Aleyna
Alex is our BritMums Live! Ambassador but she is also mum to the beautiful, funny Alenya, a child with special needs. She blogs about life with her daughter at Doing it all for Aleyna. Here, Alex recommends more blogs about parenting children with additional needs.
My husband and I spend a large amount of our time secretly laughing at the bonkers and quite often, inappropriate things that our little girl, Aleyna, diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay, comes out with. In 2010, with him being away, I decided to start Doing it all for Aleyna to record those funny moments.
I don’t have many friends with children with special needs and with the exception of a few close friends, parents of neurotypical (“normal”) kids, quite frankly don’t know what to say and are very uncomfortable with me laughing about it. I take most of my inspiration from Aleyna, the comedy she brings to my life, and from her lovely friends who treat her as “the same“. The way I believe all people with disabilities should be treated.
I didn’t start my blog as a crusade against the stigma of disability. But if it helps in even the tiniest way, then my work here is done, people.
Blogging has opened a door into a new room for me, a room that is filled with other parents of children with additional needs, from all over the world. There is a plethora of great blogs to choose from but I would like to highlight a handful of my favourites. Most are fairly new; some also incorporate humour into their challenging lives and some are frank, honest and often raw.
Renata started Just Bring the Chocolate whilst her little boy, Dominic, was an inpatient at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Dominic is described as a “medical mystery” yet what warms my heart is that she also describes him as “the funniest four year old you’ll ever meet”. Renata has developed a stylishly designed, slick blog and yet this does not detract from her writing being beautifully poignant, inspirational and ever so funny. Please look at her About Me pages. Pure genius.
Cheetahs In My Shoes is written by Jenny, an inspirational mum of 2 children with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Jenny also has the same diagnosis. The blog is full of love, warmth, humour, and a passion for baking. Jenny takes her daily struggles in her stride – her cheetah-filled shoe stride.
Courage is…Grace Under Pressure. Inspired by the words of Ernest Hemingway, Sophie dedicates her blog to her eldest daughter, Grace, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Sophie writes absolutely exquisitely, with elegance, poise and with such deep insight, she regularly has me in tears. Sophie has found a way of bouncing back from adversity through her running and is running the 2012 Marathon to raise awareness of Asperger’s.
Thea and Nate’s Mam never fails to move me with her take on life with her little girl Thea, and 18 month old Nate who, after spending time in SCBU now has hypotonia and also needs oxygen via a nasal cannula. Her posts about her fear of the unknown are quite raw. She is very early in the special needs jungle and speaks openly and honestly about not knowing what to expect but is always able to see the positives. Recently she wrote, “Simple things Nate can do make us all jump for joy, smile at each other, and savour the moment”
Oliver and Wills a brilliant, brilliant blog by the fabulous Sarah Milne about her little boy, Wills and his Golden Retriever Oliver who Sarah trains to assist Wills in the social world. Wills survived a small bowel transplant in 2008, has Asperger’s Syndrome and mild cerebral palsy. He is also a “born comedian”. Wills is only here today as a result of a donor family and every year Sarah and her family dedicate a day to remembering and giving thanks to the little girl and her grieving family who saved his life. Will’s big sister also dedicates her time to campaigning for donors. A truly wonderful family.
Dave’s (almost) Daily Drivel is a blog written by a committed Dad to a little boy with developmental delay and epilepsy. Dave has a wicked sense of humour yet the unconditional love for his family shines through. This extract from my favourite of Dave’s post, I think sums his blog up entirely:
“Just as a blind man becomes aware of sounds and smells, lack of progress in any area of development will encourage a blossoming of other abilities, be they social or physical etc. Being the parent of a disabled child helps one appreciate these points.
As does drinking too much.”
I can’t possibly go without mentioning the absolutely amazing Kathryn at Crystal Jigsaw. Kathryn is a novelist, a farmer and Mum to 12 year old Amy. Diagnosed with autism, Kathryn describes Amy as her “whole life”. Probably one of the most popular blogs out there, Kathryn sticks to her roots, writes from the heart and inspires me daily.
Finally a very special mention to my new blogging friend over at Looking for Blue Sky. Blue Sky is Mum to three wonderful children all with very different needs; one fab teen, one gorgeous girl with cerebral palsy and one amazing boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. Over the last year or so, she has helped me see sense, always offered support despite her chaotic circumstances and I absolutely love her.
— Alex Ozansoy Doing it all for Aleyna
About
BritMums is the UK’s original collective of lifestyle bloggers and digital influencers, fueling the country’s most influential social content. We lead the online conversation with members who are parent social influencers creating content on topics ranging from food, parenting, travel, politics, style and more.
Renata
Wednesday 21st of December 2011
I'm going to ditto Dave, thanks so much for the mention, I'm really touched. I originally started the blog as a way to communicate with everyone that was worried about Dominic, but have since found so many other sn mothers who contact me just to say 'me too', because being able to say 'me too' is a huge relief when your child doesn't walk the same walk as your friends' children, or perhaps doesn't walk at all ;-)
I'm completely with you about laughing, although I'm not very good at doing it in secret. I think most of my friends think that I'm either on medication or heading for a nervous breakdown. I don't have time for a nervous breakdown though, so I just revel in the black humour of it all.
So once again thank you, especially for giving me some other great blogs to look at x
Dave
Wednesday 21st of December 2011
Thank you so much for the mention (Dave's drivel). I'm constantly amazed/and humbled that folk would take an interest in my little blog. I concur with all that you've said about the blogging community of parents with disabled/special needs/additional needs kids and am inspired on a daily basis by the patience and courage shown by these kids' families. I also get a lot out of the mutual support a get and give in the blogosphere. Thanks again.