LEAP Together

14/04/2020

Policy updated after lawyers challenge ‘discriminatory’ lockdown measures

01/01/2020

Adventures of Lenny and April

ON SAFARI

There's a boy, his name's Len
With his big sister. April. she's ten.
Together they stay and play all day
And spend lots of time in a den.

Lenny likes going to places
April likes drawing faces.
They love to play in a peculiar way
And solve some wonderful cases.

Some have included flying
Another had a frog called Brian
But today is best, better than the rest
For Lennys to help a lion.

He cant sleep
He's staring to weep
His bed is incredibly lumpy
And he's walking all heavy and clumpy.

While walking Lenny shouts "hi"
The lion stops, continues to cry
He asks if Lenny can help how he's feeling
And Lenny says "yes" in reply

"Oh thank you" he says with a yawn
"I've been awake since well before dawn"
I simply can't sleep with my bed in a heap
And in it I think is a thorn"

Setting his pack on the ground
Lenny makes a mumbling sound
"Ah ha there it is" he with a fizz
And there is a pillow he found.

Lenny takes the pillow from his pack
The one he carrys on his back
He puts it down in the lions clearing
With cuddly bear that's black.

He lays a blanket on the floor
Takes hold of the lions paw
"Please Mr Lion, please stop crying,
Your lumpy bed is no more".

"Thanks for your help" the lion said
"I love the cuddly Ted"
The lion turned then yawned again
And walked over to his bed.

The lion climbs in, snuggling down
Now with a smile not a frown
He turns to Lenny and thanks him
"You are a star, you need a crown"

"My pleasure Mr lion, sleep well"
"Do you not have a story to tell?"
Lenny thinks for a bit "ah yes"
And tells a story of a boy with a bell

"Goodnight Mr Lion" said Len
"Oh please" says the lion "my names Ben"
He lets out a yawn and closes his eyes
And was asleep by the count of ten.

The end xx

23/12/2019

Merry Christmas everyone - car wash karaoke- makaton style.

16/11/2019

The Twisting Ducks is a North East charity that aims to change the lives of people with learning disabilities and autism through the arts.

14/08/2019

Become a super hero at the Alan Shearer Centre next week by making a superhero mask!

14/08/2019

Yes, it's hard to raise an autistic child when you're neurotypical, but this will make it easier.

05/06/2019

FREE Event in Mind next month. It's a free conference at the Stadium of Light for parents and carers who have autistic children and young people.

We are trying to reach parents and carers who have children and young people in mainstream schools who are often overlooked & isolated.

SEE BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS

20/05/2019

Sounds like I'm complaining or looking for sympathy, I'm not, I'm just expressing my feelings so you know it's ok to have these feelings. Our life is filled with laughs too, when I eventually give myself a kick. I do find some reactions amusing, as well as emotional. Each outing takes about 3 hours longer there's no pleasantries he just walks straight over and asks "have you got any dogs in the house?" First of all they are taken aback by this great unit of a boy, not a small boy, an eleven year old boy grabbing their arm. Sometimes I see it coming sometimes, however I don't, and from then their day has taken a new direction. After he's had them scrolling through their phones for photos of their beloved pets (cos if they havent any dogs he wants to know what pets they do have) he grabs another passer by and before we know it he's got 4 strangers gathered around talking. Who doesn't like talking about their pets right? I wonder if they go home and tell their families that they met a friendly boy today, that he made them smile, that he cheered them up if they were down.

12/05/2019

I guess I'm luckier than some. I mean, Lennon is happy, he makes others around him happy (including me), he's pleasant most of the time, his sleep isn't always disruptive. He doesn't worry about what others think, can do things for himself, he knows when he's hungry, which is most of the time. He just seems happy being him. So what's so tough? why do I sometimes feel like I can't cope?

Is it the fact that he has his own agenda? his own tunnel vision, his own quirky way that makes him stand out from the crowd, is it the obsessive behaviour that creates the odd looks?, the repetition of conversation. Or is it the fear of what lies ahead for him that I can't cope with?

04/05/2019

My plan when putting Leap Together in to practice was to be a mobile sensory play for children on the autism spectrum and other learning difficulties. However being a mum to a growing boy on the said spectrum I have found it difficult to get involved as much as I wanted because of his demanding requirements. I have also found it difficult and sometimes depressing at the thought that I was becoming more and more isolated from friends and from a life that was once busy and carefree. Fear grows everyday for a future I have no control over for my son in a world that is fixated on image and what's "socially acceptable", and how would he cope if I wasn't around, not that I'm having those thoughts at all but, We all have an expiry date after all.

So instead, I want to help by sharing my experiences and allow everyone to share theirs in an attempt to let those parents who feel alone or isolated know that you most definitely are not either and we all need help sometimes.... I would like to share happy times as well as the difficult times. For us all to give ideas on what's worked for you that maybe hasn't been thought of. I would like to know that I wasn't alone and that maybe someone out there has found comfort in what's been said.

So please please please share this and I will continue posting about my life my son, I don't want to upset people, I don't want to cause offence which is pretty hard in this day and age, I just know how difficult it is and feel that it's time to change from Let Explore Autistic Play to....

Let's Experience Autistic Parenting Together.

03/05/2019

Sunday 13 October 2019

27/03/2019

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