Really joyful to have been asked by Autism Eye magazine to contribute again to this wonderful publication.
I love this magazine, the best selling autism magazine in the UK because like me, the award winning editors are both parents as well as professionals in the world of autism.
Their magazine, born through their horrific and brave journey with their adored son Finn, just as my own was with my son Ollie, is packed full of advice, pointers, help, legal and tribunal advice, diet, EHCP’s ,the best treatments for your child and to help parents avoid the worst.
Autism Eye also keeps parents up to date with the latest research that could have a really positive effect on their children’s lives.
For this issue I was interviewed by Fiona Mc Neill about outdoor and sensory play therapy.
I share some of the ideas,activities and therapies that I use outdoors for the Community Project Rainbow Kids Touch Therapy which I founded in 2016 and which has been recognised by the Children’s University as a Learning Destination.
I also share the proven neuroscientific grounding as to how and why these therapies and activities are so successful for children of all different abilities.
It’s a great issue and it was lovely to learn from all the others who had also contributed. We are all in this together.
The magazine can be accessed online at Autism Eye Magazine or in a hard copy.
MASSIVELY EXCITED to be chatting once again to my dear friend over the Pond, Professor
William R Drinkwater M.Ed,CADC-11,LADC-I,LLC LIVE at 4pm GMT and 4pm Willy’s tie !!
He has calls me his “British Spitfire of Special Needs” and has even made me a logo !!
We will be chatting live for his YouTube Podcast show for The Map : Mental Health and Addiction Podcast “Treatment Modalities with Willy Drinkwater.
Willy’s show is so educational,real,accessible and packed with good advice and pointers. So well worth the follow anyway !
I have no idea what the questions will be but I LOVE it that way as I know my stuff, love learning more and can just be my natural unfiltered self !!I know some of it will be about my recent Autism Hero Award !!
YAAAAAAYYY!!! So happy I’ve actually done about 80 Head Over Heels all the way down my vertical garden !!!
I’ll be live on BBC Radio Somerset 95.5FM Breakfast Show on Monday 27th June 2022 at 7.45am GMT talking about my national Autism Hero Award from the charity I am so devoted to – AnnaKennedyOnline ,as well as all about all the incredibly ABLE autistic and other neurodivergent people whom I am infinitely blessed to work with.
We all need some good news at the moment and I hope for those of you who are able to tune in or catch it later on at BBCSounds Radio Somerset – Listen Live – BBC Sounds (where it will accessible for 30 days) that I’ll bring a smile to your faces.
And LOTS and LOTS of hope,possibilities and belief!
SO SO PROUD to share with you all that on this incredibly special evening I was given an Autism Hero Award !!!
When I began this journey I was a woman who had had no voice at all for 17 years.
As a Mum to 4 neurodiverse children, 2 of whom are on the autism spectrum,I was fighting for them to be heard,supported,valued and included.
That journey,particularly with my son Ollie,birthed the work I do today.
I realised that what was happening to him, exclusion on all sorts of levels,horrific bullying and a total lack of expectation from his school,was happening to children and young adults not just in the UK but all over the world.
Our journey became one I absolutely needed to share with others,whether that was advice,knowledge,information,therapy sessions,endless blogs,magazine articles,interviews,seminars,webinars,prolific free public speaking,a youtube channel and a large public Facebook group set up during Covid when as a therapist I nearly lost everything,as well as taking my training into schools,charities and organisations all over the world.
I have never given up,whatever else is going on in my life.
I never will.
I just want to give,do and be more and more and more so that I can help these kids bloom into their full potential.
I never ever ever in 1000 billion years expected the life that has since happened to me.
This is my Desriny.
I will never stop this work,this passion,this belief – and to educate and advocate for long needed change,acceptance and true inclusion.
When I was awarded the Autism Hero Award by Dr Anna Kennedy OBE for the Charity Supporter of the year,I had ni idea that I had even been nominated or was in the running.
I was busy sharing the event all over my social media platforms and on here to celebrate all the incredible,selfless,tireless and dedicated heroes who are ALL making change happen.
Little did I know !!!
I did cry when I found out and I haven’t cried for myself in 9 years.But it was good crying !
As someone who has been behind others for 20+ years,cheering them on,believing in them unswervingly,shouting until all voices are heard and helping to grow all the delicious potential I see in every single unique human being I am honoured to meet, I am just used to being in the background.
Anna made me feel a million dollars….
Winning this award is priceless.
Anna made me feel seen and heard for the first time in all my adult life.
I couldn’t be prouder to be part of the AKO family – a genuine charity with integrity and a pure big heart.
To hear more about the awards ceremony please visit my YouTube link below : Autism Hero Awards
For the FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS all of us at the AKO family are thrilled and excited to be back at Brunel University,London for the Anna Kennedy Online Autism Expo after having had to previously share it online due to Covid.
Anna Kennedy Online created the AKO Autism EXPO to bring support and information to as many families, carers and professionals as we can.
“It is a time to meet like minded people, share stories, talk with an expert in one of our clinics and to find out more about Autism and its related conditions”.
Everyone is giving their time for free as Anna Kennedy Online is dedicated to promoting the inclusion and equality of children and adults with an autism spectrum condition throughout society.We are a MASSIVELY passionate team!
The event is an action packed day on 25th June with a whole team of people headed up by Dr Anna Kennedy OBE, with incredible speakers and afternoon clinics where you can seek all sorts of advice from EHCP’s,legal advice, therapies, knowledge and real solid help. Autism and other neurodiversities are for life and this day will bring all sorts of help as your neurodiverse children become neurodiverse adults.
I am delighted ,as the Wellbeing Ambassador for the charity, to be sharing my therapies to ease issues and challenges and to help grow your child to their full potential. I also have a whole stack of legal advice for SEN parents due to my personal as well as professional journey with four neurodiverse children.
So please come and say hello !!
Speakers include the fabulous Carrie Grant MBE, Alessandra Bester, Brian Bird, Gemma Long and Alphonso Archer .
To book your tickets and find out more information please click on the link below. AKO Autism Expo
Organised by the fabulous Anna Kennedy OBE, all the ambassadors and patrons of the charity recorded or photographed themselves dancing and wrote how dancing makes them feel. In fact everyone whoever and wherever you are, are invited on the last Friday of every April to celebrate the Step In The Right Direction Autism Dance Day.Large numbers of special needs and mainstream schools are encouraged to organise dance events to raise funds for Autism. In its first year the charity received UNESCO Patronage.
I even had a little sing too!
One of my poor sons was laughing at how I begin my working day!!
He had the very trying job of choosing the best behaved photos… always a tricky one where I’m concerned !!!
And all before going to school!
We all know the positive benefits of dance for those with autism.
Anyone can join in whether they’re autistic, live or work with autistic people or simply to have fun and raise money for this wonderful cause.
Dancing is one of my HUGE “guilty” pleasures. To the point that I actually keep a pair of silver dancing shoes at the foot of my stairs because I never know when the moment will seize me!
This is how dancing makes me feel …
“Ever since I was a tiny girl I’ve seen the world and people in colours. Yellow is the ultimate for me as it means total joy. When I dance I feel bright yellow,free and I’m just undiluted Giuliana.”
Click on the charity website link below and click on the Autism Dance Day tab on the “Campaigns” section of the menu where you will find Anna and all the team dancing for autism and saying how it makes them feel too …. Anna Kennedy Online
Ever since he was tiny my youngest son has had music coursing through his veins.
He lives and breathes it.
His dreams of music production and passion for music however have been crushed and destroyed for the last two years by someone, an adult who should know better, who has negatively targeted him on a continual basis.
I have watched my son just get slowly vacuum packed and sad. He almost gave up music GCSE several times in a class that sank from 22 to just 11 students.
Many thanks to Charles’ private music teacher Phil Keenan who has re-ignited that soul flame within my boy and to Steve Felton and Nigel Heath for turning that flame into a volcano of joy,goals and hope by helping me to visit Abbey Road studios and spend some time in Studio 2 where The Beatles, Oasis and Madonna amongst hundreds of others have recorded.
Charles was so engaged and expressed himself in his beautiful unfiltered way, touching everyone around him so much that he has been invited back later this coming Summer. A wonderful Radio DJ Zoe Hart picked up on this story and has personally invited Charles up for a jamming session and to visit her studio.
No one should ever try to destroy another person,especially a young person with everything to live for.
And who has already been through so much.It’s called bullying and is never acceptable.
So get out there,fight your child’s corner, especially if they are neurodiverse and unseen – and help their dreams come true.
Impossible always equals I’m Possible.
Never stop believing.
World Autism Acceptance Day was spent with AnaKennedyOnline Autism Charity, Born Anxious models and Merlin’s Magic Wand at Madam Tussaud’s in central London this year.
I took along my youngest son Charles because I adore involving my family in my passionate work and bringing them up to never stop believing that anything is possible, and to live fully inclusive lives.
Once again, the Born Anxious children and adults, many of whom are Anna Kennedy Online ambassadors just like myself,hit the catwalk once again.
I even had a little go on the runway thanks to the help of my dear friend, partner in crime and fellow ambassador Jo Wiggins Anand.
Think my son may have left his imprint in the wall he was trying to squash himself into with embarrassment !!
Huge fun was had by all and it was a beautiful way to celebrate Autism as well as to raise awareness and acceptance.
We still have such a long,long way to go however and I would love to re-name this day Autism Education Day because accceptance feels like paying lip service to a condition that lasts a lifetime and not simply a day.
Luckily I have a long life to keep shouting from the rooftops along with many others until true education and support happens so that ALL our children and young adults can reach their full potential.
Really really happy to have spotted this little article about my work in the 2022 Summer Issue of Exmoor Magazine.
I am super proud of where I live and it is always so particularly special when I am featured in a regional publication, especially one as gorgeous as this !! This is the second time the fabulous Naomi Cudmore ,Editor, has included me in this beautiful magazine and I am thrilled. Thank you !
SO SO PROUD to share with you all that on this incredibly special evening I was given an Autism Hero Award !!!
Organised by the fabulous Anna Kennedy OBE, all the ambassadors and patrons of the charity recorded or photographed themselves dancing and wrote how dancing makes them feel. In fact everyone whoever and wherever you are, are invited on the last Friday of every April to celebrate the Step In The Right Direction Autism Dance Day.Large numbers of special needs and mainstream schools are encouraged to organise dance events to raise funds for Autism. In its first year the charity received UNESCO Patronage. 
Really really happy to have spotted this little article about my work in the 2022 Summer Issue of Exmoor Magazine.
