Category: autism

autism · general stuff

january

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)60 Comments

Sorry to have been absent for so long but it’s been a bit of a peculiar start to the year here. January is the month when most of Toby’s annual review meetings take place and so it’s a time to focus on where he is making progress and where he needs more help. It’s always uncomfortable to measure his progress as it’s extremely subtle and gradual and sometimes he seems to go backwards instead of forwards. He is so very different from most 12 year old boys, being completely without speech and preferring his lego to any other activity and Maisy mouse, Richard Scarry and Baby Einstein videos to any other kind of TV. Still the paperwork and meetings are completed now and we’ll see what this year brings in terms of his development.

It’s also been a bit unsettling health-wise for me. I’ve had 2 potentially serious health issues recently, resulting in a few hospital appointments. Happily a series of tests have revealed that the first thing was nothing to worry about but the tests for the second thing have shown that I do have a problem with my eyes. I’ve been diagnosed with pigment dispersion syndrome which means I need to have my eyes regularly monitored as there’s a significant risk of developing glaucoma. I’m in the process of reading up about this and I’ve been told it’s best to avoid strenuous activity and exercise (which is not much of a problem for me!) but if anyone out there has any personal experience of the condition that they’d be prepared to share I’d love to hear from them. The positive side of this is that now I’m aware of the problem hopefully it means that I can take steps to minimise further damage to my sight. Anyway, that’s the naff bit of January out of the way. There have been plenty of good bits too…

There’s been lots of woolly stuff going on including knitting a bunch of animals which I hope to have ready for Easter, working on 2 new patterns which I hope to have ready for testing soon and lots of other bits of knitting and crochet including my frothy scarf which is getting quite long and the tiled blanket which is growing nicely. The lovely yarn above is from Jamieson and Smith and I’m playing about with some ideas for new bunny clothing – but more of that another time.

With all of the mild weather we’ve also been enjoying the woods and Amy has come with me on quite a few walks recently – it’s been lovely to spend some time with her as these days I don’t see much of her as she is usually in her room listening to music or on the computer.

And happily Toby did remember how to open presents this Christmas and he is having lots of fun building very tall towers from his new lego

Thanks for dropping in. I’ll be back soon with some proper news of knitty stuff x

autism · crafts & knitting

blanket making

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)44 Comments

Earlier in the year I started on a new blanket project with the aim of making one square a day, but what with one thing and another it has ended up being more like one square a week! Today it is cold and windy outside so I’ve dug out my basket of blankety squares and I’m enjoying snuggling here by the fire and sewing them together.

I wanted to make a geometric blanket inspired by the colours of oriental carpets and I think I am now happy with the pattern the squares are making – I’ve gone for 4 squares of blue/brown/grey with ochre centres surrounded by a row of red/brown/rust squares with ochre centres and one square of ochre/yellow with a red centre at the point where the lines of reddish squares cross each other.

There is a long way to go before this is big enough to be worthy of being called a blanket but now it’s beginning to take shape I’m feeling enthused again and will go back to the plan of making a square a day. I do like working on something different at the end of each day (I’m spending my daytimes working on a small batch of Christmassy bunnies) and something like a blanket that requires lots of little bits is perfect. It’s a good way of making me sit quietly, concentrate on the good bits of the day and relax before bedtime.

Things have been a little heavy going here of late because Toby has been struggling to cope with daily life. This term has been a very hard one for him due to lots of changes at school – he’s had a new bus driver and escort on the school bus (for the first time in 7 years), a new teacher, classroom and classmates and a completely different school routine. All of which have unsettled him greatly and caused him to be much more prone to self harming, meltdowns and long periods of wakefulness and upset during the nights. Unfortunately things will probably get worse before they get better as on the horizon is the upheaval of Christmas which brings more change to the school routine and of course the dreaded school holidays and we’ve just heard his new teacher will be leaving at the end of this month. I’m confident things will become more manageable for him as he gets used to everything but I’m not feeling very excited about the thought of Christmas.

Anyway, things are peaceful, calm and relaxing here right now so I’m going back to make the most of my square sewing before the school bus brings my unhappy boy home.

Thanks for dropping in to visit. I’ll keep the mailing list updated with news of the little batch of Christmas rabbits which I hope to have ready by the end of the month and I’ll pop back soon with some pictures of some other christmassy knitting x

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PS: yarn and hook details for the blanket are on Ravelry

autism · crafts & knitting · general stuff · summer

summer days

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)39 Comments

Summer has arrived here in this little corner of England. The last few days have been wonderful weather-wise and over the weekend our whole family has been outside  – the sunshine even coaxed Amy out of the teenage stereotype of preferring bedroom living 🙂

I’ve been sitting in the shade at the end of the garden and working on some end of term presents for Toby’s teachers. I plan to pair each strawberry bookmark with a pretty note book and pencil and wrap them up nicely.

Free pattern from Pezdiva (with a few adaptations).

Toby has of course been enjoying bouncing, swinging and paddling

even the chicken has been enjoying the hot weather with a paddle in her own pool

Poor H has been the only one not relaxing or keeping cool – he’s still been hard at work building paths and paving around the garden room.

I am also working on a little batch of knitted animals. It’s been a while since I offered any for sale so I hope to have them finished soon, I’ll post some pictures when they’re ready.

Talking of knitting, thanks so much to Love Knitting for featuring little cotton rabbits as their blog of the week last week.

Thanks too to all of the people who sent me emails and messages about the book of the week on radio 4. ‘The reason I jump‘ is written by Naoki Higashida an autistic boy living in Japan and takes the form of questions put to him and his answers. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the world seen from an autistic perspective. My copy arrived yesterday and I’m already halfway through (and scribbling notes to myself as I go). The introduction by David Mitchell is brilliant and any parent of an autistic child will be nodding in agreement and probably like me welling up with tears at reading things that so often go unsaid.

The book itself is revelatory and has again made me tearful many times, both in recognition of the huge implications it could have in the way that others perceive those with autism and because current state schooling often deeply underestimates and mis-interprets many autistic children. My head is literally buzzing and I’m trying to think where we go from here in order to give Toby a way of communicating all that is in his head (rather than just his basic wants), because there is a lot more going on in there than most people give him credit for. I’d urge anyone involved with any aspect of caring for autistic people to read this book, it is an eye-opener and has the potential to change lives.

Thanks as always for popping in to visit. See you again soon, J x