"I'm working on it!!!" - holiday turmoil.

It's usual by the end of each school term to find A.J. struggling to maintain his composure and balanced momentum.

Noticing also over the past few weeks A.J. had gone backwards dramatically in his morning routine, we've been trying a few ideas to make his evening, morning, and sleep schedules a little easier.

socially awkward....

allowing everyone to express their own personal selves

as parents, we continually struggle with our kid's ongoing diagnosis symptoms;

being unable to clearly verbalise their anxieties and emotional feelings that are brought on by unknown situations or environmental factors, resulting in a heightened sensory emotional state that they can't regulate.

This is known as Emotional Dysregulation - (present in people with ASD, ADD/ADHD, bipolar, PTSD, etc), is caused from deficits in the frontal cortices of the brain, resulting in unregulated emotional responses, behavioural problems, erratic outbursts, all interfering with their social interactions and relationships.

Taking a deep breath and moving forward - One step at a time.........

Parenting - it can be like facing an emotional roller-coaster on a day-to-day basis.

Being prepared for anything and everything at any given time.

Not everything is rainbows and sunshine, not for anyone,

some days seem to drag on, with so many things to deal with.

Just recently I went through a really down moment, my stress levels were through the roof,

It was a really bad 'life can really suck' moment!!!!

Wondering how we cope with the teenage years?

...the latest pose when asked if I can take a pic...
all dressed up to head out the tea at our local club

Sometimes questioning if we would actually make it through in one piece?

 never-the-less we push on through, hoping the outcome will be positive and not a total disaster.

No-one's perfect so we must remember not to be too hard on ourselves.

Our motto we follow is to clear the slate each evening before we go to bed, and start fresh the next day.

Choose your battles and focus on the important things, no regrets, no guilt, no what-if's. 

Watching A.J. progressing through his teenage years, it seems the more evident his quirky mannerisms are becoming, some of his ASD traits seemingly more severe, and yet I feel his age makes them more pronounced and obvious, exposing the cracks to things that were always there. 

Leaving the holiday mode behind -

Well here we go again,

Only one more week before facing yet another year of school mayhem.

Yes, although A.J. likes the familiarity that comes along with his regular routines and schedules, he still struggles with the hustle and bustle that portrays the overall high school environment.

in preparation for the new school year
everything is Black (where able) as requested 

While not exactly planned, here is where we are at.....

enjoying weeks of relaxed holiday mode, a combination of xmas season festivities, Computers, Games, etc, resulting in all but the essential routines flying out the window.

Unfortunately AJ has always struggled with any type of morning routine, add his typical teenage 'angst' into the mix, it was easy for him to tip the scales towards shutting down his regular routine all together.

Sewing Classes with Nanna's Touch - placemat -

Much of the work I do with my Nanna's Touch group and activities relates to supporting families and people with disabilities, including mental health issues and more.
My personal aim being to find ways to integrate and include our local people with disabilities, their family and carers, with all aspects of our local community.
The main way I can do this, in a pay-it-forward aspect, is sharing my love and knowledge of sewing.

Reflections

preparing for the new year ahead.....

Before you read the post below, I want to make it perfectly clear-

I am NOT complaining, I am NOT feeling sorry for myself, I love my family - warts and all.

I am just stating a fact the way it is - NO MORE-NO LESS

I've never shared our story to sugar-coat the big picture, I have always stated what we face straight up as we live it, as anyone in the same situation will agree with what we are dealing with.

Although we continually go through these experiences wondering when will it all end, we also have light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel moments to hopefully even it all out.

We may suddenly see the reality of how our life is playing a continual loop of repetitious mundane events all due to the situations we are facing.