If you've read my 'About' page you would have seen that I said My two kids have extra needs.
Its such a hard thing to put a name to, especially with every person having their own individual terms and labels that they prefer.
However since my kids are still kids and I am their advocate I went with the term Extra as I thought that fit them both well.
They are both pretty average kids with a lot of things. They fight, they make a mess, they refuse to eat vegetables.
However spend an hour or more with them and you'll see the Extra emerge in different ways.
My eldest, Abigail - Abby - is 10. She is also already as tall as me with legs that go up to her arm pits. That is not her extra. Though if she keeps growing it may well turn out to be added to the list.
Her Extra is Anxiety.
The kind that leaves her shaking and hyperventilating and twists her stomach in to knots.
Her other Extra is Dyslexia.
Oh she is also Gluten Intolerant.
My son, my Baby, is Jasper. He is 8. No he was not named after the Twilight character, yes he does love that his name is a gemstone. Jasper has not yet received a full diagnosis. He, like his sister, has Anxiety but that's just the icing on the cake. He also has Sensory Processing Disorder - He both seeks and avoids - and we are waiting on the results of his Autism assessment.
Despite all that they have going against them they are awesome kids. Abby is always laughing about something, well when her pre teen moods don't have her yelling at us for breathing that is. She loves art and is pretty talented with a pencil. If she could she would trade her brother to the Devil if she could become a Mermaid, but then some days she'd not even ask for the Mermaid part. She loves to dance and finds the weirdest songs on YouTube.
Jasper is the sweetest boy who gives amazing hugs. He gets immensely passionate about everything he likes and will talk your ear off imparting all his knowledge to you whether it be on Pokemon battle strategies or what fish live where and the likelihood of us catching them off our tiny pier. He's got two dress codes: Practically naked or dressed for the snow. He would live on chicken nuggets and chips if I let him. He has this talent of just knowing how to play video games which irritates me to no end because I can not figure out how to get that blasted controller to work.
They have extra needs but they're also just kids.
I'll be sharing lots of stories and experiences about both of them. Gluten Free recipes, Occupational Therapy ideas that work for us, Calming Strategies...
It has been a long lonely road helping them both be their best selves, though I have a love/hate relationship with that phrase. Advocating to medical professionals and Teachers, even tearing shreds off of family members who refuse to accept their differences. I have had my amazing husband by my side and two friends who get it, and listen. I have had to tune everyone else out when they start saying it's normal, or it's bad behaviour or they'll grow out of it. I nod and smile and change the subject instead of starting a rant I know won't change their minds. It's not normal ( another word I hate ), it's most certainly not bad behaviour, though believe me they both have their days when they are completely 'normal' in that aspect and no, sadly for them most of all, they will not grow out of it.
If anything I have to share can help another Mum or Dad not feel alone and isolated then I'll be a happy Blogger.
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| The adorable duo in 2014, aged 4 and 2, at Disneyland Paris |
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