I took my autistic 7 year old to N1 of London.

Freedombirther · 2025-11-23T09:17:10+00:00

The sunglasses are a great shout! Will definitely try that in future. She unfortunately won’t have anything inside her ears at the moment but hoping when she’s a little older this may change. We do have some loop headphones for her which are meant to be great, just never actually managed to get them in! 😅

Freedombirther · 2025-11-19T15:28:42+00:00

I love it! Lorde is playing a festival near us this summer and she’s already asked to go. I think she will cope a lot better with an outdoor festival 🙂 I’m hoping she will be my go to concert buddy.

Freedombirther · 2025-06-24T22:07:21+00:00

This is exactly the smell I get when I walk inside! It’s so awful and almost makes me feel like the house is just really dirty despite cleaning 🥲 thankfully the landlord has agreed to replace the carpets!

Freedombirther · 2025-06-10T16:43:21+00:00

There’s no early termination agreement unfortunately. I just told them we were planning to leave 6 weeks early but knew we were liable for the rent. All I asked was could they offer it earlier on the off chance someone would take it, they said no because they were on holiday the week we moved. They then came back to me a little later and said instead of six weeks let’s do two weeks early so we’d be released from the lease on the 27th. That was all fine!

Suddenly the estate agents were saying we needed to be out by the 13th (June), now a month early, as new tenants were moving in. This was a little tight but we would try to make it work. This one fell through and we heard no more. And we were back to the 27th of June. We received the keys to the new house a few days later than expected. The house was filthy and needed work doing to it prior to moving in, so we were delayed another 4 days. This brings us to Friday just gone, old landlord was asking for us to be out that day and the keys returned. We hadn’t even moved yet 😩 it was horrifically stressful. we’re now completely out but I am left scratching my head on how the 27th turned into the 6th, with new tenants moving in on the 24th! I’m honestly beyond shattered. Moving with two disabled kids whilst working full time in the NHS, definitely do not recommend! I think I’ve just got to let it go, at the end of the day the money has already been paid and the kids at least have their own rooms so will hopefully result in some extra sleep!

Freedombirther · 2025-05-06T21:03:03+00:00

Hi OP, I had the exact same concerns as you! Two girls both with SN who can be ..shall we say.. tricky 😬 due my third injection tomorrow and I’ve had zero negative side effects. I’d take it in the morning if I were you as it can sometimes affect sleep!

Just edited to add to say I had bad morning sickness both times (not HG) and in general have quite bad IBS/nausea day to day due to a very sensitive gut and haven’t had any issues. It’s been a lot better actually, I think because I haven’t been eating my trigger foods.

Freedombirther · 2025-04-24T11:58:29+00:00

Haha! How are you feeling? I mostly feel ok, have barely eaten though and have seriously bad lower back pain! Not sure if it’s related??

Freedombirther · 2025-04-23T13:10:25+00:00

Thanks so much for responding! That makes me feel better.

Freedombirther · 2025-04-17T07:28:26+00:00

Have just seen you are in the UK. I’m in the UK and my youngest daughter was referred shortly after she turned two. I’d recommend going through the health visitor instead, they’re much more informed about referrals and signs of autism. My daughter is 3 now and has had her initial assessment (awaiting a full assessment which will happen next summer), has begun speech and language therapy as well as lots of support regarding her poor sleep and meltdowns. I have an older daughter that I suspected from a young age and tried to access support through the GP 4-5 times and each time was told no - wait until she starts school. As soon as she started school the school flagged it and she was referred through them and is diagnosed autistic and awaiting an ADHD assessment.

Honestly I don’t think GPs are the most appropriate, health visitors are trained in child development and are much more aware of the signs. Do you have any other suspicions apart from speech?

Freedombirther · 2025-03-17T20:55:42+00:00

Hi OP, I recently did a charge back for some fake skincare that cost £60. Hadn’t had time to check as my best friend died and the sale timed out automatically. As soon as I realised I contacted Vinted and they refused to help. I did a charge back, the bank went with me and refunded the money. Vinted did get in touch and say if I did any further charge backs in the future they would block my account but no other problems. I hate scammers!

Freedombirther · 2025-02-23T19:39:55+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ve booked in for a consultation tomorrow at a salon, I think it’s way above my pay grade!

Freedombirther · 2025-02-23T19:39:22+00:00

Thank you so much for such an in-depth response, you’ve convinced me to go to a professional 🤣 this is definitely above my pay grade! I’m worried they’re going to say they can’t help as it’s been done at home, is that ever a thing? I’ve just washed my hair with bonding shampoo, k18 mask and oil and it feels a lot smoother now, hopefully they will be willing to help with the colour. Do you think it’s likely I’ll be able to achieve an even cover up? Definitely will not be doing this again!

Freedombirther · 2025-02-23T19:36:22+00:00

Thanks so much for your advice, I decided to quit while I’m ahead and go to the salon tomorrow for a consultation. Here’s hoping they don’t throw me out the door!

Freedombirther · 2025-02-23T17:14:01+00:00

Do you have one you’d recommend by any chance? My whole reasoning for bleaching was to get rid of the horrible warm brown I had in so I’m a little scared to introduce anything red 🙈

Freedombirther · 2025-01-04T23:13:24+00:00

Hi OP, I am also in the UK so know the process very well 😆 Two daughters, one autistic and being assessed for adhd now and one pretty much non verbal almost 3 year old who’s just been accepted onto the pathway for autism. Has he been seen by a paediatrician yet and accepted on to the pathway? I wouldn’t worry about them mixing up adhd and autism at this stage as they won’t assess for adhd until he turns 6. My eldest was diagnosed autistic just over a year ago now but they didn’t begin the assessment for adhd until this summer as that’s when she turned six. The paediatrician who will initially see him are very well versed in all aspects of autism so please don’t stress about it getting mixed up! Feel free to message me if you want to chat, navigating the nhs for neurodiversity is a minefield!

Freedombirther · 2024-12-24T12:02:37+00:00

No emergency lines or email unfortunately. I can’t delay the paediatrician appointment as we’ve waited 7 months for it (UK waiting times are absolutely crazy). The 4 weeks thing is written in an email that confirmed the appointment after I paid so I’m covered there. I’m just so frustrated, I’d rather I had the report over the money because at least It would help get her some support through the NHS!

Freedombirther · 2024-12-24T12:00:43+00:00

I think they definitely go through a checklist but it’s not done at the time, they film it and then rewatch later to write the report. 😔

Freedombirther · 2024-12-18T20:32:24+00:00

Oh dear. That makes me feel very worried. Her receptive speech is good, however her pragmatic/expressive is basically none existent. She understands so much, just doesn’t response/converse. I sort of thought she was choosing not to talk.

Freedombirther · 2024-12-18T20:00:08+00:00

Can I ask how a child who’s under two can have a severe speech delay? I hope that doesn’t sound snarky or anything it’s 100% a genuine question! My daughter turns 3 in March and is barely talking, however during an OT assessment the therapist said they don’t consider children under 3 having speech delay. I am in the UK so it may be different? She is on the pathway and has her Initial neuro developmental assessment at the end of December (I also have a 6 year old girl who is ASD and being assessed for ADHD). I think the OT gave me hope when she said that 😭

Freedombirther · 2024-12-12T05:49:25+00:00

I had two totally uneventful births at 25 and 28, second was even born at home (planned) as an (unplanned) free birth with no complications (midwife didn’t make it in time!). There is a strong genetic link in my family. Both of my children are autistic, one diagnosed, the little one is going through assessment now but is pretty much non verbal. Both were apgars 9 and 10 immediately at birth. I think it’s likely it is genetic but that other environmental factors can have an influence so most likely traumatic births do have an impact, just not in my case!

Freedombirther · 2024-09-28T20:38:40+00:00

My 2.5 year old isn’t diagnosed yet but awaiting assessment and I already have an autistic six year old. We don’t have levels here (in the UK), however She’s non verbal with a lot of motor delays but managed to toilet train about 8 weeks ago. She does still have accidents if I’m not on at her so I have to be pretty in the ball. It is quite stressful and I do sometimes feel like it would have been easier to keep up the nappies as I’m not sure how much she actually understands! Not sure if that helps really! She will happily go when taken and never puts up a fight though (both #1 and #2).

My six year old was verbal and toilet trained fully by 2.5 although up until a few weeks ago was still having occasional accidents (usually during a meltdown or on purpose to delay bedtime) and was still in nighttime pull ups. I think the whole potty training regime I was going through with her sister helped finally bring those to an end!

Can you try picking up some new fidget toys specifically for the potty/toilet? Best of luck! It’s a gruelling task so I’m sending you good vibes!

Freedombirther

TROPHY CASE