Get The Answers You Require From The Talk about Autism Family Support Live Q&A Session

As a parent who has a child on the Autism spectrum I know how frustrating it can be looking for answers. Thats why I’m really excited to share some excellent news with you… Ambitious about Autism the national charity dedicated to improving opportunities for people with autism, who run an online community called ‘Talk about autism‘ have come up with the Family Support Season of live online Q&A.

The charity has come up with 4 discussion topics that parents with children on the autism spectrum voted upon late last year. The whole programme has been designed to offer both parents and carers professional advice from leading experts within the autism sector.

Each of the four sessions will take place live on the web over at the Talk about autism website. Finally parents will have the opportunity to get some of the answers they have been searching for whether its about challenging behaviour or socialising with peers the parent support season’s Q&A sessions will do its best to answer those questions.

The first session has already taken place back on the 16th January. The session covered the topic… ‘Getting the right support at school’ Nonetheless you can still read the entire transcript on the evenings topic over on their website. The session covered areas such as access to education, statements of sen, exclusion and more. The transcript is packed full of great advice what with the specialist advisers being Jill Davies, Manager of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Helpline at Contact and Family, and Steve Broach of Doughty Street Chambers, who is an expert on the rights of ‘children in need’ and disabled adults. This was the first of four live sessions and a great success. Its my guess the remaining three will be just as valuable in the advise they offer.

The second live Q&A session is set to take place on the 30th January 2013 and the discussion topic is that of ‘Understanding & Managing Challenging Behaviour‘. The evenings professionals will be Dr Emma Douglas, a Senior Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Consultant from TreeHouse School, and Richard Hastings, Professor of Psychology at Bangor University in Wales. So, if you are currently experiencing problems with challenging behaviour and are looking for advice this seems like a pretty good place to start.

As a parent to a young man with Aspergers Syndrome we’ve experienced our fair share of meltdowns and aggressive behaviours. Little man is 12 now and I often worry he doesn’t know his own strength when hitting out at other. We have had some particularly bad mornings before school when little man has thrown punches in my direction. His violence scared me! With a frightening temper I had to sought help but it didn’t come easy. I just wish there was something like the live Q&A session available back when I needed it. This topic will sure to be a life line for parents all over the world.

The remaining two sessions after that will commence on the 13 February 2013 & the 27 February 2013.

These sessions will be as follows…

Puberty, sex and relationships (13th February 2013)
Experts for the session: Lesley Kerr-Edwards, Director of Image in Action, and Professor Jahoda, Professor of Learning Disabilities at the University of Glasgow.

Supporting your child to socialise and make friends (27 February 2013).
Experts for this session: Jennifer Cook O’Toole, education specialist and author of The Asperkids Book of Social Rules – the Handbook of Not-So-Obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens with Asperger’s Syndrome, and Andrew Swartfigure, Senior Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Consultant at TreeHouse School.

Well, I’m definitely marking the 13th February 2013 in my diary. This is a topic that I myself have a number of questions in need of answering (googling can only provide so much)! My 12 year old is fast approaching puberty and don’t I know it! Puberty and the issue of sex is a hard enough topic for any parent to face but for those of children on the autism spectrum, it is an area of constant worry and struggle.

All sessions are live and will last one hour. Each live Q&A will commence at 8pm and finish at 9pm on the dates given.

To receive a reminder about any of the live support sessions visit the website and sign up for a reminder by email.

So, there you have it! Four great topics all live and interactive. How about popping along, maybe get a specific question answered or just follow the thread to see what others have to say. Don’t forget, all sessions will appear as transcripts following the live event allowing those of you who can’t make it on night, the opportunity to have a read. Who knows maybe you’ll still find the answer to that question you need answering.

Would love it if readers could share this on there chosen social networks. By reaching out we give parents the opportunity to gain the support they desperately need.

To find out how Live Q&A sessions work click Here

Disclaimer… This is a sponsored post for the autism charity Ambitious about autism. All words are my own.

The True Magic Of Christmas

This enchanting, charming, beautiful house is located at 25A Hayes Lane Bromley Kent. The family who live here have been showcasing their ever growing collection of Christmas lights for some 25 years now?

Why?

Well, its all done in the name of charity. The festive home owners have helped a number of charities by putting on a spectacular Christmas light display in the hope of raising funds for those less fortunate, national and local charities and even children with special educational needs.

I first saw the house earlier in the week when I was asked to collect my son from school due to illness. Of course it was the middle of the afternoon so the lights were not yet switched on. With that I decided to take the children back tonight for a closer look and let’s just say we wasn’t disappointed!

The house is absolutely smothered in twinkling fairy lights.You will find an assortment of Santa’s displayed on the roof top, as well as a range of giant snow globes and a Santa loaded hot air balloon.

If that’s not exciting enough, the front garden has been totally transformed into something of a magical winter wonderland that leaves children bedazzled.

The first thing that catches your eye as you approach the house is a beautifully lite mini Ferris wheel with a host of festive faces upon it (Santa and a Snowman included)!

Nutcrackers and toy Soldiers line the pond area while further along the grass the scene of a nativity really blows you away with festive cheer.

Everywhere you turn, every inch and every corner, you will find something to amaze you. A beautiful wishing well and a life size moving Santa. Colourful wooden trains, talking elves and more.

As you walk about exploring your surroundings, traditional Christmas tunes can be heard playing through mini speakers. They even have a special red post box just for posting letters to Santa.

Here’s a little video I made to try and capture just how lovely the light display really was.

As I stood looking at the amazing display that has brought families from a far to see it, I realised just what a truly amazing thing the family living inside are doing for others. The surrounding communities get the privilege of visiting with their children while many charities are indeed lucky enough to benefit from such a place.

I noted the television flashing in the window and realised that the family were probably sat indoors doing what you or would be doing… only just outside their window, their home was now something of a tourist attraction. But here they are for their 25th year… Seriously how amazing is that? That means these guys were putting smiles on the faces of children while raising essential funds for charity since I was 5 years old.

I dunno about you guys but I think whoever is living behind door number 25 must be a pretty amazing family.

As a mum to a child who benefits from such kindness (as you know little man has Aspergers and special educational needs) I just wanted to spread the festive cheer and if possible get those who are able to visit the house to do so.

Children will not be disappointed. We drove 3 miles to see the lights and would of driven further if needed.

Sadly, this is in fact the last year that the family will be transforming their home into a beautiful Christmas winter wonderland. So… Wouldn’t it be amazing to finish this lovely tradition on a high? I would love the family to make a lovely large sum of money in donations for this years chosen charities. I plan to go along again before the end of this jolly festive season, so I can give a little more! I haven’t got much but I know every penny counts.

So, are you local to Hayes Lane, Bromley? Have you seen the magical wonderland? If yes, I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you haven’t yet visited and are within traveling distance why not pop along and help make this a beautiful end to a magical tradition.

Celebs Help Raise Funds For New Autism School

Stars of the stage, screen and sporting world came together at the weekend at a Mad Men style ball to support the Hearts and Minds Challenge.

The ball, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester on Sunday, November 25, was a resounding success, raising £40,000 for the charity, which supports children with autism.

The star studded event was hosted by three of the charity’s dedicated celebrity patrons; Paul Scholes, Mel Sykes and Keith Duffy. All the funds raised will be going towards a £1 million project to build a new school in Manchester for autistic children.

The 1950s Mad Men theme ensured that all the guests were dressed up to the nines, harking back to a bygone era of style. One of the highlights of the night was a luxury auction, which included VIP passes to the prestigious Prix De Triumph in Paris, a one-off signed mosaic of Paul Scholes created by Salford artist Robert Lally and an exclusive.

Founder of the Hearts and Minds Challenge, Ian McGrath, said “We’re thrilled that the ball has been such a hit and such a substantial sum was raised. The event was enjoyed by all and we are delighted we have managed to increase people’s awareness of autism and our plans for a new school in Manchester.”

After sitting down to a three course meal, guests were invited to take a turn on the dance floor to the sounds of Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton, and crooner Cole Page.

Boyzone and Coronation Street star Keith Duffy, said “I’m really grateful to my friends and family for coming along to support the cause, and I’m sure they had a great time. We all had a lot of fun, but what’s really important are the funds we’ve raised.”

The Hearts and Minds Challenge aims to raise the quality of life for individuals and their families affected by autism, by ensuring the provision of the highest standards in education, care and support. For more information, please
visit the hearts and minds website

Playing Bingo To Raise Money For The NAS

Playing bingo is not something I do often especially online. I used to go to our local bingo hall with my mum and as a result won some impressive amounts of money.

I was contacted by the guys at 888 Ladies (an online ladies only bingo site) They asked me if I wanted to play some bingo and win some money for my chosen charity.

How could I pass up the opportunity to raise some funds for the National Autistic Society (NAS). The guys at 888 Ladies loaded my account with £50 funds, (the account was easily set up and this didn’t take long at all). Then I had a month to win my charity some cash.

How it would work: I could play with the £50 funds and had the period of a month to do so. Anything I won could be reused to play more bingo. However every time I won the amount was logged and when the month was over all my prizes would be adding up and the full amount donated to the NAS.

Given I’m not really able to play during the day when I’m guessing its much busier I had no choice but to play quite late at night. I was either able to play the party bingo or the more traditional form of bingo.

I tried both forms of play but defiantly enjoyed the party bingo more. You can purchase anything from 1-90 cards and with each game you had to make a certain pattern to win. Obviously the more players the greater the prize. This also goes for the cost of each card.The greater the cost the greater the prize (dependent on the number of cards in play of course). I played everything from 5p to £1 per game play.

You may wonder how a person can possibly keep up when purchasing more than one card (90 especially). This is because the game is automatic so once you have purchased your cards the system knows when you are left with one number and if its called the game stops and your declared the game winner. The prize money is then automatically added to your account.

Of course there is the chance more than one person needs the same number and therefore you have a case of more than one winner. In such cases prize money is equally spilt between all winners.

For me online bingo isn’t really the same as the real life game. The excitement of it all is somewhat different. I love marking of my numbers with a dabber and even the danger of possibly missing your prize adds to the overall excitement. I quite missed this element of the game but still had fun all the same.

As I could only play at night I found there to be much less activity so I was therefore playing for smaller sums of money. However I did have quite a few wins and just knowing that each one was adding to my overall total for the NAS was really exciting.

The total I won was around £54 in total plus the initial £50 is donated so that’s £104. Yay… I’m glad the NAS will be able to make use of my donation.

Why I chose the NAS: A charity very close to my heart. My son has Aspergers and through some of our hardest battles from diagnosis to education they have been supportive. I’ve also volunteered for their TSS (tribunal support service) to help other parents get their children the special education they deserve. When it comes to advocating and advice the NAS do it best. They also run special schools and other services. Click here to visit their informative website

Help Susanna Walk Appeal

Some of you may remember the review myself and the children did a while back on the fabulous restaurant ‘Frankie & Bennys’

We loved it, rated it highly and have been back a number of times since.

Then yesterday I received an email about a very special appeal called “Help Susanna Walk” which Frankie and Bennys are supporting.

The appeal really touched my heart and I just had to make my lovely readers aware of it and see if any of you could possibly help this beautiful little girl who wants nothing more than to be able to walk independently.

A waiter who works at the Frankie & Benny’s restaurant in Widnes has a beautiful five-year-old daughter called Susanna who suffers from Cerebral Palsy.

The waiter and his wife are desperately trying to raise money to send Susanna to Missouri in the US for a life changing operation that will enable her to walk unaided. Missouri is the only place she can have surgery urgently – in the UK there is a 2 year waiting list which would mean Susanna would miss her window of opportunity to have it done as she will then be too old to qualify ( I know it sucks).

The operation has a 100% success rate. The family have so far raised £15K but it’s been a struggle and there is a long way to go as they need £60,000 in total.

Frankie & Bennys is determined to raise the money by the end of July 2012 and have promised that this beautiful little girl will walk properly like all of her friends. Frankie & Benny’s is embarking on a nationwide fundraising weekend on Saturday 30th June/Sunday 1st July in every single one of their restaurants where they will donate £3.95 from every child’s meal purchased as well as many other specific fundraising activities for each individual venue.

How you can help

Frankie and Benny’s is a fabulous restaurant and you can feel that you’ve contributed just by enjoying a meal with the children on the specified dates as £3.95 from each of kids meal purchased on this date will go directly to Susanna’s appeal.

If you can’t visit you’re nearest restaurant on either of the two dates and you would like to help Susanna walk then you still can. Just visit the “Help Susanna Walk Just Giving Page” which has been set up as a place people can donate. You can give as much or as little as you can.

What the money raised would do

The money raised will pay for Susanna and her family to travel to and from the States for the operation itself. It will also provide accommodation for the family for a month following Susanna’s operation and further intensive physiotherapy. Money raised will pay for further treatment and aftercare on her return to the UK and hopefully enough will be raise to also provide Susanna with some equipment to aid her speedy recovery.

Susanna only has a short amount of time left whereby she qualifies for this operation, hence the need for immediate action. By raising this money now, Susanna will hopefully have the operation in September and be recovering well by Christmas this year. Just think how amazing it will be for us all to think we have played a part in ensuring it happens.

For more information about Susanna and her family, you can visit the links below:

The Help Susanna Walk Website

The St Helens Star Website

The St Helens Star News Page

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and I haven’t been paid to write this, I have done so to try and help raise awareness for the appeal and to help get little Susanna walking.

Help a child with Autism communicate with the world they live in

So, I was on twitter recently (nothing new there I know) when I came across a very interesting tweet from one of my new followers.

The tweet in question contained a link to a very interesting website and article focused around a campaign that is aiming to help children with autism by providing them with a way to communicate with the world they live in! Here’s how.

With your help a child with autism can be given the tools needed to better communicate their needs, making the world a much easier place for them to live in.

The charity making this happen is “Hearts & Minds Challenge”

They don’t need you to give funds, they don’t want your money, all they need is your old mobile phones, even those that are no longer working!

Here’s what the charity had to say!

Once upon a time, a mobile phone was a status symbol, a way to tell the world that you were so important that people had to be able to reach you all the time. Nowadays a mobile is a necessity, but we still like to have the latest model with features that can improve our daily life.

Now; when you want to trade up your old phone, you could be helping someone with Autism to communicate their basic needs and for the first time, truly express what they want. And the phone doesn’t even have to be working to help….

Autism is a developmental disability which typically affects social interaction, imagination and the ability to communicate. Half of all people diagnosed will have severely delayed speech and as a result, can become frustrated, leading to behavioral challenges and social exclusion.

In the past, these individuals could be taught to use picture exchange communication or “pecs” a system of handing over a picture to request an item. Thus replacing that negative behaviour with a vocabulary of different pictures, all of which have a huge value to the individual. They are prompted to try to say each word and can slowly learn to speak independently with the picture system as support.

However, at least a 1/4 of all people diagnosed with Autism will have to use an alternative communication system for life, which can become very unwieldy as their vocabulary grows.
They must also rely on carers and therapists to update and maintain the system, so they never have independent control of what they want to say.

There are electronic picture devices, but the vocabulary is static, the devices bulky and expensive and the individual cannot express exactly what they want.

However, thanks to the development of a simple App, which recreates the picture system in a digital format, so called ‘non-verbal’ people can communicate exactly what they want on an Apple iPod or iPad. The Grace App, named after the little girl who inspired it is a basic picture vocabulary in a digital format which the user selects then shares to communicate what they want. Most importantly, they can actually add to their pictures themselves using the device camera, or google and save an image if they cannot find and photograph what they need.

Lisa, who created the Grace App says:
“Just because someone is not yet talking, it doesn’t mean they have nothing to say”

Lisa said the App has allowed Grace to express herself clearly and her frustration and tantrums, which could last for hours are now vastly reduced.
“Grace is also interacting with us a lot more, and I’m delighted to hear her using her own voice, as her speech continues to improve”

There are a lot of families that could benefit from trying out Grace or one of the many Apps developed to support the needs of people with autism – but they need the device to use it. This is a big commitment for a family who may have limited means, and a lot of demands on their income due to the pressures of raising a child with Autism.

Hearts and Minds are a charity with a mission to raise the quality of life of individuals with autism have come up with a scheme to turn old mobiles into new technology like the Apple iPad, while raising funds towards opening an Education Centre For Autism in Greater Manchester.

To help: Go through your drawers and cupboards and clear out all those old mobiles that are taking up space, contact the school and donate those devices in the envelopes provided. Not only will you be giving a child with autism the chance to communicate, but you will go into a draw to get your mortgage paid for a year – who wouldn’t like that?

Once I read the above I just had to write this post and share this great campaign with my readers.

I also found a great video on the Hearts and Minds website that really does share a strong message with the world on what a difference we can make by donating our old mobile phones. The video shows a selected number of children with autism using their iPad at home or in school. Attached is a message from the families of these children who state what a remarkable difference the iPad has made to their child’s life.

Warning… The video is a real tear jerker! I sobbed all over my iPhone!

I was actually about to write a sponsored post for a company that specialises in recycling mobile phones, saving the environment and making us a bit of extra cash in the process. Then I read about ‘Hearts and Minds’ who are not only saving the planet but helping a child with autism to communicate. Of course it’s Ok to recycle your mobile for cash, especially if you have little… We all need some extra pennies sometimes. But remember this charity are happy to take any mobile phone, regardless of the state it’s in… Broken, old, “a brick” it really doesn’t matter!

Thankfully my son is verbal and actually speaks very well! However he does have an array of communication difficulties and even for him such technology is a godsend. Little man attends a special school and as part of an OT programme he is now learning to touch type, his fine motor skills are very poor and his handwriting hardly legible. An iPad is on the Birthday list and it’s something I’d purchase with the knowledge of knowing that for little man it’s so much more than a fancy handheld tablet.

I hope that others will read this and next time they open a draw to discover an old dusty mobile they remember this post and therefore remember that for a child with autism that dusty mobile is a door that opens into a world of communication!

Remember families and schools wanting to register for the programme can do so over on the hearts and minds website

For more information on the programme visit Grace App or Hearts and Minds to see if you can help give a child with autism a way to communicate.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored or guest post. I have not been asked to write this and have not received anything for sharing this information. I have done so as a way to help a charity on their mission to help others.

Guest Post – Tired Mummy of Two takes over!

As you all know, we here at A boy with Aspergers love to bring awareness to a great cause and this is certainly one of them. Please read on to discover just what the lovely tired mummy of two is doing to help bliss raise the funds needed to support premature babies  …

Hello there, I bet you didn’t expect to see me here did you?

I am on a bit of a mission to hijack blogs everywhere to get you all talking about my wonderful and exhausting prize draw. Some of you might recognise my name as I ran a hugely successful tombola just before Christmas where I put 196 presents under peoples trees. As this was so successful I started to think of other things that I can do.

In January my sister in law gave birth to my nephew, he was 10 weeks early and very small weighing 1lb 4oz. Obviously this meant he was kept in NICU and then the SCU. When visiting him I came across Bliss and all the lovely work they are doing in these units to support the parents of these gorgeous babies. From providing leaflets and information to training specialist nurses Bliss are there for them and for my sister in law. I decided that I needed to do something for Bliss and bought some running shoes, I couldn’t even run after a bus when I started but now on 20^th May I will be running 10k. Obviously I am trying to get people to sponsor me to do this but as a little thank you I have arranged a prize draw for everyone who sponsors me.  At the moment I have more prizes than I do sponsors so it is looking very likely that people will be getting something nice through the post soon.

You can find a list of the prizes here

To sponsor me you can Text “XOGY47 £1” to 70070 or click on my Just Giving page

The Official logo of the UK Special Care Baby Charity, Bliss (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To be entered into the prize draw you must validate your entry here this is to abide with competition and gambling laws.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post but a guest post in support of Tired Mummy of Two, a fantastic blogger raising funds for a great cause.

Related articles

• NICU support groups cradle families (click2houston.com)
• Early milk ‘benefits prem babies’ (bbc.co.uk)

Are you unintentionally taking from a child with additional/complex needs or a serious illness

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

Help Sudocrem raise funds for the NSPCC All babies count campaign

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)

Why I won’t be sharing my new years resolutions with you!

It’s the 28th December 2011 & in just a few short days we will be at the start of a brand new year!

 Now I’m not about to share all my New Years resolutions  (not that I don’t have any)! Why? Because if there is one thing I’ve learnt over the years, it’s that life is full of unexpected twists and turns, especially when you are a parent of three children, one on the autism spectrum. Do I set myself goals that are hard to achieve? Yes, I properly do, don’t we all? In all honesty, I’d rather kick my own arse privately if I happen to fail on one two of those resolutions.

 I hate reading articles that proceed to tell you what you should be doing! They run off a long list of suggested resolutions one may wish to make. It’s my opinion that new years resolutions don’t spring out from a two page spread, but instead from the gut of the person making them! Resolutions are personal goals you set yourself, which haven’t been decided on lightly, you have to really want to succeed at achieving them, they hold great meaning and would provide the setter great satisfaction if achieved.

 Sadly every single article I’ve read on the subject, whether this is a blog post, parenting website or big name magazine, they all suggest the same old thing! Look at and change the way you eat, quit smoking, lead a healthier lifestyle… Blah- Blah-Bloody-Blah…

 I’m not by no means stating that I’m not going to be working that bit harder to fit comfortably in my skinnies, I’m just stating that surly it’s not always about this, it often stems that little bit deeper than this! Loving yourself that little bit more and gaining confidence should always be the first step.

 Though I have indeed decided to keep my resolutions to oneself (call me a chicken, I don’t care)! I have however decided to share some of my blogging goals for the year of 2012, so if failed we can all laugh together as to be honest failures sometimes make us more eager to succeed and the next time we try, we do it that bit better!

So… here’s a few of those 2012 blogging goals

Relax and enjoy it that bit more, worry less about stats and positions on whatever listings (Top this or Top that) as like many I am a little guilty of doing this.

 Reach out and hopefully provide some hope and support for more families on the autism spectrum, more than I’m already reaching!

 Finish my SEN Know how page, it’s important to me to get this done, I set myself a goal to finish it with the end result being, a number of downloadable fact sheets covering a whole spectrum of subjects relating to special educational needs.

 Expand my love of photography, hopefully expressing myself a bit more through pictures as well as words.

 Create a set of social stories that will be available via the blog.

 Launch my sister blog, which I’ve been working on yet remains unpublished.

 I’ve already done a few video reviews, though I want to expand on this and really get into “Vlogging”

 My biggest goal… Use the power of social media and blogging to help charities such as the NAS! I have a fabulous and fun idea in the pipe line that I can’t wait to get out there! I really do hope that the support of fellow mummy bloggers and some fantastic contacts I’ve made over the past 3 years I’ve been blogging can help make this one a reality.

Related articles

• Girls on the Spectrum: Q&A with the Author of Aspergirls (healthland.time.com)
• Reviews & Resolutions (roxettes-diary.com)