#1391 Saturday 5 November

I've been pondering the way Naomi and I have been raising Kaylia.  Some people might say that we are too easy on her .... she is probably capable of more than we insist on ..... but I figure that life is largely about relationships and we aim to keep her anxiety and stress at a low level. Quality of life is far more important than her 'scores'. 

An aside ..... our immigration Minister says that there are sixty two thousand people in Australia illegally .... our indigenous people say that figure is wrong .... the number is actually closer to twenty three million.

#1390 Friday 4 November

Today, Naomi and I will be attending the wedding of a friend's son ..... Jelly will be doing the bed time routine so it will be interesting to see how Kaylia reacts.

6:30pm At the reception ....

The noise level is so high that it's isolation in the midst of chaos.

I wonder if Kaylia will improve to a point where a relationship is an option.

#1389 Thursday 3 November

The late nights have caught her!  After a string of nights where she has not slept till around 10pm ..... plus a swimming session after school ..... she went off to sleep early and didn't want to wake this morning!

Have you heard of a Trackr?  I got one and I'm thinking that if I put mine on Kaylia, we will be able to locate her if she gets lost!  .... or I can put one on me so Naomi can always find me!  (That's when I get so old and codgery that I wander off and get lost!)  .... or I can have one in my car so I can find the car in the car park!

Anyway .... they have a neat marketing tool.   If you want a Free TrackR you can use this link to purchase .... then we each get an extra one free.  Cool.

 Free Trackr 

and when you purchase a Trackr (about $35), we’ll both receive a Free TrackR each.

4:30pm. Kaylia is home from school and we're both on the bed.   She's droning away and watching YouTube on her iPhone.  I've recorded some "drone" and now I'm trying to work out how to add it to the blog.

 Kaylia's drone
..... mmmmm .... easier said than done! It looks as if adding video would be much easier so I'll try to record a video clip.

#1388 Wednesday 2 November

The article below is copied from the ABC News website ... it was brought to my attention by Margaret Forrest in Qld.  Kaylia's future employment prospects are a concern.

__________________________

Piggery seeks employees on autism spectrum for animal husbandry and welfare roles

891 ABC Adelaide

By Brett Williamson

What was seen as a hurdle is now a prerequisite as companies see the benefits of employing workers who are on the autism spectrum.

Information technology and cyber security organisations have discovered employees with autism are perfect for high attention to detail roles.

And in what is believed to be a world-first for the agricultural industry, Sunpork Farms has advertised for eight animal husbandry and welfare positions — but as a prerequisite, applicants must provide medical proof that they are on the autism spectrum.

Autism at a glance

• ASD is a group of neurobiological disorders affecting a person's communication and social abilities
• ASD affects about one in 160 children, with boys four times more likely to be affected than girls
• Symptoms are different in each person affected but can include repetitive behaviours, difficulty relating to people, and sensitivity to stimulation including touch, sounds and sight
• Symptoms can appear as early as the first year of life
• There is no cure but can be managed with appropriate and early intervention
• Genetic and environmental factors are being investigated as the cause which as yet is undetermined
• The rates of ASD are the same in both vaccinated and non-vaccinated populations
  
  ABC Health and Wellbeing

Dr Robert van Barneveld, managing director and group CEO for Sunpork Farms, said this unusual recruitment decision was made after seeing the success of other Specialisterne projects.

Dr van Barneveld consulted with the Autism Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and then developed the Autism and Agriculture CRC.

"Prior to embarking on this program we'd had a number of industry workshops about priorities, and investing in people with a high attention to detail was one," Dr van Barneveld said.

"We've found a way that we might be able to accommodate that in quite an innovative way."

Tech giants already on board

Technology companies Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Google currently seek out employees on the spectrum for IT and software testing positions.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has also sought out people with autism for specific roles in the past.

But Dr van Barneveld said to his knowledge this type of targeted recruitment for animal husbandry roles had not been done anywhere else in the world.

"These are specialist positions that we are putting in place — they'll be filled by the best candidates and paid a full wage for the job they have been employed to do," Dr van Barneveld said.

Dr van Barneveld said it made good business sense to seek out employees who were focussed, comfortable with routine and eager to work.

#1387 Tuesday 1 November

Melbourne Cup day and Jelly (Joe/Ellie) went to Ascot for the day .... both dolled up to the nines.  At 7:30pm they're not home yet.... must have been a good day!

I picked up Kaylia from school .... she was very happy as usual.  How fortunate she is .... and we are ..... that she enjoys school.  At the moment she's in the bath .... she sings and soaks till bedtime.  She has lots of bubble bath so she's a "clean machine"!

Preparation for the staff Christmas party continues .... the big job of cleaning the roof is half done.

In the past I've commented about not knowing who or how many are reading this blog.  Yesterday I heard that someone whom we haven't seen for some time still reads the blog regularly.  I'm glad that the blog is serving a good purpose.

#1386 Monday 31 October

This is part of a statement made by relatives at the funeral of the family (including 2 children with autism) who all died in an apparent murder/suicide.

"Whilst science works day after day to comprehend all these different conditions, society cannot remain indifferent to the situations families bear, and needs to move and develop means to support them better."

This is so sad ... yet I can easily understand the feelings which would have driven the parents to this point.  The hard thing is to wonder why this event is not more common.  Life can be so hard where autism is a factor.

Enough of the serious talk!!  I've just had an email from Chris ..... (Nov 13 to April 14). He says that a further internship in Perth is possible as part of his study ..... This would be AWESOME if it were to happen.

We weighed Kaylia yesterday ..... she has lost a lot of weight since we stopped Risperdal.  Its very good.  She is looking much more healthy.

6:30pm she's in the bath .... very happy. Singing away.

#1385 Sunday 30 October

Its taking a while for Kaylia to adjust to the change in bedtime routine.  Last night it was around 11pm before she slept.

This morning I had 2hours of shed time before everyone else arose. Then it was pancakes and over to see Maxine .... including a bath!   Then to the op shop and home.

Sunday night pizzas have been excellent.  In Kaylia's current habit she only ate half of one slice. She's just not hungry.  She isn't wanting food outside meal times .... except potato chips.... she will have those anytime!

Round the tea table we were discussing her music listening habits ..... and Tring to remember when particular songs were her obsession.  It was hard to recall.  This blog my be useful for that if I list her current songs from time to time.