All tagged autism

Comfort zone

Comfort zone

Anoushka
autism, culture, family, travel, memoir

“The heat is pressing in on us; a solid, slippery thing. I feel like I could cut it with a butter knife. The noise, rich smells and visual abundance of the souk have blurred into irrelevance because I am wholly focused on Spike and his distress.”

Interscotia

Interscotia

Anoushka
autism, family, food, memoir

“Our routines are in tatters and we eat at odd times. We chug fatly towards New Year’s Eve. There is simply nothing to do except slide towards January 1st, particularly this year. And when the clock ticks over from 23:59 to 00:00, well, the year is over.”

Letter from lockdown

Letter from lockdown

Anoushka
autism, family, london, memoir

“Coronavirus cast its shadow over our chalk-edged island. WhatsApp groups thrummed with digital missives speculating about an Italian-style lockdown and my heart sank. Of all the Italian-style things I enjoy (coffee, ice cream, salad dressing), stringent lockdown measures are way down the list.”

Word arrows

Word arrows

Anoushka
autism, memoir, family, london

“Perhaps mindful that his words do not always have their desired effect, he gesticulates often. Finger writing fragments of his words which seem to hang in the air, like the trail of light that lingers when a sparkler is pulled through the dark.” 

Blyton

Blyton

Anoushka
autism, family, memoir, travel

“My school was nowhere so dramatic as the Cornish coastline. The nearest sea was the one frozen in the chalk of the nearby Downs which undulated their way from east to west.”

Hardcore

Hardcore

Anoushka
family, autism, memoir

“I lay in bed planning escape routes in the event of a domestic fire, and had wild dreams in which I had to stay hidden from unseen eyes, or else the world would end.”

Bubbles

Bubbles

Anoushka
autism, family, london

“When Spike was smaller, I remember giving him gifts that he liked so much, he couldn't look at them directly - only squint at them using his peripheral vision.”

Sometimes

Sometimes

Anoushka
autism, family

“Sometimes, when we are asked "How was your day?" or "How are you?", we want to cast aside the "fine" that is bubbling on our lips and actually tell you.”

Future

Future

Anoushka
autism, family

“When we met with Spike's paediatrician for the first time, the words poured out of us like milk. We were grateful for a chance at certainty after months of carrying around this leaden question. "Is he autistic?".”

Pablo

Pablo

Anoushka
autism, family

“I took 10 minutes out of my day to watch the first episode of "Pablo" on CBeebies. It's a ten minute show, mixing live action and animation to tell the story of 5 year old Pablo, who is autistic.”

Light

Light

Anoushka
autism, family, memoir

“Spike lay sleepy amongst the rumpled sheets of our bed. He squinted, raised his hand next to head and opened and closed his pudgy starfish fist. He had made the Makaton sign for "light".”

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