Well, it's been all go here the last few days, what with the amazing school transport saga (you can get the background here and here ) but the good news is that some of it - at least - looks like it may be sorted. After contacting Education Support Services (who seemed dead happy to pencil me in for an immediate appointment till they found out I was a parent and not from a company or department....odd that) I contacted our local MSP (Bill Kidd) to see if he could help. Well his office were utterly fantastic, listened intently and after I emailed them the info sent an email off to Maureen McKenna - executive director of education for Glasgow City Council - to see what could be done. Imagine my surprise when that afternoon ESS (actually it was the person in charge and I'll be honest he was really open and friendly) rang me back to say they'd received the aforementioned email and that, from Monday, all three of our podlings would be able to share a cab. Strangely tho...

Getting my notes together in the hope of getting the aforementioned situation sorted and interestingly came across this in the Every child is included and supported: Glasgow City Council Education Services’ policy on inclusion : 1. All our staff will understand and fulfill their responsibilities to assess and meet the needs of all children and young people. 2. We will ensure that an appropriate range of provision is in place to meet the needs of all our children and young people. We will deploy resources as flexibly as possible. 3. We will continually evaluate the impact on children and young people of the support we are providing; and In developing our approach to inclusion, we will listen to the voices of children and young people and their parents and carers, and take account of their views. Even just taking out these three bullet points shows that this isn't actually happening, especially in relation to...

We've spent the last few weeks getting our brood ready for going back to school, in Cassidy's case his first day at secondary. For those who don't know, their journey to school involves getting a taxi, booked and organized by Glasgow City Council education department alongside transport. The girls (being siblings) get the same taxi to school and have done for the past two years. Cass, their younger brother (obviously) who lives at the same address is now attending the same school. Quiz time: How would you organize the taxis? Have a wee think, you can even go get a pen and paper if you like, I'll still be here. If it's still a wee bit tricky here's some more info - ourselves, alongside the school, had a meeting and decided that all three of them would go to school in one taxi. Without an escort, which are pretty hard to get for kids that need them let alone ones that don't. And this info was passed on to transport 10 weeks before the new ter...

Was thru' at the Edinburgh Festival last weekend to take in a couple of shows, one Autism based and one not tho' I'm gonna mention both as they were both bloomin' brilliant and strongly suggest you go see both if you get the chance. Obviously the reviews are quite small as I'm terrible at writing serious stuff. First up is the fantastic production masterclass that is Hamlet (An Experience), d irected by Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir, the production features the brilliant Emily Carding as Hamlet plus the audience as the rest of the cast taking on the roles of his friends and family to resolve the great questions of life as they Journey through the play together. A stunning show and performance that not only strips back the story of the 'Mad Dane' to it's core but also lays the character of Hamlet bare for all to see as, thru' a mix of movement and prose, Emily Carding drags the character (and text) from the page and into the here and...

Goofy teen has 'relationship' with zombie doll.....Could anyone possibly manage to make an ill informed Autism comment regarding the story?          Go on, guess.      

I could never get my head around Russell's Paradox and by association the Godel Incompleteness Theorem but they did teach me one thing which is that If you go flying back through time and you see somebody else flying forward into the future, it's probably best to avoid eye contact. Saying that tho' when you think about it everything that you see is, in fact created in your mind. The light is absorbed into your eyes, scattered through your optical lens then your brain transla tes the light by reflecting it onto your optic nerves and into recreated pictures built in your brain. So what you see is not reality, but a recreated image. When you focus on what you see in the image, you destroy reality. Your false pictured reality becomes real, while reality itself becomes destroyed into nothing. And that is why I chose to do the wee drawings over maths. Client: "Make it simple yet eye catching."   Me:

Awoke this morning to see that Anti-vaccine queen and all round thick as balsa wood 'babe' Jenny McCarthy has been pushing the hashtag #EndAutismNow on Twitter. She's even made a video about the subject where she claims to know the truth about "the autism epidemic" and how to end it. Nothing like a wee bit of good old fashioned eugenics on a Wednesday morning is there? Plus it's a pretty weird feeling to discover that half of the population want to help make things more inclusive and the other half want you dead. Which let's not beat about the bush because that's what the statement actually means. Whether you realize it or not. Oh well, maybe someone will make Jenny McCarthy and her pals 'end' sometime soon. I can dream. Unlike her son, who's busy battling his mothers ill informed and frankly offensive views.

Top news if you're thinking about attending any shows at The Edinburgh Fringe this month as The Fringe Society has a number of sensory backpacks which are available to borrow free of charges for children and adults on the autism spectrum. The backpacks can be borrowed from the Fringe Shop (180 High Street) and a number of other locations across the city on a first-come, first-served basis throughout August. To borrow a backpack, just head to a collection point with a form of ID which will serve as a deposit. More info here . Swiper no Swipey.