There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ~ Nelson Mandela. The aim of our blog is to educate and help just one person to support their child better. We hope to change perceptions of autism and living with an invisible challenge; but with so many myths and misconceptions out there it really is a 1 step forward, 2 steps back process, although that is half the fun of constantly challenging ourselves to find new ways of getting our message across. Contrary to popular belief many autistic children do make eye contact; it just may be less or different from a non-autistic child. Many children with autism can develop good functional language and others can develop some type of communication skills such as sign language or use of pictures.  Children do not ‘outgrow’ autism but symptoms may lessen as the child develops strategies to cope. Myths One of the most devastating myths about autistic children is that they cannot show affection. While sensory...

Since Ryan was born in 2001, I have read hoards of information on Autism, child development, healthy eating, and alternative therapies to name but a few and as I have said previously I am in no doubt that foods  play an important role in explaining some of Ryan’s difficulties. I try very hard (but am not perfect) to maintain a healthy Limbic System as I believe it has a strong role in our health, wellbeing and development. The Limbic system supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behaviour, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. It appears to be primarily responsible for emotional life and it has a great deal to do with the formations of memories. Susanna Heinze Obviously all of these are very prevalent characteristic ‘symptoms’ of autism, so by trying to maintain a healthy balance and approach I hope to better support Ryan on a day to day basis. As warm-blooded mammals, we are dependent on the development of emotional attachment to the paren...