You know your are an parent of a child with Special needs when.......

[mieow]

your mobile contains phone numbers for physio, SALT, Ot, hospitals etc

You are on a first name basis when all the people involved with the care of your child.

When your house is full of equiment and you really can't fit anymore in, but you will take more in coz you have to...

Dingle I have the same problem, DD1, 4 can open all my gates in my house, I have taken to tying them shut as I am so worried about her coming down the stairs BUt I really need one had have about 6 safety catches on it, purely so she can't do all it all.

Not really appropriate here, but has anyone ever tried the "doggy gates" like the one in Argos? Are they any good for little mountain climbers/technical wizards-aged 3?
I suppose it must be very good practice for her fine motor skills!

OMG... I have just joined.. and I am sitting here laughing .. and crying.. at this thread...!! Yes! We have Dog Gates! Yes! I know every medical acronym imaginable.. Yes! I am on a first name basis with all the specialists of my two special boys!. YES!!! I have a FILING CABINET IN MY LIVING ROOM! (I thought I was the only person in the world...!! .. YES! I breathe a sigh of relief and bliss at finding ONE DAY in a week that doesn't contain a medical appointment... YES! I think a laminator is the most exciting thing ever.. (I just need one that will laminate WHOLE BOOKS! ... Yes! Cbeebies is my lifesaver... YES! I am ready to deck anyone who looks at my darling boy the wrong away and KILL anyone who SAYS anything... Yes! I am always getting DS stuck in supermarket trolleys and highchairs that he is far too big for.. (and getting horrified glares at the 'cruelty' when I try to manipulate him out!) Yes! We can only visit the house of one of our friends... because she has made her's DS-proof.. on purpose.. and Yes! All our possessions have slowly been climbing the walls so that now even DH can hardly reach them.. (he is shorter than me.. ..

and loads more..! You are all wonderful! Thank you for making me feel like I've just come "home" (I think I was supposed to come here tonight! ..

Hello to you all.. hope to get know you..

Jess xx

PS one more for you.. "If you had a pound for every time a doctor asks you 'what medical training do you have?' (and genuinely thinks you are a nurse of trainee doctor!).. just because you asked a clued-up question.. then you know you'd be a very rich person!!

welcome to mumsnet and welcome to the special needs section, what special needs do your children have? mine 3 have autism

Welcome to mumsnet, Jessica. It's a site that appreciates the wonder of laminators.

Welcome to mumsnet Jessica

Welcome, Jessica

I missed this thread...
I would like to add...

... your house is full of laminated teletubbies, laminated everything apart from DH, infact
... you know every day is going to be full of surprises
... you get VERY excited in toy shops when you spot a toy you think just might 'grab' your child

Thanks for the welcomes guys

I have three children.. Jordan who is 12 who has cystic fibrosis (which is not really 'special needs'.. but definitely involves a lot of hard work every day!).. Jessica who is nearly 6 (I've stolen her name for the my sign in ).. and Alex who has a type of cerebral palsy.. and the main reason why our lives are complete chaos, lol!

Lots of love

"Jess"

I have another one.. but it's a bit gross .. sorry...

"You know you have a special needs child when.......

....you wake up in the morning and the minute you take your first waking breath, you realise the whole house smells of poo!"

(And that's just when there hasn't been a terrible nappy dilemma.. of the type we used to get before we started buying all-in-one bary grow-style sleep suits again!)

Good job we can laugh about such things! (Please someone tell me I am not the only one with the poo problem!! )

Jess xx

I regularly get woken up to a bum in my face, with a child asking for me to wipe it......
Hi Jess, I also have two kids with CP

LOL Mieow... Alex neither knows nor cares whether anyone wipes his!!! (In fact he does it himself, given the chance, by way of "exploring new textures") shudder

How old are yours? And how come they both have cp if you don't mine me asking? Alex is a 'strange case'... normal preg.,.. full time.. 9lbs 12oz!.. ill from the word go.. in SCBU for 9 weeks.. the deveopmental stuff showed up soon after but it tooks months to get anyone to listen.. He has other more minor probs too. But he is totally gorgeous..

(sorry for hi-jacking this thread.. if we not supposed to 'chat' like this here. Am a discussion forum veteran but this is a new one on me.. MumsNet seems HUGE!)

Jess xx

Hi Jess, Ds was born at 36 weeks, seemly healthly.At 7 months we started to notice things weren't "right" took 2 years to get a dx. His CP happened in pregnancy between 28-32 weeks, when he stopped growing. DD1 was born at 31 weeks, had a lot of problems in SCBU, o2 desatuations, bradycardias, septacimea(sp?) animea (sp?) and a brain bleed, that caused the CP.

you use the makaton sign for more to your days old babe whilst breastfeeding

LOL, eidsvold!
You know what though, she will start signing before her first year is out. Ds went to all DD's speech therapy sessions and we were all signing constantly to Dd. He started signing at 10 months. I took him to a signing group full of competitive yummy mums who were gobsmacked. I used to get very defensive and start ranting on about DD and why signing was so important to us.
Anyway, I'm rambling again...

When I "speak" to other peoples children, I sit on my hands sometimes to stop myself signing. All the other mums I know, really don't mind me signing and laugh about it, they would like their NT children to learn too. Other mums I don't really know-I wonder what they must think, especially when I don't have dd at hand, she is sort of my explaination!

Before going to a friends hosue you are saying make sure you've put the pens away, tablets up high and generally made it dd friendly!

...you are paranoid about muddling up your "this young person has autism" cards with your business cards...