Michelle Tant

This week my lovely boy was diagnosed with autism. Or is that diagnosed autistic? See how new I am to this? I feel like my head is swimming so I'm writing in the hope that writing, as it usually does, helps give me the clarity and steadiness to my thoughts that I need. Because if I'm absolutely honest, I feel a bit blindsided . It doesn't matter that in fact we have wondered over the years if he might be 'on the spectrum', we have even gone as far at times to say that yes, he has autistic traits but he IS autistic? Turns out it's more surprising than expected. We went to his paediatric review with no other expectations than to get the incontinence nurse chased up and perhaps the suggestion of some more blood tests to investigate the reason he presents with sensory processing difficulties, speech and language disorders and learning difficulties. The Dr greeted us with the observation that it seems that the only avenue left unexplored at the moment is the a...

My 4 year old son starts school in September and of course in any family this is big news. My baby boy is growing up, leaving nursery and joining big school with his big brother and his baby sister is taking his place at nursery. Part of the normal cycle of family life. For us though, this has been anything but normal. When I think back to when number one son started school, my feelings couldn't have been more different. I was confident about his ability to fit in, to progress, to get the most out of school. I took it absolutely for granted that this next step in his life would go smoothly, that after a couple of (expected) tears at the classroom door, that he would be flying. And he has... he is happy, popular, well behaved, progressing academically and apparently a pleasure to have in the class. My second son is a sociable, beautiful character with a delightful sense of humour. He has brilliant rythym and loves music. He is a speed demon on his scooter and he will bounce happ...

Reuben my 2 year, 10month old son doesn't speak much. That's not strictly true as he does try to speak but doesn't have a great deal of success making himself understood which is an enormous frustration to him. Add to that the classic toddler tantrums and voila one heck of a time for us all round. He has speech therapy, and has had inthe past occupational therapy as he has fine motor delay too. He definitely is progressing but at his ownpace. The 'issue' here for us is whether this is simply a case of him progressing at his own pace or if there is a problem. I've been giving thought to how I feel about this. What are my thoughts? I admit to frequent frustration and worry about how he will get on at school, will his language simply catch up one day... or is there a problem? If there is, what then? A major worry is about him being 'labelled' and then people not seeing the delightful creative kind little boy he is. That all they'll see is a boy w...