Saturday, 23 March 2019

Anime and Gacha Life achievements

Stephs Two Girls March 23, 2019 autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance, PDA

Today Sasha has given me permission to share this picture with you, one she created herself. I love it!

sasha's anime drawing of a colourful girl

With this I wanted to send a word of hope to other parents out there who have maybe only just started down the diagnosis path, or who have a recent diagnosis for their child, especially if that child has siblings.

We recently went to the parent-teacher evening at our older daughter's school, and spoke with seven different teachers about her test results so far and about what options she will be taking for her GCSEs. This is of course in stark contrast to the parent-teacher meeting we had at Sasha's school a couple of weeks ago, with her one class teacher, talking about social and emotional developments rather than any kind of academic levels.

In the early years, all those kinds of comparable moments between siblings stirred up huge emotions in me. I was often to be found with tears in my eyes at times in the primary school, watching Tamsin take part in and enjoy her class assemblies, and when she was selected for special trips because of her great behaviour etc. At the same time as feeling obviously very proud of Tamsin, I used to feel sad that Sasha couldn't have these same experiences. Everything felt very unfair.

Fast forward several years and of course the differences are still there, but I now feel more able to view everything from another standpoint. Both of our girls are progressing in ways that suit them. It should never be about what we as parents expect or want them to achieve. We are just here to guide. Sasha is overcoming lots every day to still be attending school, and with support from the right people she is now achieving so much, in ways we'd never have imagined. Sasha came home with this picture which she'd drawn herself at school; she's very proud of it and that in itself is a huge achievement. On top of that, she has acknowledged that there is a girl at school who is a better drawer of anime, but Sasha is determined to improve her own skills regardless. So much progress.

To parents who are at an earlier stage on their journey in this SEND world, my message is that time brings new perspectives and a chance to appreciate life all the more. Comparing siblings and their experiences is pointless; we are all individuals with our own paths to follow!

To find out more about our experiences, please check out our 'About Us' page. If you are looking for more information on Pathological Demand Avoidance, the posts below may help.