible history at the Dungeons Blackpool and experience live actors, interactive shows and exciting special effects & thrilling rides. Step back into the darkest of times … are you brave enough to face Britain’s gruesome past?

 SEALIFE BLACKPOOL: Home to one of the largest collections of tropical sharks in Europe, SEA LIFE takes you on a journey from the coastline and sandy shallows to the ocean depths. You can’t miss the mighty ocean tank, teeming with tropical sharks and colourful reef fish, from the amazing underwater tunnel.

 Competition Time

So… How would you like to win a ”big ticket” for a family of 4 worth over £100?

 With the Big ticket you and your children would have the chance to discover all the above for yourselves! How useful this would be come half-term and the school summer holidays! You could maybe try and fit all 7 attractions in over the course of a few days if experiencing a short break away, or simply spread them out throughout the year, therefore creating 7 eventful days out, avoiding the set in of boredom during school holidays.

 The ticket will be valid for the remainder of the year, So, there is no worries about your tickets expiring!

 To win this awesome prize you must do the compulsory actions below to validate your entries.

You must also add a contact detail within your comments, either a twitter ID or email address

Compulsory Action: Subscribe to the blog via the RSS feedburner (top right sidebar)

Comment to say you have done the required step and then state within the same comment, why you want to win the prize.

As always we are offering you some extra entries! Be sure to add an additional comment for each action taken 

1 extra entry: Subscribe to my sister blog “Mummy Of Many Talents”

1 extra entry: Subscribe to my Youtube channel, 

1 extra entry: Google + 1 using the button within this post, comment to let me know how to find it 

1 extra entry: Stumble using the button located within this post, comment to let me know how to find it.

1 extra entry: Tweet “I want to win a family big ticket 4 Blackpool tower with @clairelouise82 Adding the URL to this post” 

2 extra entries: Write a review of this blog on the Technorati directory which can be found in the sidebar on the bottom right (little green box above the, nominate a blog post link and L.A.B striped rabbit). 

Competition will close at midnight on the 17th Feb 2012 and drawn soon after!

Good Luck Everyone

T&C

Uk residents only please, winner has just 72 hours to respond by email giving their full postal address, which will then be passed to the PR. The prize is non exchangeable and is valid in-till the 31st December 2012 (some days maybe exempt check tickets or website for details). Each attraction can only be visited the once, though each can be visited on different days. A family ticket is based upon 2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children. 

 A study published earlier this month has found that autistic children have significantly different gut bacteria to children without autism.

A novel method of analysis called ‘PCR’ (Polymerase chain reaction – a technique where scientists copy and examine DNA) allowed researchers to detect high levels of members of the bacteria ‘Sutterrella’in many of the children with autism, and in none

of the children without. Sutterrella was found in 12 of 23 of the autistic children but in none of the 9 participants without autism who took part in the study as a control.

This is not the first study to demonstrate a link between autism and gut bacteria (or microbiota) and children with autism are often thought to anecdotally suffer with gastrointestinal problems such as food intolerances, diarrhoea or constipation.  The fact that this study shows a little-recognised bacterium to be present in more than half  the autism children with autism is a significant finding, and calls for further research in the area to be done.

Interestingly, a large survey released in the last few days has found autism to often go

hand in hand with other mental & behavioural conditions in children, such as anxiety, attention deficit disorder, or learning disabilities.  Anxiety and similar conditions were more common in the slightly older children with autism. 92, 000 parents of children under 17 years old with autism took part in the phone survey in the USA.  This could again be of significance, partly as  anxiety has been linked to gut bacteria in the past.

Reference:

http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/1/e00261-11

OptiBac Probiotic Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/optibacprobiotics

Related articles

• Autism Gastro Problems May Be Linked to Gut Bacteria (nlm.nih.gov)
• Gastrointestinal Problems In Autistic Children May Be Due To Gut Bacteria (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Autism researcher Wakefield was more right than we gave him credit for. (intellipissies.com)
• Gut Bacteria Can Control Diabetes (science.slashdot.org)
• Bacteria in the gut of autistic children different from non-autistic children (medicalxpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

As many should know by now, I’m pretty big on helping raise awareness for worthy campaigns that’s why I’m taking a minute to share this with everyone and anyone!

 The NSPCC is a charity who campaign for UK children, ensuring they can help children who are subjected to cases of neglect, mistreatment and abuse . Without this fantastic charity the UK would likely be a much darker place, with high numbers of children not being protected as they should be. Everyone deserves a full and happy life, where they can live without fear of another and children are amongst the most vulnerable groups of people subjected to such crawl and evil ways.

 One of the  NSPCC latest campaigns  launched, is the All Babies Count campaign which aims to reduce the number of cases of neglect, mistreatment and abuse inflicted upon children under the age of one! The NSPCC have stated that “One baby is killed every two weeks here in the UK” The NSPCC is working hard to end this shocking statistic.

Stepping in to support the charities campaign is the well-known baby brand Sudocrem who have pledged to donate a total of £25,000.

  However, Sudocrem need our help to reach this target!

No… Sudocrem are not asking you to donate any money, they understand that despite how passionate many of us are to support such worthy courses we just can’t afford to give because we simply do not have the additional resources, what with many of us donating through direct debit to an array of charities on a monthly basis. All Sudocrem are asking for is a simple like and a tweet!

 Let me explain: For every “Like” Sudocrem receive on their Facebook page they will donate 50p to the campaign and for every tweet/Re-Tweet using the#allbabiescount hashtag they will donate 25p to the charity!

You can visit the NSPCC website and use the tweet button which kindly asks that your follows give your tweet a RT and Sudocrem will therefore donate 25p to the charities campaign.

What’s more for every comment left on the NSPCC  Facebook Campaign page, Sudocrem will donate a further 50p
  So… to help such a worthy campaign all you need to donate is a tiny bit of  time!

 A few minutes if that, is what such a task would take! If you want to go that extra mile why not spread the word and get your friends and family to do the same, after all it could make the difference of life and death to a baby!

Like the Sudocrem facebook by clicking HERE

For the NSPCC Facebook Campaign page click Here

If you’re worried about a child then please visit the NSPCC website for advice. Please Click Here

For the Sudocrem website please Click Here

For the Sudocrem blog please visit: http://www.sudocrem.co.uk/blog/

Thank you to Blog Match for helping bring awareness to the campaign by sharing it with us Blog Match members

Related articles

• Charity warns of babies at risk (bbc.co.uk)
• 20 years of babies’ rights (slideshare.net)
• Babies are 12 times more likely to be killed than older children – Scotsman (scotsman.com)
• Newborns at risk in families beset by abuse and mental distress, says NSPCC (alisonsgypt.wordpress.com)
• SudoCrem – Baby Bum cream turned pimple cure (completedisbelief.com)

As, many of you know, here on the blog we host a fantastic ‘autism and art’ page, a place where children with autism and their siblings can showcase their creative flair.

We, love creative play in the ‘boy with Aspergers’ household and with three children, you will always find one with a crayon or glue stick in their hand.

This competition is all about creativity and its open to all those with a blog/website.

Appliances online have asked me to host this fabulous competition that is made up of two of life’s greatest pleasures…

…“Food & Art”

Encourage your children to get creative and draw their favourite food!

The child can be as creative as they desire, using just coloured pencils/pens or go all out and use some sparkle! It’s absolutely up to the little artist how they want to do it.

TIP
For the younger ones, why not draw the outline of a dinner plate giving them a template to fill with drawings of their favourite yummy foods.

Once done, simply take a picture of their yummy creation or scan the image onto your computer, upload it to your blog or website.

Next, you must state within your post, that you are sharing the picture as an entry into the Appliances online ‘Yummy food competition’ hosted on the “A boy with Aspergers” blog. (IMPORTANT: Make sure you hyper link the word “Appliances online” linking it to the following… http://www.appliancesonline.co.uk/cookers/cookers.aspx)

The very last step is to come back here and leave a comment leaving me the link to your published creation. This must be done in order to validate your entry!

The winner will be awarded with a £100 amazon voucher or the equivalent in dollars!
The yummy food competition will run from today (21st January 2012) in-till the 6th February 2012 with the winner being selected soon after.

So hurry…. You have two weeks to draw up a feast!

My Little princess Alice-Sara thinks this is the best competition mummy has ever hosted, only because she gets to draw you a few examples

Terms and conditions: Open to everyone with a blog/site. The only requirement is a link to our site with the child’s drawing, it can be a simple:
“Here’s (name of child) entry into the HYPERLINK “http://www.appliancesonline.co.uk/cookers/cookers.aspx” Appliances Online Cookers Yummy food competition. In order to validate an entry you must leave the link to the post/picture in the comment section of this post and do so by the given date (above). The winner must contact within 72 hours of being announced. Postal/contact details will then be passed onto the PR for Appliances online who will send out the prize which will be to the value of £100 or equivalent in dollars.