Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Qasim hates changes - and so do I! But he has autism, so you can kind of understand. I don't, I'm just happy when things are working fine and don't see a need to change them.
But we have had a bit of a major change in the last week.
Now changes are do-able and easy when we have lots of time to get ready. These are ones that are coming up and you know they will definitely happen on a certain day. For example - Qasim will be changing class in September. From September his teacher will  be Mr T. His classroom will be different - we can go visit his new class, his new teacher.

What is a problem is when one of his aides is leaving and we have only a few days notice. I understand she has a new job to go to, and wish her all the best. She has been brill with Qasim for the last two years. And people can't stay around forever - I just wish they could!

All of which has made us talk about changes - and what may change in the future.
The future is another concept Qasim has difficulty with - but we have to try anyway.

So all in all it has probably been a good experience for him. We have had to tackle something we both don't like - and we have come out the other side with no major melt downs. And we have talked about what may change in the future, so he will have some kind of foundation when things do change again.

Just so long as they don't change too often!

Charites and Gripes!

Well it's nearly May 6th. And that is Wishbone day. Which is the worldwide awareness day of Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
The motto for wishbone day is "awareness makes a difference".

Lots of people wear yellow on this day, and they do raise money for charity. Now this year, there seems to be a bit of trouble in the charity department!
Some people with kids who have the same condition as my son are feeling a bit short changed by charities at the moment.

People have had requests for helped ignored, support lacking, emails never returned. Questions over how money raised is spent.
So this year, I'm making a bit of a stand on this.
Wish bone day is not a money raising event - look at the wishbone day promo videos on you tube. They themselves state it's not about the money.
It is an AWARENESS day. Not a money day.

So I will be raising awareness of OI - which I do at every possible chance I get anyway.
And I'm not raising any money!

Quiet Days

It looks like we are having quiet days. No new things are really happening. Life has been wonderfully normal. Just the usual childhood bugs and not much else.
No fractures. No surgeries. No drama - yay!!
So if I have jinxed it all and we have a nightmare ahead, just slap me now.
Quiet is great in the real world, but not so great in the blogging world.
So is there anything any one wants me to address?? Any topics other OI mums or people in general would like to see?? If so, message me to let me know - otherwise no news is good news!

So Many Specialists - So Little Time.

Someone recently asked me where we find the time to fit in all the specialists that we see. Well, over the years there have been a lot.
Some we now see only once or twice a year, but in the early days we would have up to five appointments a week.
Add this to caring for a child with a condition you knew nothing about before, as well as the other kids, and lo and behold, Qasim became my full time job!
That's probably why it can be hard to let go a bit now. I'm all for teaching him to be independent, but when he has been totally dependent on you for seven years it can be hard to step back!

Yes I can be overprotective, yes I can make great excuses and really sound logical arguments as to why we shouldn't do X Y or Z. But at the end of the day, when you have an OI child, you are there to protect them, care for them and help them along the way.

But you are also there to teach them to do things for themselves. To show them that they can do the same things as their friends, just a little bit differently.
Because I won't be here for him forever - and sooner or later he has to take his own steps out into the big wide world alone.

I hope that he wouldn't want me tagging along with him to college, or high school, however hard and nerve wrecking it will be for us both!

It's been a long time......

It has, hasn't it!
We have had soo many things happen.
Qasim is no longer a fox, he changed schools and is now a hedgehog.
We had a fantastic sports day at his old infant school, an amazing leavers concert, a very teary last day. But we made some life long friends, met some wonderful people and learnt a lot about where not to go to junior school!

Yes, we had a major upset were the proposed junior school where we were going to showed us just how incapable they were when it came to dealing with a child who had special needs. And then showed us how aggressive they could be when we decided it was not the place to be.
It also showed us how great the level of care at his infant school was.
Well, it looks like the new school has a lot to live up to.
I hope they're up for the challenge.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

How long has it been??  Tooo long!!
Life has caught up with us yet again!
So what has been happening since September?

Well, Qasim is full time in school, and absolutely loves it.  His class is called the Foxes, and he loves being a fox - he has so many friends now, which for a child with moderate autism would have been unthinkable this time last year.
He has some brill teachers who have really helped him settle in.
The only down side to this is Qasim is going to have to leave this school, and start another one in September. The little man will be leaving infant school and going up to junior school.
If only we could take his whole class (building, teachers and all) along to junior school with him, that would be great. but we have to have a whole new environment, new teachers, new everything to get used to again :-((

We have had Wishbone Day earlier this month as well. The whole school wore Yellow in support of Wishbone Day, to raise money which was fantastic. We have some cracking photos of his teachers dressed as bananas, and Spongebobs. Someone was dressed as a Crayon, but I missed it - hopefully I can find them from somewhere.

Oh and how could I have forgotten - Qasim is a big brother again. Baby Zak was born in April, so it's all been busy busy. No wonder we haven't updated for a while.

And whats next??
SPORTS DAY - I am super excited - more than Qasim I reckon.
I can't wait to see what he does.
So keep watching, more updates on the way, we promise!

Now, if I can just find something to bribe his school with to keep him there another year..................

Starting School

The time has come for Qasim to start going to school. We have home educated him so far, due to there not being any suitable schools in our locality (thanks for that government cut backs).
But eventually we have got him into a mainstream school with two aides, a nice power chair for his own independance and safety, and enough written instuctions on "What To Do In Case Of Fracture" to sink a ship!  I'm sure it's not just me who has ever been a little on the over cautious side when sending their OI'er into school - well that's what I'm telling myself anyway!
So, off we go to school, me more nervous than Qasim to be fair. And where are the tears of don't leave me mum? I don't know either. - I'm still waiting for them to appear.
I have still been on site in case of emergency and while his aides get used to handling him, and he has only been in for two hours max at a time until he gets used to it - but no seperation anxiety - really??
Ah well, maybe he just can't wait to get away from me!
But what ever the reason, he is absolutely loving his time in school.
Maybe when he is there for a whole day, he may start to miss me - just a little would be nice........