As an aside (and for those of you who like that kinda thing) to keep your spirits up during these trying times I'm challenging the pesky C oronavirus one post-apocalyptic/science gone mad film at a time over on my film-type blog reviewing utter tat (and a wee bit of good stuff) that you may - or may not - fancy watching as the world burns around you. You're welcome.  A quick word of warning tho' - it can be not safe for work or a wee bit unsuitable for small children. Or dogs, as Cambridgeshire's Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate Graham Bright once remarked . Stay safe.

 Just back from Morrison's with Amelia, they are now operating a queue system for getting in and out which is fair enough.  As we're standing waiting a woman stormed up the queue obviously raging at the fact that she wasn't allowed to jump in and angrily shouted "Move out of my way!" at Amelia as she trundled passed. Amelia (having manners) moved out the way as the woman stared blankly at us as she made her way to her car. Amelia was asking why she'd snapped before bursting into tears and loudly crying "was I standing in the way because I'm autistic? does being autistic mean I'm naughty and that's why she was angry?"    Luckily the security guys saw us and the person in front let us in first, by this time the woman had gone. Yes I know you're all stressed and worried, especially when in this woman's case she was obviously only allowed 4 gallons of lard to guzzle as opposed to her usual 18 but just thin...

Well it's been an exciting week in the UK (and the world) hasn't it? Surprisingly our house of Autism appears to be coping pretty well all things considered - the girls are doing OK here, Embeth had a wee wobble yesterday when she realized it was worldwide and that she wont be seeing her friends till who knows when, Amelia is just being a teenager and stropping around shouting (mainly due to frustration at the lack of routine and to be fair I'd do the same if I could get away with it) whilst young Master Cassidy on t'other hand has chocolate and is in his PJ's 24/7 so is happier than a pig in shit. Between all the food scavenging and the like we have tons of school work to keep the podlings occupied till they go back so we're spending this week making sure they have a workable schedule in place and getting it planned out on big calendars. When they're done I can start on mine if I can last that long. Corona advice: wash your hands more often and...

As an aside, I got asked by a friend of mine (yes I have some) to try and explain the whole sensory/fussiness issue when it comes to food. So I'm gonna attempt to do it quickly and succinctly. The best example to use is a good old fashioned cheese pizza. To most of you a cheese pizza is, well,  a cheese pizza - you have deep pan, thin, four cheeses, stuffed crust, different brands etc - they may taste oh so slightly different to you but you know in your brain (and in your stomach) that it's all that big crazy thing called 'cheese pizza' and you've catalogued it all away under that heading. But to folk like us the first cheese pizza you ever try is the definition of cheese pizza. There can be no other. So you carefully programme it into your memory that this is what cheese pizza tastes and looks like. No other one, just that. The others taste and look slightly different therefore cant be cheese pizza, otherwise they'd all be the same. It...

I'm not a doctor (or even a real welder) but having just returned from my exciting Saturday morning shopping adventure I just have to say that we should be less worried about the Coronavirus in Glasgow and more concerned by the sudden mass autism outbreak if the queues at Morrisons autism friendly hour is anything to go by. Who knew there were so many of us? (Sarcasm).

Phew! it's been a busy day on the blogging front....from my rant this morning about shit-heeled shoppers buying up everything in stock regardless of whether they need it to finding out that, as from Friday, all the schools will be shut for the foreseeable future. Well this week is doing wonders for our autistic need for calm, routine and a workable schedule. Seriously tho' we've kinda been expecting this for the last week or so and have been dropping heavy hints to the podlings that this might happen plus we've also had an idea of what things related would upset them the most. In our case it's the fact that the girls were preparing for a trip to London (which coincided with their birthday) so to say they're a wee bit unhappy is an understatement, but as I mentioned we'd expected this so have been gently hinting that this might be the case. Cos that's what parents do. Our school it has to be said has been really well organised,...

 WARNING! - This post contains maximum ranting. Well as the world goes to (retail) Hell in a hand basket due to that pesky Corona virus and everything grinds to a halt I thought I'd put my tuppence worth in on the current trend of 'panic' buying and stockpiling that seems to have overtaken casual racism, football and Love Island as the nation's post-Brexit hobby of choice. Apologies in advance cos this may get a wee bit ranty (surprise?) but the whole thing has gotten to a point where I feel like screaming. And here is as good a place as any. A mentalist yesterday. Now shopping at the best of times can be stressful, the noise, the bustle, the mad folk pushing their trolleys into you as groups of (older) men - who've obviously never shopped alone before - gaze angrily at the shelves in the vague hope that the items they need will miraculously appear in front of them all add up to what can be a pretty awful experience all round whether you be ...

Before normal service is resumed - and by that I mean posts about the insane shite folk post online regarding 'the autism' - I'd like to blow my own (metaphorical) art-trumpet and say that not only was FrightFest really great this year (as it usually is) but my art-type stuff went down really well. Yay me. And to celebrate here's a peek at some of it:* Also, which is an added bonus, I didn't get home completely drained as is the usual when attending/attempting social-type events so really happy about that too. Regular reader(s) will have read before knowing your limits when it comes to social activity can be a wee bit of a minefield especially if like me you throw caution to the wind and try to do everything leaving yourself both physically and emontonal shattered and cowering in a corner (or your bed) flapping like a seagull but this year the planets must have been aligned or some such thing as I got in Sunday morning slightl...

Do just fuck off you uneducated spanner monkey. But hold on a second, maybe I was being hasty....Crying blood? Fuck yeah! Mads Mikkelsen's my dad....oh hang on does that mean it's me?  Being an autistic parent of autistic kids is getting even more confusing by the minute.

Yeah, about that listening to autistic voices ....