I am Marita and this is my blog.
I am a mother of two amazing girls, Annie and Heidi.
I am a wife to wonderful man called Ralph.
I am myself, diagnosed with Crohns disease in my late teens, interested in cross stitch, sci-fi and fantasy.
This blog started out as a cross stitch blog but has evolved over the years to cover most aspects of life in my home.
In May 2007 my youngest daughter was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism.
Much has changed since that day, Heidi has shown us a different way to look at the world and that started to be reflected in my blog.
A diagnosis of Autism, the label given to my child has not been the end of the world, we have used it to open doors to places we otherwise would not have known existed. Yes some days it is hard but it is also amazing.
In July 2009 my older daughter Annie was diagnosed with Aspergers and tested as Gifted which I’m sure will lead us on an equally interesting journey.
Please stop by and leave a comment, I love hearing from you.
18 responses so far ↓
Nikki // August 24, 2008 at 2:03 pm |
Love your blog. It gave me a good laugh.(especially the toilet post) Great to see the lighter side of parenting and ASD. I have a 9 year old daughter who has Autism.
river // September 20, 2008 at 8:23 pm |
Came here via Nikki, haven’t yet read any of the posts. I like your comments on others blogs.
River, thankyou for visiting and the lovely compliment. cheers Marita
Mark // September 23, 2008 at 6:42 am |
Thanks so much for publishing your social stories. I am going to use those with my children who are painfully shy.
Mark – Thank you for visiting. I hope the Social Stories are as successful for your family as they are for ours. Cheers Marita
Helen // October 30, 2008 at 9:12 am |
I am not sure if you read my blog but if you do please accept my apologies for getting you mixed up with Staci the other day.
Hugs Helen
Belongum // December 18, 2008 at 3:37 pm |
I have two young boys (soon to be 3 & 1), and the XO (their mum) is struggling to come to terms with their daily demands and the changes that their growing older brings. My hat off to you and yours… I’ll be visiting more often, because it’s good to learn new things from different challenges!
I’ve worked quite extensively with young people from Kindy through to year 12 – although I’ve never been a part of an autistic child’s experiences. It’s good to hear of your experiences… thank you!
Stimey // December 21, 2008 at 12:24 am |
I was intrigued by the link I found on Kelley’s Christmas Crazy post because I have a review blog called Things and Stuff. Funny. I have three sons. The middle one was diagnosed with PDD-NOS last February. I’ll be sure to check back here!
corymbia // December 23, 2008 at 2:39 pm |
What a great blog.
I am also a cross-stitch tragic and garden nutter.
…and I’m learning so much about living with children who have autism from reading blogs like yours.
Marina // January 9, 2009 at 12:17 pm |
YOU are a BLESSING to me!!! I’ve been looking for a blog about SPD for so long. I love your charismatic way of not just coping, but LIVING!!!! You are an inspiration & I look forward to learning more from you in the future!! Thank you for being REAL & putting it all out there.
Deb // January 30, 2009 at 5:27 pm |
Hi maria – I just love your blog and would love to share it with moms in Durban, South Africa! I will, of course direct them straight back to your site if you give me permission. Particularly the Coffee Shop tips with a little one. I LOVE IT! Looking forward to hearing from you,
Deb
Sharlet // June 1, 2009 at 7:35 am |
Hello Marita! You have a way with words that draws admiration from your viewers. My interests are in educational psychology and research and I spend my time writing. It’s such fun hearing about you and your kids as mine are grownups. Will try to visit often. Thanks for the laughs and insights about Autism. ~Sharlet
Sandy // June 5, 2009 at 6:16 pm |
Hi, I am a stitcher and have sons, our eldest is autistic and our second son has Aspergers. Glad I found your blog.
Squadron from Aussie Bloggers Forum // June 25, 2009 at 11:16 pm |
Hi, and thanks for sharing your life on your blog.
I have a 12 year old son with an ASD, diagnosed with Aspergers. We all need a label.
You know it’s interesting how many bloggers I come across with kids with some sort of ASD. I suspect it’s in the genes.
It can be a hard road. School is the worst time, especially out of the classroom. Schools are not designed for kids with ASD.
Just be assured with love and support your little girl will make her own place in the world.
Less words, use checklists and she will be fine.
Just remember, fast-jet pilots and NASA Astronauts use checkists
leechbabe // July 4, 2009 at 10:21 am |
Thank you Squadron
Interestingly my oldest who we suspect is Aspergers has decided long ago her career choice will be Army Engineer. Bet they use checklists too
Kimberly Allison // August 24, 2009 at 3:33 am |
Thanks for your social story on going to the dentist. My son, Christian, is six and has severe ADHD and borderline Asperger. We are going to the dentist this Tuesday and I am hoping to get him to cooperate for the first time! I know this story will help.
I would love to know how you made this?
Kim
leechbabe // August 24, 2009 at 7:58 am |
Hi Kim, I found some visuals about going to the dentist and then used what I remembered about previous dentists visits to put the story together. Hardest part was not saying anything negative – I don’t enjoy dentists visits much myself but I didn’t want to let my feelings influence how my daughter experienced dentist visits.
I hope your visit to the dentist goes smoothly
Kimberly Allison // August 27, 2009 at 6:28 am |
The visit went awesome!! He went back with the hygienist by himself and did everything he was supposed to without incident. Bad news…he needs four fillings so I am trying to update the story to include numbing and drills! Ugh!!!
Where did you find the visuals?
leechbabe // August 27, 2009 at 6:41 am |
PictureSET is the resource I used for the images.
main page is here: http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/
They have heaps of stuff available.
The Dental Vocabulary is available as .pdf or a Boardmaker file here :
http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/SubCategory.aspx?id=62
Dave Colson // October 9, 2009 at 1:48 am |
Hello Marita,
I hope this note may help you and your community. To celebrate the launch of @mayerjohnson on Twitter, we are going to be giving away a free copy of Boardmaker Plus! to one lucky follower who does so by October 15th. To go to the page directly, the address is http://twitter.com/mayerjohnson.
Take care,
Dave Colson