Dear Teaching, We’ve been together such a long time; I hardly know where I end and you begin. My body beats to the rhythm of terms and bells – the long, cold slog to the end of the winter and the inevitable Christmas cold, the summer term that should be easier, but somehow never is,… Read More
We have had a few difficult days. If I’m honest, they’ve turned into difficult weeks. My Instagram feed doesn’t show it, because my phone isn’t the first thing I reach for, in those moments of despair. I reach for you. Even if you’re kicking and screaming, even if you beg me not to, even if… Read More
April the 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day and marks the beginning of Autism Awareness Week. Despite what Klout claims, I am not an expert on autism. I am not an expert at being a mum or parenting either – my children are three and one and I have so much further to go on… Read More
The language of disability can be difficult. Have you ever worried about how to refer to someone with one? Due to the anxiety that you might offend, have you, perhaps, avoided talking about it at all? I know I have. In recent post of mine ‘An apology to my autistic students’ , was received very well. In… Read More
It’s a small thing. So small. We had just returned from the shops and you were bundled up warm in your winter coat. I helped you take it off and off you skipped, into the living room. I continued to unpack the shopping and it was a few minutes before I followed you. And there… Read More
I am sorry. I am a good human being – a good teacher, I think. I listen, I learn, I strive to be better. I know it is a great responsibility to shape young minds, young opinions. I thought I knew what it means to teach a pupil with autism. But experience has given me something… Read More
I hear your voice from the other room: “Hello H. I am running about in the kitchen! I was running about and then you came!” It is the longest utterance you have addressed to your sister. In fact, I can’t ever remember you speaking directly to her in this way before. My heart swells. I… Read More
When my son was born, I wrote this: Woowar Inside your safe and dryness, storm-drenched, I’m happy. Wrapped in your sighs and smiles, all aches and shivers, I’m well. Beside your sleeping skin – soft as silk, pale as paper -Wakeful and despairing, I’m peaceful. Bound up in your absurdity, afraid and… Read More
It took time. My second child, a girl, was born in January 2015. I felt the same instant rush of love I felt with my son two years previously – the same desperate need to protect, whatever the cost. Though, I know, this doesn’t always come at first. But I would be fooling myself if… Read More