Mum creates birthday Facebook page after son says he's friendless

This is pretty darn cool.

Ten year old Colin, from Michigan USA, told his mum not to throw him a birthday party because he has "no friends." Here is Colin:

Colin, who has Asperger's, told his mother there would be no point in throwing a birthday party because all of the kids at school "don't like me" and "make fun of me."

That's when Colin's mum came up with a special surprise. She created a Facebook page called "Happy Birthday Colin" where people can leave birthday messages for him, and it's getting lots of attention, 'likes', and the most sensational messages - even photos - the world over (I even spotted one from Sydney!).

For more info, click here.

And to leave Colin a message on that Facebook page, click here.

Delaying an autism diagnosis: why it serves nobody

I have become such an advocate for autism that sometimes, I need to contain myself a little when I hear that someone is avoiding getting a diagnosis for their child. It could be an anecdotal story someone has told me, it could a story I overhear. But one thing is certain: it upsets me, and delaying a diagnosis serves nobody, least of all the child.

Another thing to remember is that - in NSW, at least - particular funding for kids with autism expires on the child's seventh birthday. Yet another reason to access services as quickly as possible to have the greatest impact, and get the diagnosis the child needs.

I asked co-author of the book 'Australian Autism Handbook' Benison O'Reilly what she thought about delaying an autism diagnosis out of fear:

"I would never judge a parent for delaying diagnosis out of fear or denial. I was guilty of this myself for a time.  No-one wants to acknowledge that their beautiful child, the child they assumed was perfect at birth, has a ‘lifelong developmental disorder’. It’s almost like a death in the family; the death of the child you thought you had.

Unfortunately, pretending there isn’t a problem isn’t going to make it to go away.  In fact, the longer a parent delays diagnosis the longer their child has to retreat into autism and fall further behind his or her peers.

The year before (Benison's son) Joe’s diagnosis was definitely the worst of my life. I was heartbreaking to watch my son go backwards and feel powerless to stop it. Of course, the day of diagnosis was awful—I won’t deny that. But once we’d got Joe enrolled in a good early intervention program I felt in control again and much more hopeful. Eight years later I remain optimistic."

Have you had some doubts about an autism diagnosis? Feel free to comment below.

To read Benison's first opinion piece for 'Our Autism Adventures' click here.

'What Are You Doing?' A film about autism. This is MUST-WATCH

With news just in that the powerful documentary film 'What Are You Doing?' was yesterday distributed to over 10,000 schools [all primary, secondary, state, and independent schools] across Australia, THIS trailer is powerful viewing.

MUST-WATCH:

The people behind the film say:

We are so proud and happy to announce that our documentary film, "What are you doing?" was yesterday distributed to over 10 000 schools across Australia. All primary, secondary, state and independent schools have received a copy of the film, along with accompanying teaching materials. We thank the Australian Federal Government for their support in distributing the film.

So contact your local school, let them know how important the film is to your school community and encourage them to show it as widely as possible. More awareness simply means children on the spectrum will be better understood.

Whilst the film was made for children, we suspect a few adults within the school system will learn something from it as well!

The film will be available for sale to the general public next month. We hope to have the film available for international sale later this year.

http://www.whatareyoudoingfilm.com/

Life-changing for the autism community, I say. It all starts at grass-roots level.