Article in Times about autism at Christmas (by St. Charlotte of Moore)

[chonky]

Charlotte Moore article

Wow, an astonishing article. I read CM's book a few years ago and had my eyes opened about autism. The article makes me wonder how parents of children with autism cope with all the Xmas hullabaloo in the shops, on TV etc. It's almost impossible to get away from, I'd have thought.

Very thought provoking and beautifully written.

thanks for the link i love charlotte moore, she tells it as it is she doen't fluffy it up. i have 3 kids with autism and christmas is always interesting, i have 1 who doesn't like surprizes and needs to know whats inside a wrapped parcel, she will pick up the smallest pressie and say, "is it a dolls pram?" i have one who will upwrap the parcel but it took until feb last year to open any of the boxes, then DS who loves everything now but at one time would put everything next to the bin as he didn't like new stuff

thank you Chonky, it is good to read an article like that and I found out about "PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (PDD-NOS)" which I have never heard of.

I might be asking for a charlotte moore book for xmas

Great article - very similar to our house! DS2 has bits of George and bits of Sam in his attitude to the festive season

Fascinating article - thank you for posting it. I love the stick of rock and some firewood request!

She's fab, isn't she. Thoroughly recommend her book to anyone who hasn't read it. I reread it quite often!

DS2 (not on the spectrum) is the only one of my DSs who pesters for presents. DS1 is happy for us to choose his presents, and DS3 doesn't have the foggiest inkling about Christmas. He does like wrapped presents though, particularly if they are cube/box shaped, and will carry them around happily for weeks.

I'm going to email that article to my mother.
Then she may get why Ds is happy eating toast, rice krispies and Pirngles for Xmas dinner.
It's reading about people like CM that makes me grateful that Ds is very mild ASD.

Yep - Charlotte Moore is fab, the sort of journo I would love to meet. I love the way she writes, and another recommendation from me +++++++ for George and Sam book.

i was at a conference 6 weeks ago where she did a presentation, she was fab, funny and really articulate at explaining her sons life and the way it effects them.

ds1 is like Sam, although suddenly interested in Christmas this year. He understands so much more than he did last year. He makes me laugh when he opens a present though. 9 times out of 10 it doesn't make the grade and he just drops is next to him and walks away. Like Sam he might grow to like it as it becomes familiar. I think this year will be the first year since he was that he will actually eat and enjoy christmas dinner. I doubt he'll eat it with us though.

I'm taking up on the moors on Christmas day for a long walk, so no white Christmas for us please. Dh will be left with the frenzied younger 2.

We put the Christmas tree up today. DS2 took absolutely no notice of it - but if it's anything like last year he'll be fascinated by it by Boxing Day!

We had the opposite problem - took the boys round to my parents to decorate their tree and whilst ds1 didn't really join in he got so overwhelmed by all the lights and stuff that he went rigid then attached himself (pinching painfully) to everyone. It was a rather unbearably over manic few hours. He just couldn't cope with the emotion of it. (He used to be like your ds2!) n

We put up our Christmas decorations on Saturday and to my delight DS3 thought the tree was wonderful and bounced up and down ecstatically in front of it for hours! He's dusted down an old favourite video, the Teletubbies Christmas one, and is happily absorbed in rewatching the bit where the children decorate a tree .