Autism Parenting
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How do you say No?

Managing co-parenting, boundaries, and PDA — one ‘no’ at a time. No. Two letters.Easy to write.Easy to say.Yet one of the most powerful words in any language. And right now, it’s the word I’m struggling with the most. I’ve never been an assertive person. I’m a people pleaser. If someone asks me to do something, Continue reading
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Why Is Everything So Expensive?

A simple question from my son — “Why is everything so expensive?” — opened a window into the hidden costs of parenting a neurodivergent child. From clothes that never get worn to food that’s suddenly rejected, this is the reality behind the price tags. Continue reading
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What happens if the banks run out of money?

Recently my son developed a new special interest: money. For a couple of weeks, we spent hours talking about it, counting it, stacking it, and recounting it. Then he went on holiday with his dad—the longest we had ever been apart. While he was away, my mind wandered, as any parent’s would: “Will he be Continue reading
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Can you practice singing Happy Birthday to me?

We were getting to my son’s birthday. The countdown was well and truly on. He was counting down to his birthday and also counting down to his birthday month. He had a birthday list of presents as long as his arm. He kept asking about it, over and over again. “How many days until my Continue reading
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Can we eat in a place that isn’t even here?

Over time we have realised that my son cannot stand any demand or command being given. I’m almost certain he has a PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) profile because his default response to any request is an immediate “no.” The more we push, the more resistant he becomes. And it’s not that he doesn’t want to Continue reading
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Why doesn’t the Earth fall down?

We were on day 7 of the Easter Holidays, in those 7 days I had had 7 sleepless nights, approximately 15 wake ups during those 7 nights (on average 2 a night), I had answered approximately 100 questions (on average of 14 questions per day), probably more actually, and I was knackered so very knackered. Continue reading

