A VERY SPECIAL visit was made on 10th March 2020 when I had the HUGEST joy in sharing an entire morning with the”Happy Stars” from St Peter’s First School in Williton. I have previously trained some of the staff here in Indian Head Massage for Special/Additional needs, Advanced Functional Massage and Rainbow Kids Instructor courses.
We all spent the most magical, valuable, expressive and deeply beneficial time exploring massage, story massage, kids’ and special yoga, sensory and immersive meditation, mindfulness, sound therapy, positive affirmation games and empowering activities. I loved every single absolutely delicious moment. Can’t wait for the next visit!
I’m absolutely THRILLED to be invited by the wonderful Autismanduspodcast to be interviewed on Friday 17th April at 1pm where I will share my personal journey as a mother to an amazing, gifted and inspirational son who just happens to have autism, along with all my work that grew from such a special journey.
SO SO massively THRILLED to have been invited by the founder of Project Aspie, the incredible Graeme Croton to be a guest speaker at this special event to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day. This prestigious event will bring together people of all ages, backgrounds, professions and regions to speak and share.
The event will take place at Somerset House, 37 Temple Street, Birmingham, B2 5DP on Thursday 2 April 2020 from 6pm until 8pm BST and your FREE tickets can be booked here.
The evening will be focusing on “People’s stories celebrating Asperger’s and Autism Awareness as well as autism livedexperience and the positives of mental strengthand Neurodiversity and Inclusion in the workplace.”
“This event will feature Special Guests and Special Guest Speakers who do amazing work within the community.”
Project Aspie is an award winning organisation who do such tireless, amazing and valuable work geared towards raising the profile of people with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism within the community.
I will be one of three speakers ,including Graeme ,who will be talking autism lived experience and the positives of mental strength and neurodiversity and inclusion in the workplace. I have agreed to do this with the hugest of happiness because quite simply I would love to share what I am told is my inspirational journey with my son , how we fought through brick walls and endless heartbreak which actually descended into terrifying mental illness… how we turned the word “impossible” into “I’m possible”. How we both needed incredible tenacity and determination to break out of the invisible cage bars of ignorance and to prove everyone wrong. Against a very difficult background we both built lives and have ended up achieving beyond the impossible … beyond all our dreams. I would like, above all, to bring real,proven,achievable hope to this event.
Founded by Graeme Croton who had a late diagnosis of autism in July 2010 when he was 25 years old, Project Aspie was initially an award winning advocacy and support website which went from strength to strength in a very short period of time, with TV and radio interviews and events to name just a few.
Project Aspie was created to “improve and inspire people with Aspergers and Autism to live healthy and independent lives within the community.” Graeme and his team are “committed and dedicated to see an autism friendly environment in employment, education and independent living.” Their simple ethos is that Project Aspie is run by people with autism “to inspire others with autism.” Their motto is “Everything is possible but without willpower there is nothing” and I absolutely agree!
I am particularly delighted and excited because Graeme and his organisation view autism and other different/special abilities in the exact same way I do; not as a separate ‘population’ but as an integral and important part of our community, our world… this multi talented shared population where all voices should be heard and all different ways of thinking to be encouraged, included and celebrated. So many ideas and inventions, groundbreaking music, art and writing have come from those whose brains are “wired differently”. As I have said before in my many blogs and talks, this is not a “global autism crisis” but rather an extraordinary learning opportunity which we should embrace to move our world forwards: to make a difference to the future we shall one day leave behind.
Very excited about my interview with the wonderful AutismandUsPodcast at 1pm on Friday 28th February 2020.
For those of you who don’t manage to catch it, a link to it will be appearing here very shortly !
It is always such an enormous and uncontainable joy to me to be getting our very special children heard and to tell the world about how different is never less…. and actually so often more! Our children have a right to be valued,grown, included and their potential nurtured to its absolute fullest!
What an immense joy to be invited along to the UK Indian Head Massage Community annual seminar on Saturday 17th October 2020 to be held at the Grand Studio in Brighton at the Purple Turtle Academy. Book before 31st March to receive a 20% early bird discount.
As one of four specialists on the panel for the Indian Head Massage Community UK team, I have been asked to be there on the day along with Mary Atkinson and Amy Taylor,the founders, and Bridget Prusik the other specialist team member.We are all so excited to help,learn and share with everyone as much as possible. It is always the most incredible and valuable day so I am very much looking forward looking forward to meeting both old and new faces.
Siena Castellon, one of Anna Kennedy Online’s Ambassadors is hosting an event on Monday 16th March 2020.
It is the Neurodiversity Youth Summit at City Hall, Queen’s Walk,London Bridge. SE1 2AA from 4pm – 6.30pm .The summit is all about celebrating and embracing neurodiverse strengths such as autism, ADHD,dyslexia, dyspraxia and Tourettes. She has kindly invited to showcase some of Autism’s Got Talent’s performers there and our Ollie has been invited following his incredible performance in October 2019. Woooooooooohoooooooo !!!!!!!!! So proud !!!!!!
Free tickets are available on Eventbrite
www.Neurodiversity-Celebration_week.Com
*Sadly this event has been temporarily postponed due to the Corona virus. Watch this space for the new date which hopefully won’t be long….*
I am so SO happy to share with you all that Mary Atkinson and Amy Taylor have invited me to be part of the UK Indian Head Massage Community as a Specialist on the team!!!!
This is such rewarding and joyful news to have my passionate work of the past nine years valued by such respected leaders in the field. I look forward to embracing all the opportunities this will bring and to work hard as part of a very special community who help so many whilst learning and growing continually within that.
Words cannot describe just HOW EXCITED I am to have been invited by Anna Kennedy OBE to be a speaker at Autism Expo 17th-18th July 2020 as a guest speaker! It was due to be held at Brunel University on 28th March with clinics held in the afternoon to demonstrate our work. Due to the Covid pandemic this has had to be changed to online which will be just as wonderful with hopefully even more of you now able to attend remotely !!
I am worried that I might actually spontaneously combust before then ! I cannot WAIT to share my journey, work and message as a mother, author, specialist therapist and public speaker at such a prestigious event – but also to learn from everyone else there.
Most of all I am so looking forward to continuing to work alongside others towards getting our children seen, heard, supported and valued. Click on the image below for more information!
Here is the timetable for the two days so please book your tickets on the link below , all you lovely people !
Each speaker will speak for 45 minutes ( no mean feat for me as I have so much to explode into that time !!) with a 10 minute Q&A afterwards.
Friday 17th July Saturday 18th July
10.30 Welcome from Anna Kennedy OBE 10.30 welcome from Anna Kennedy OBE
10.45 Giuliana Wheater 10.45 Carol Stott
11.40 Break 11.50 Laurie Morgan
11.50 Dagmara Dimitriou 13.30 Matthew and Callum Bennett
Autism’s Got Talent, Ruislip 2019 …. a night I will never forget and will carry with me to my last breath.
Watching my son, who by this time next year will be more qualified than the head of English teacher and her team who categorically told me that Ollie “would never achieve more than two GCSE’s “due to his autism (and who removed English literature from him as well as the higher GCSE paper in English) , reading out his poetry to an audience of hundreds where you could have literally heard a pin drop, really brought home our journey.
Each of the three poems Ollie read were met with thunderous applause that felt like it would lift off the very roof. I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. As I peeked out through the wings on stage I could see people wiping their tears. People back stage were crying and I was crying too because I cannot believe all my son has achieved through so much, both at home and school, to become the gentle, kind, incredibly talented , giant of a man he is today.
I don’t think my heart will ever return to its normal size after this.
Ollie read some poetry from his first anthology “Lungs” about some of the horrific domestic abuse he both saw and then later experienced directly, prompting our departure from such a toxic atmosphere. He also read a poem from his second anthology “Wings” which is “a collection where Ollie reflects on the domestic abuse of his mother and the family , becoming a space where vulnerabilities and hope are explored in the butterfly transformations of his mother. ” The anthology is dedicated to me and simply says “For my Mum,who always taught me to find my song”.
Anna Kennedy OBE kindly invited Ollie to sell his books on the evening. It all felt so surreal seeing my son who I have advocated for all his life, now advocating for others by taking part in such a impactful event.
Each act, each unique , strong, beautiful human being ,was so powerful and gifted that Ollie said to me during rehearsals that he didn’t feel adequate by comparison. My heart went out to him as this message is one he has had for so long from so many. The chilling fact is that each of these kids’ stories could have been so entirely different if they hadn’t had someone believing in them. And half of them,including Ollie, almost ended up not being here at all after being driven to suicidal thoughts and attempts when their gifts went unheard along with their voices.
After the show Ollie pulled me to one side away from the crowds, and very quietly said “Mum, for the first time in my life I feel a tiny bit proud.”
Yes – I did cry again …buckets,! It had taken Ollie 22 years , a Degree and participating in Autism’s Got Talent to at last feel of worth.
I feel even more strongly than ever that Autism’s Got Talent should be on mainstream TV, played at school assemblies and absolutely incorporated into teacher training. If only they could be made aware of how when you tap into that special ability and find what I call their super power …. these kids FLY ! Thank you to Anna Kennedy OBE ,Phil Barnett, Steven Smith,Dawn Avery Lisa Robins and all of Anna’s hard working team and ambassadors for getting all our special children heard.
Following the inundation of emails and messages I received after the show, here are copiesof the three poemswhich Ollieread out. The actual footage of him reading them out at the show can be found on my Therapies For Special Needs FB business page, YouTube and Anna Kennedy Online.
Inspirational suddenly feels like such an overused word.
I’ve never got through so many tissues in one night .
Ever.
What moved me so much was the overriding common theme that each of the incredibly talented performers had been written written off by doctors , teachers and other professionals from as early as two years old.
Just like my own son.
How different their stories would all be now had it not been for someone believing in them and fighting so hard for them to become all they can possibly be.
The strength and determination against all the odds by the children themselves is a journey I deeply recognise and I was blown away by each and every one of them. For the first time in my own life I felt I belonged too as I listened to the stories of other parents and their own children. It felt like a family; an extraordinary feeling I have never had anywhere else. It was extremely powerful to feel all our voices together and to feel the energy behind each performance. It was very emotional.
Meeting Anna Kennedy OBE, someone I have longed to talk with for so long, really feeling her sincerity,motivation, drive and passion was also something I recognised and it was humbling and uplifting all at once.
The whole experience confirmed to me why we do all the crazy hours we do for these kids who deserve to grow, to thrive and to be included in our society.
Autism’s Got Talent, Ruislip 2019 …. a night I will never forget and will carry with me to my last breath.
