FAMILIES CONNECTED is the chosen charity that The Long Push 2012 is
supporting this year. We first saw Carol when she spoke at an autism workshop
hosted by AUTISM INITIATIVES (http://www.autisminitiatives.org/) here in Merseyside. Carol spoke and we all listened
and nodded our heads as she described those common incidents and triggers that
we as parents and guardians of cheildren on the autism spectrum, experience
daily. This was the first time that I realised (in true Close Encounters style),
"We are not alone". As our situation became more complex, we reached out for
support and found it through Carol and Families Connected. Carol has been
enormously supportive of us. She has given up her time to come and visit us at
home and see, first hand, our situation. Her experience as the mother of a son
on the spectrum has been invaluable and she has supported us at all three
CAF meetings we have attended, even acting as advocate for 'Rachael' when I
wasn't able to attend due to work. All of this contributed to me choosing to try
and support Carol and help Families Connected grow, to able to support more
families, facing the difficulties that an autism diagnosis brings.
A while ago I asked Carol if she would write a short piece for this blog. This is her post...
'LIFE WITH CHILDREN ON THE SPECTRUM'
As a parent of an ASC child (Aspergers & ADHD) day to
day living is like a rollercoaster ride. These children live in their own world
which is, unbelievably different to ours. Somebody once said to me “you have to
take a giant leap into their world because they cannot live in yours” and never
a truer word spoken. The actual real life situation is one of treading water
every day just to get through in the easiest way you can. Trials and
tribulations are a constant thing from getting up in the morning to going to
bed at night.
Undoubtedly one of the most difficult things to deal with
for a parent of a child on the Spectrum is that sometimes the disability is not
always seen. I myself call this the silent disability as, when you see a
child/young person in a wheelchair the human reaction is sympathy and pity whilst
for other children on the spectrum their behaviour is seen to be a production
of bad parenting which causes major anxieties for the parents/families.
The aim of Families Connected is to somewhat assist in
lightening the load of the burden that we carry everyday and to raise awareness
of this disability to the outside world which in turn with understanding, care
and love will make it easier for the family to live with.
Carol McKiernan
Founder & Chairman
Families Connected
Founder & Chairman
Families Connected
To find out more about Families Connected visit their web
page at www.families-connected.org.uk
or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Families-Connected/190465257668501?ref=ts
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