Hello Again!

A little catch-up, re-introduction or whatever you fancy labelling it

I recently popped up a (if I’m honest a rather rushed) grid post about how our family operates with one of our children having AuADHD and I know a big chunk of you have made your way over here following the eruption that came from it, so… welcome! It’s lovely to have you here, mainly because I assume you’ll have a likeminded attitude and approach. It’s always quite pleasant writing in this forum because it feels a lot safer - the volume of audience is smaller but the audience is the right one, if that makes sense. I have no doubt some of those following me over on Instagram and TikTok are there for other reasons besides neurodiversity and talking to 126k people about personal matters can leave me feeling a bit exposed.

So here we are!

I thought I’d do a mini recap seeing as I’ve been chit-chatting on Substack since 2023 and while I occasionally reference it, it’s more of a place I seek/dump my thoughts when things are going a bit wonky in real life, or when I’ve stumbled across something I think has helped us/made our routine a little easier.

I don’t name my child in here or feel the need to pin point which of my sons I’m actually talking about; just know I have 3 children - 2 sons and a daughter and one of my sons has an EHCP (after a lengthy battle I probably don’t need to go in to because you’ll no doubt have your own stories).

A fair few of my posts are behind a paywall, that’s simply because when I first starting talking on here I wanted to make sure I was bringing in the right audience. I appreciate not everyone can commit themselves to subscribing so I also do many that aren’t, so in whatever capacity you’re here, I appreciate you and thank you.

I began using Substack as a cathartic way to wade through what we were experiencing with our child and if I remember correctly, it was quite the storm we were in at that point. I’m happy to be able to say these days we tend to have a pretty decent understanding of how he comfortably operates, he himself is more aware of what keeps him ticking over, his school is excellent and as mentioned before, the EHCP is in place. We’re by no means a family who are struggling with a child who has very high needs, we’re instead a set of parents who spent a good few years chatting to pre-school staff and teachers in whispers - ‘do you think there might be something else going on? Should we maybe consider his total lack of managing his own emotions isn’t actually because he’s young and instead an indication he needs support?’ Lots of blurry lines and behaviours no-one else seemed worried about… until we flagged them and then it was as though SUDDENLY a lightbulb was turned on.

I’m always happy to chat about neurodiversity and how that presents itself in our family - we do have a rich blend of needs within our extended families so possibly may have been attuned to spotting signs early doors - and it’s never been something we were worried or embarrassed about, more just that we wanted to make sure it didn’t hinder his childhood, school-life or happiness.

Please always reach out if you have any specific questions you want to send my way or are struggling with - I know a big group of you came here due to my EHCP tips - but more than anything how wonderful that so many of us are seeing our children and their behaviours normalised, accepted and better understood.

Welcome to my Substack and here’s to living life in the colourful way we know it.