I have childhood photos indicating Rickets from as young as 5 months old. Ricket’s shows itself in the forehead, bulges at the wrists, banana shaped bowed arms and legs and distended belly. But this severe vitamin D deficiency has more extensive impact than just bone development. It impacts the entire immune system, later teeth development, the muscles, the spleen, the liver, the gut, and the nervous system – yes, the brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Hives, joint problems, headaches and attention/information processing issues were part of my childhood. I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis around age 9-11 and put on painkillers until I was 17 and had few white cells. I had had immune problems all my life and was used to infections running in succession, lasting months and not responding well to antibiotics. By 17 I had regular migraines and was on asthma sprays and thrush became my constant companion. By age 26 I had multiple simultaneous infections (respiratory tract, bladder, eye infections), chronic thrush, severe fatigue, and episodes of numbness, vein problems and swelling in my hands, very dark circles under my eyes and what would later be diagnosed as ‘severe reactive hypoglycemia‘. It was 1989 and when I was asked if I’d ever been tested for allergies, I was surprised such a thing could cause such ill health. I was referred to an allergy clinic. Read the rest of this entry »

Economies are going down the spout, there is enough OPEN instruction out there to start training yourselves so you can spend your income on a trampoline, a pool, some horse riding, drums or anything else that you’d have had no money for if you were PAYROLLING the professionals who are living off the one size fits all PATENTED products they are selling you. 2012 is the year to stop bleating like a sheep. Take back the power. I have empowered parents to do this since 1996. Step up to the plate. Test your own potential and be part of your own solutions. Read the rest of this entry »

What do you think of the term ‘Naturally Autistic‘? I think it depends on what made you so autistic in the first place Read the rest of this entry »

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS

I was two years old in 1965. It was a time when autism was deemed ‘childhood psychosis’. After three days observation at St Elmo’s Private Hospital, I was diagnosed as ‘psychotic’. I was diagnosed with language processing disorder in late childhood around 1972 then later diagnosed with the tidier label of autism in 1990 by Australia’s most eminent autism experts, Dr Lawrie Bartak.

In the same year I built on my existing post graduate degree in sociology and degree in linguistics and did a Dip Ed, becoming a qualified teacher whilst progressively going on to author 9 published books in the field of autism, become an international public speaker since 1994, and an autism consultant since 1996. My text books are used in courses on special education & psychology. I have been hired by health services, human services and education departments to work with people in their care and provide training.

WHAT I DO

My job as a consultant is perhaps closest to being a ‘specialised case manager’ for hire. I assess ‘developmental fruit salads’ and I have worked with over a thousand families. I look at a person’s current communication, interaction, behavior, development. I then look at which low or no cost strategies might help that person lead a fuller life, better reach their potential and establish more harmonious relationships with those in their life. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you so much to those who supported my earlier Art-Not-Cancer sale in August. Now as I sweep aside the cancer adventures of 2011 and face the brave new world of 2012, I’ve made a new art space and finally I will have a ‘real’ art studio with space, light, storage – awesome. No more stacking up the walls in a room too small to get as crazy as required to get really experimental with art. To celebrate I’m having a December 2011 Christmas Art Sale. All paintings and sculptures will be 30% off the listed price. You can visit my online gallery to view the available paintings here. If you find a work you like, take 30% off the listed price. That would be the price, plus postage and packing (which varies from $10 upwards depending on the size of the work). You then email me and I’ll tell you the postage cost for what you’re interested in and if you’re still happy, I invoice you via PayPal for the art work you are interested in. You pay for the art work and it would be with you within 7-10 days (hopefully not delayed by Christmas post). I’ll even include 10 free art cards. Read the rest of this entry »

I officially finished adjuvant chemo for breast cancer on November 24th. I had endured all the challenges of chemo and was certain I had had a spring clean and got my new expiry date and I felt I’d be cancer free for at least the next 5 years. I was looking forward to getting hair back on my pale bald head and growing new nails where my damaged brown ones were ravaged by chemo. Seven days later, on 31st of November I noticed I’d developed a 2mm ‘black freckle’ on my scalp Read the rest of this entry »

Sick of attracting needy, greedy, me me me types? Then….
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We Pollyanna types have done it a hundred times. We meet s Sociopath, Psychopath, Narcissist, or a cling monster with Borderline Personality Disorder any of whom may also have a series of addictions or untreated bipolar or Schizo-affective disorder and we sweep aside all this ‘other stuff’ because we see their inner loveliness, their humanity, their potential… or do we? Read the rest of this entry »

Autism is a medical diagnosis according to DSM criteria. AUTistic, however, is not only a description of those with autism, it is an adjective describing self orientation/containment and there are so many roads and reasons why a person may become entrenched in an AUTistic state that its no surprise the range of people who come to identify with the term ‘autistic’. Read the rest of this entry »