Tell me you're a parent of a ND child without telling me...

This is just like my son. He has a little run where he runs back and forth over the same ground what feels like forever taking small steps, then suddenly whoosh he is off.

I forgot to add taping the fridge and freezer shut to my previous posts, although I'm starting to think some NT kids need this judging by my older child and his appetite.

Going to McDonald's every night because the only food he will eat is plain hamburgers (lockdown was awful for him, he barely ate).

Having to buy soft, long sleeve tops and him refusing to wear a short sleeved T-shirt or shorts, even in the hottest days of the year. The sleeves and collar of said long sleeved tops being ruined by constantly being chewed.

Just being grateful he has developed his speech and language, ignoring the looks from other adults that he has an American accent.

Constantly looking for ways to help him regulate, spending every last penny I have on anything that might be helpful to him.

If we haven't eaten chocolate cheerios at 6:25am and caught the 7:05am bus even though there are three later ones that get you there on time, we're just not going to school.

The anger at yourself when you drop your eye from them for one second and they are halfway across a field/doing something dangerous/have escaped sight. My son runs everywhere. He is fast. He sticks to a route (we call it stuck in his loop) until suddenly he'll break from it...and that's when I start running!

The heart sinking feeling when you do the weekly shop and see "New and improved recipe" on one (or more) of your child's accepted foods. You know you'll be wearing it later or the floor will or the wall...

Oh I forgot, reading Winnie the pooh every night for about 2 years!

We did potty training for two years.

Food is hidden in the car and various other places as they'll eat it all if it's stocked in the cupboards.

Spending £40 in primark on endless sizes and styles of underwear to get the 'right' ones.

Paracetamol and knives all hidden. Sometimes they've come to work with me when I've not had chance to drop them in the car.

Starting the day at 2am or nor not going to bed until almost 11pm.

Having to stick to The Routine down to the minute on a nursery morning - quietly bricking it about school in September.

Mushrooms with EVERYTHING 🤣

Getting used to repetition.

Learning not to pay big money to get in places/for blocks of sessions because chances are we'll end up leaving early or not going in at all.

I bought a giant tea light holder that's like an old fashioned lantern this week, specifically to house his "collection of outside things" so I have all my bowls back 😀

Having 3 of the same jellycat bunny that he holds all day every day because if we lost it the world would quite literally end.

Yes of course I can theme your birthday cake as the Mongol invasion of Afghanistan

"There once was a ship that put to sea..."

I've been there and feel your pain!

To be sooooo excited when he branched out to a slightly different version of the same song by the same artist. Looking at you fucking wellerman

I can name about 85% of Pokemon by sight and can identify about 50% by the sound they make without seeing them.

I can identify roblox games by their music.

I can identify her favourite youtubers just by hearing their voices.

I've heard the same playlist of over 100 songs from her favourite show so many times I know exactly which song is coming next and can identify the season it came from.

If any of this ever comes up on Mastermind I'll ace it!

Calling sweet potatoes "pink potatoes" so she'll eat them

The only vegetable he'll tolerate is tinned tomatoes. But, for a long time we couldn't acknowledge they were tomatoes. We just called them "red".

As in..."Would you like red pasta" Or..."I'm just nipping to the shops for a tin of red"

Watching the same tv programmes over and over
refusing to go to school
restrictive eating
no friends IRL

A draw full of ramekins to stop food touching other food

shoes buying nightmares. She only has one pair of acceptable shoes at the moment

clothes buying in general. absolute nightmare finding acceptable things in the right colour / feel / length etc.

no play dates / hanging out with friends. She doesn’t seem to mind but it makes me sad. No birthday party invites, struggling with what to do for her birthday. Social things in general.

for the love of god and my sanity, make no change to the morning routine. Otherwise we are in for a rough ride.

Oh and hearing 'if your child can't swim at the age of 12 it's a parenting failure' (verbatim quote).

Nup- it's dyspraxia, love. I'll show you the bank statements and £600 I spent on swimming lessons if you like.

I have 60 packets of quavers in my cupboard

having people tell you ‘I would never send my kid away to boarding school’

…. when weekly residential school was the only option we had due to their complex needs and meant my child was actually finally educated by people who could meet their needs not babysat at local school.

being told ‘all children do xyz’

• they might- but I can bet not at the frequency, intensity and age that my child does it - not for the same reason

people believing ‘that ‘a good slap’ would sort out my child’s behaviour (Because violence towards a child obviously cures an autistic meltdown??????)

never leaving the house without comfort / sensory / transitional objects that the world seems them ‘too old for’

having a song for all events of the day such as eating breakfast , getting dressed…

the list goes on and on

… if I could ask one thing of people with kids that aren’t disabled it would be ‘don’t judge - what you don’t understand’ - until you have walked a mile in our shoes (always the same ones winter or summer, sunny or rain as only one brand and style was ever tolerated on a sensory level) you really don’t know what you are talking about… so best not to judge how we are managing….

Playdates with nt kids: the fear it strikes into my heart about the overwhelm and the impact (and embarrassment to me) it will have at collection/ bedtime.

I lie here worrying because I forgot to remind her to put her socks on before bed, because I was maxed out with comforting her after she became distraught that her play date had ended. Now I don't know if she'll be able to put her shoes and socks on today.

We're going away for two nights. I have packed every single combination of clothes I can think of for her. Meanwhile, ds has packed two pairs of pants, two joggers, two tshirts and one jumper.

She told me last night that she doesn't want to go away because she doesn't like things to be 'different'.

I am furious with school because they've just landed 'optional' SATS on all the children (they're 7!) and they failed to communicate this change before implementing it. Dd's performance anxiety was off the scale this week, and she's now stressing about Y3, how different it'll be and she will no longer have her beloved teacher, who really understands her. I don't care that you referred to the tests as 'special booklets' to try to be sensitive. Dd saw straight through those tactics!

I know before the day starts that she will cry today. Perhaps once, perhaps multiple times, but she has cried every single day of her life so far. And because it will be a different environment, I may also get called a fucking idiot at some point. This might be in private, where I feel OK to react calmly and as advised, or it might be in public, where I feel the judgemental eyes of bystanders watching for my reaction. This might mean that I don't react to her as well as I should do.

The junior school's uniform includes a tie. Dd hates the feeling of having tight clothing around her throat. She's already worrying about September.

Travelling on holiday in 2 cars for years, a child in each of our cars.
Never been abroad with them as I refuse to inflict the younger child on fellow travellers.
Having weeks worth of a particular food in stock, to be told they no longer like that food.

Mine used to do that as well. Hard to manage in public toilets with more than one cubicle. So (after posting on MN for advice!!- This is 10 years ago maybe) i bought from Amazon one of those radar keys for the disabled toilet. This meant we could be alone in the toilet and the dryer would not be used at all. It was a godsend.

No, I can’t come back to the U.K. for your event. I can’t just “leave the kids with friends overnight”. We only have one set of friends left who haven’t distanced themselves from us and I don’t want to lose them, and anyway DD1 has no friends. It breaks my heart, and hers, but this is where we are…

Just going out for a day trip - with multiple changes of clothes of course, in case of water or mud splatters.

Ah yes his school shoes are falling apart and tatty. He refuses to wear the new ones which are almost identical but the right actual size for his feet now.

Cheese sandwiches it is again!