Redecorating via The Spectrum

Oh look!
It's 2 minutes past the witching hour and moi is still awake!

"Midnight, one more night without sleepin'
Watchin', till the morning comes creepin'
Green door, what's that secret you're keepin'?"

C'mon, you know the words!
If old age has poked holes in your grey matter you can cheat and slip over here and do a quick refresher.
You're welcome for the ear-worm *insert wicked laughter*


Meanwhile....things are somewhat quieter here, that could be that Feral Aspie Teen has taken onboard tools to help him connect with his emotions (something that most Auties/Aspies have difficulty with).
Or he's just run out of plaster walls to batter.
Or his parents singing operas of Prisoner (the tv series) has traumatised the poor possum into silence *snort*


We're thinking outside the square to repair the walls....was going to go with wood panelling (Helloooooo, mid-1970s style!) but I'm thinking more corrugated iron....decorated steel mesh....stainless steel....industrial look....
Annnnd then we have the hard rubbish drive happening in the next month or so around these parts...
Whaaaaa?
I'm just sayin'.
Recycling...reusing....saving moolah....saving those poor hard rubbish collectors from injuring their backs....

Ausblogcon lightbulb moments and Real! Live! Adult! Human Beings!

This weekend just gone I ranned away to Sydney to the Aussie Bloggers Conference and, not only did I recharge my mental batteries by socialising with Real! Live! Adult! Human Beings! (who didn't suddenly chuck a wobbly and have a meltdown at my feet....although they were more than welcome to, I was so freaking nervous I'd have probably stepped over them and given them a time out in my vagueness *snort*)...

But anywho!
I got to meet some fanTABulous people who I've been reading for umpteen gazillion years, they are all wonderful.
Yes, they're Real! Live! Adult! Human Beings!
*gasp*
(Does it show that I don't get out much...?)

Something...well, several things 2 speakers in particular made a point of mentioning rang bells with me.
The first was to be careful what you blog - heck, sure we all think we're being careful but hindsight is always 20:20 and looking back over some of the confidences I've shared about Aspie teen there are a number of things he could easily misconstrue or see in a completely wrong light.
Cos the internet is forever.
Will he wonder, in years to come, if I loathed him at those times?
Did I, perhaps, write these posts as payback for his personal mental hell we've travelled with him?
The answer is, of course, no to both of these hypothetical questions but it needs to be made clear.

Another point was made by a chickybabe with a fabulously wicked wit and manner, Carly - she was, essentially, talking about how people think they know all about her medical condition just by watching a single doco when it actually varies from person to person, her comment was ;

"Only the person with the condition can really explain or discuss it."

And it hit home that while I might babble about what my son is going through from a parents perspective only he can really explain/explore what is happening.
I can certainly tell you how many walls he's smashed, how he's burned up enough calories in a single meltdown to make a weight loss company CEO green with envy or how we're all on tenterhooks just waiting for the next upset.
Yes, I can babble that crap til the cows come home but I cannot slip inside my boy's wonderfully fragile head and tell you how he thinks, what he thinks about, what irritates him, what makes him happy, all that guff.
Only he can do that.

So, having a little cry on the bus on the way home on Monday morning (after I'd cleverly tucked the free Kleenex tissues in my backpack that was in the luggage compartment under the bus *snort*) I thought about how I needed to discuss with Aspie teen about him joining this blog.
He has said yes but there are no promises as to when or what he will blog; he's finding the demands of distance ed quite difficult (even doing only 4 subjects) and anxiety-causing on most days.
We have sat and chatted about what I've written, some days I have asked him if I can mention certain incidents, other gut-wrenching things I've deliberately omitted cos there is no need to share some of the really graphic crap with you (and neither Aspie teen or myself would thank me for doing so).
Taking each day as it comes and, most probably, we'll be returning to home schooling where he can feel more in control and enjoy learning again.
And he might blog.

Changes = anxiety

We have friends coming to stay, from interstate, so it's a big thing.
Woohoo, very exciting stuffs!
The general cleaning and tidying is getting an extra going over, something which has sparked the anxieties in our son.
Any little change will crank up those anxieties in all people on the Spectrum.

Aspie humour

I often go to cuddle my boy only to find he's almost my height and sooooo not going to accept a hug from his mother in public.
Where did my little boy go?
He's disappeared overnight, from a cheeky chappie trying to fit in and exploring this thing called humour to an almost gangling youth almost nailing jokes and funny stories after much practice in his head and on we his parents.

Social group find squeeeeeeeeeee!

Yes, it's the little things that float my boat and right now it's the discovery of a Asperger's Syndrome support group that is

• A. Not far from here
• B.Doesn't cost an arm and a leg
• C. Provides social meet-ups for teens
• D. Provides meet-ups for parents AND partners of those on the Spectrum.

Can honestly say I'm in my happy place doin' the Happy Dance....much to my family's embarrassment lol.
Far out, ticking all the boxes feels like I've won the lottery!
My boy does attend many social-type groups but I've noticed he really relaxes and comes out of his shell properly when he knows he's around people who won't judge or scorn him for his behaviour.
He tics - some from his Tourette's, some from his own foibles - and while they might seem 'cute' or funny at first we all know they could go on and on and on unless we try to squash it which only angers him when he's reminded that he doesn't fit in seamlessly.
We have been getting by on a shoe-string for so long it's a little relief to find a group that doesn't expect us to sign over our first born (who is so probably on the Spectrum as well but won't accept it) as payment.
Plus the fact everyone seems to think kids on the Spectrum grow out of it cos there's fuck all resouces out there for Auties/Aspies beyond the age of 12....or ones that don't want you to sell a kidney to fund, at any rate.
Seriously a happy lil camper right now!