#919 Saturday 14 June

The full moon has been having a big effect this month.  Usually the effect is felt over 2 or 3 days before the full moon .... but now it's the day after .... and it's still affecting her.  Last night she wet the bed and woke at 2am ... and stayed awake till 4:30.  She's very well behaved when this happens .... but we can't sleep either.  At 3am Teddy was barking downstairs so I went down and stayed there to keep him quiet.

It's now 2:30pm ..... Kaylia has had a good morning at Whiteman Park ..... and I've had a good time burning stuff.  A big bonfire of rubbish .... and when Kaylia came home she wanted to watch.  This soon developed into "hose" as I had the hose ready as a precaution.  She was soon saturated! Now she's in her favourite spot with the outside bath.

She had asked if I could take her to the ice cream shop .... at first I said yes .... then realised that while the fire was burning I had to stay here.  Kaylia just accepted this .... and I realised once again that the therapy has created an extraordinarily "biddable" child.  It's an old expression but very apt.  She always does as she is asked without argueing.  She may nag for things she wants .... but she does as she is asked.

#918 Friday 13 June

Yikes! It's Black Friday  ..... still  ... when you think of the wonderful government Australia has, things can't get any worse .... so not to worry.

This is the latest from the Dynamic Duo!  It's now only a couple of weeks till they will be back.

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Hi hi,
After a great time in the northern territory we are heading now to the wa border.
When you compare the kakadu np and the litchfield np we have to be honest that the entry fee of the kakadu isn't worth the 50 bucks.

In the litchfield np we could swim in a few pools under amazing water falls and everything for free.

Greetings
Lara and Chris 

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#917 Wednesday 11 June

Last night was a really bright full moon .... and true to form,  Kaylia was wired!  She woke at 3am and that was it.  She was in stimmy land till about 6:30am .... fortunately she took herself downstairs and we could still get a bit of sleep.  Today she has been tired and wanted to go to bed early. 

It looks as if new NDIS for people with disabilities is going to make big changes in our life.   Under the old system, there was virtually zero assistance for ASD children once they passed 7 years old ... and even till then, the assistance was very restricted.  The new system is still being implemented but we may be able to have some real help with Kaylia.   We're still working it all out.

#916 Tuesday 10 June

Therapy yesterday went well.  Kaylia is scoring 100% on several of the activities so it's now time to review and go to the next step.  The therapy is a very carefully structured process where she doesn't go to the next step till she has mastered the prior one.  At present one of her activities is learning to play on her own.  This is going well and she is now choosing to have extra play times.

I can hear some people say "So what?  Children play games!"  .... but Kaylia doesn't play .... or she hasn't till now.  That's one of the things that make caring for Kaylia hard work .... the only ways that she can occupy herself (without our input) is stimming and water-play.  For her to develop an interest in ... and enjoyment of ..."playing games" ... is a really big thing in her life.

#915 Sunday 8 June

Today was pancakes .... then Aunty Moo's .... and the on the way home we stopped in at Whiteman Park.   Kaylia had "train time" with Naomi while I had a trip down memory lane in the tractor museum.

Today was a "running day" where they start up the tractors and drive them round.  It was good to hear machines coming to life.  I'm going to join the group as a volunteer and see if it can fit in with our life style.

This is a famous tractor!  "Tail end Charlie" has been around Australia 3 times as the rescue vehicle for rallies.  It's a really significant part of the history of WA .... in the 50's Chamberlain began producing tractors in Welshpool .... the only component not made in WA was the Perkins engine.  In about 1965 I was on a school excursion to tour the Welshpool plant ... what an experience that was.  It was the first time I had seen parts being cast and then machined into components.
I had grown up near the Wundowie pig iron smelter .... the step before this ... so by the time I was 14 I was familiar with the whole manufacturing process.

A Ruston Hornsby .... used for power generation in the thirties.  This engine was started while I was there.  It took three men to turn it over and get it spinning fast enough to run.