Family day trip

It's days like today that reinforce just how different our life as a family really is. When we decided to start our family (just over 5 years ago now - how time flies!), neither of us ever imagined that this is how it would turn out. I knew it would be challenging, hard work, rewarding, frustrating and difficult but never realised HOW difficult it might be. 15 months ago the life I'd imagined was taken away and replaced with a completely different one - the day James' consultant confirmed my suspected diagnosis of Autsitic Spectrum Disorder shattered my very being. The last 15 months have been an incredible challenge, and I would be lying if I said that I feel things are completely back on track. Parents of children with ASDs describe life as a roller coaster at the best of times, so it looks as if we're on this ride for a long time yet.

We woke up to beautiful sunshine and I took the spur of the moment decision to go to Willows Farm Village for the day. So we bundled the brood into the car and set off for a family day trip. This was our second visit and I have to sing their praises - they really do accomodate disabled visitors - there is a discounted entrance fee and one adult carer can accompany the disabled person free of charge. All areas are wheelchair (and buggy!) accessible and there were plenty of disabled facilities.

Most families see weekend trips like this as an enjoyable part of family life, bringing everyone together and spending some "quality time" together. It's a bit different for us. We spent most of the morning preparing James for what was going to happen - most of the journey was spent telling him we were going to see some animals (and I was praying that the animals I'd mentioned would all be there - autistic children don't like surprises and don't cope well with change, so if I said there was going to be a horse, there had better be a horse there!). I wonder how much of this really helps as James never really acknowledges what we say, but I'm so used to doing this now I don't even think about it. Maybe one day I'll be brave and not give him any preparation, but I'll have to be prepared for the consequences.

Walking around the farm my daughter was pointing out all the animals, stroking them, saying hello and generally being a very typcial 20 month old. James on the other hand would have wondered around without actively noticing anything if we didn't point each little thing out to him. We must have been the only family pointing out the yummy newborn lambs to our four year old. But it was worth it - for the first time in a long while he actually made the appropriate animal noises - to hear his "baa" "moo" and "neigh" was like music to my ears. Not only that, but he even pointed - he stopped finger pointing at around 24 months so this was incredible. My heart was melting and I was truly ecstatic as I gave him a "high 5" and hugged him close, saying "great pointing James!".

Today was a huge success, and James has been more communicative today than he has been for months, so it looks as if family day trips are going to become a regular occurence.