at home with Jo Frost - October 2012 - (Page 164)

‘You have to be more a aron showed signs of delayed learning from the age of one when he struggled to learn how to speak. he was increasingly frustrated and started to scream if he wanted something. as he got older, the screaming turned into violent outbursts of kicking, biting, pushing and punching. ‘From the age of two we went through several assessments with doctors, speech therapists and special educational needs co-ordinators (senCO) but we were unable to get a definite diagnosis as there is always a reluctance to label the child. ‘after failures at three nurseries, we finally got him a place at a local specialist school nursery, which was a major turning point. at three, aaron began to communicate using Makaton – a language programme using signs and symbols – and the nursery teachers also used visual timetables with speech therapy. he flourished; within a few months his speech took off and while he still had violent outbursts, he was now able to tell us what was troubling him. ‘With no special educational needs (sen) statement or diagnosis another battle began as he started school. now a school action plus child (those children who are not making adequate educational progress), with his support network gone, his behaviour began to deteriorate again. ‘aaron was suspended from school in reception class and then again at than just a parent’ Jaimie Dorward, 33, is mum and carer to her autistic son, Aaron, nine. She’s married to Duncan Shaw and works full-time, as well as being an ambassador for The National Autistic Society the beginning of year one for violent actions towards other children and even the adults. You can’t imagine the heartbreak of having this happen to your five-year-old.’ Discovering autism ‘after 18 months, and with the support of over 10 health and educational professionals, we finally obtained a statement for one-to-one support and a diagnosis of autism. ‘at first I asked the question I hadn’t dared to ask before: “Was it me? Was it something that I did?” But quickly we felt relief knowing that it had a name – this meant we could fight it and finally could do something knowing it was the right thing, rather than take a scatter-gun 164 | OCTOBER 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of at home with Jo Frost - October 2012

EDITOR’S LETTER
JO’S HELLO
WHAT’S NEW IN PARENTING?
OCTOBER OUTINGS
SCRUB A DUB DUB
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
NICE WHEELS
FAMOUS MUMS
JO FROST ON THE GO
THE NAUGHTY CORNER
ADULT CLASSES
THE BIG C
YUMMY MUMMY
GET THE LOOK
PUSHY MOTHERS
TOPS ON TREND
MAKE-UP MAGIC
MOTHER WEAR
BABY BUMP BLISS
FIRST-TIME WORRIES
STARTING OUT
ON-THE-MOVE
SIGN UP
MILK TIME
SLEEP EASY
CRY BABY
WHAT’S THAT RASH?
MORE PLEASE
BABY STEPS
JOIN THE GREEN TEAM
COUNTRY COOL
PRE-SCHOOL LEARNING
BUDDING BOOKWORM
AN ITCH TO SCRATCH
‘I’M NOT HUNGRY’
GOING POTTY
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT
LIVING WITH AUTISM
OPEN WIDE
THE COLD WAR
LET MUMMY KISS IT BETTER
PANIC STATIONS
A CLEAN SWEEP
PROJECT RUNWAY
ORGANISE THIS
TIME FOR BIG SCHOOL
ALL KITTED OUT
WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM?
‘I HATE YOU!’
TWEEN HEALTH
EAT WELL
TRICK OR TREAT
THE GHOST WITH THE MOST
LET’S BAKE
BABY BUDGET
WHAT KIND OF PARENT ARE YOU?
GIVE A CHILD A HOME
FAMILY MEN
GIRL POWER
DAY TRIPPER
GET PACKING
WHY PETS ARE BEST
COMING SOON
STORY CORNER
COUNT TO 10
PEARLS OF WISDOM
QUESTION TIME
KODAK MOMENTS
SURF’S UP
SOUND BITES
STOCKISTS

at home with Jo Frost - October 2012