Complicated

I've been thinking for years about how to deal with some difficulties I face. This has taken so much of my time and energy, it's drained me. I've had no desire to blog while this was foremost in my mind. But thankfully now I have reached a decision I can be...well not happy about, but confident that it's the right one. It's a huge relief to know for certain and to start now making plans to move on with a new phase in my life.

I have missed blogging. I enjoyed keeping this record of my children's development and the silly stuff we get up to as well as sharing my opinions on autism/disability/home education issues with anyone who chooses to read them. It's been an important outlet; writing posts here has often concentrated my mind, forcing me to research issues to be able to write with some knowledge and understanding. It's been a way of making contacts around the world with people with similar interests and of connecting with others writing about their own lives and areas of expertise. I love reading blogs and even when I wasn't writing my own I have continued to read the blogs I've subscribed to, though I've very rarely commented on any. I have stopped reading a few that were just starting to piss me off with their lazy stereotyping, especially those with sexist and (all too often) disablist writing. I just don't have the energy to witness that stuff.
It means I stay away from many mainstream comment sites like CiF on the Guardian and the BBC websites- shudder.

Today I will meet with an education psychologist from the local education board. I want to investigate schooling options for Duncan. I'm not sure whether or not I will enroll him in a school again but will think about it seriously and figure out what he prefers. Thomas too is thinking of starting at school for the 1st time in his life. Lady has no desire to be schooled. I will support their choices.

I'm tired but getting by. I can be proud of how the children are thriving; obviously I am more than coping, despite the fact that my home is only rarely tidy and there's a long list of home repairs needing to be dealt with.

Also, the whole family is lucky enough to be going to Disney World for a fortnight in February. I'll be sure to see that the children have a fabulous time. It'd be very hard not to!

Forge ahead

I've neglected to blog much over the past 2 months, and have been thinking about what I want to write here. I feel like I share too much sometimes, but also that there's much that I keep hidden. The past few months have been a time of personal reflection on what it is I need and want and how I can raise my children in an atmosphere of love and possibility. In recent years I have reconsidered many of my values and ideas about the world and with new insight, have discarded many assumptions and taken new notions on-board. This is the real voyage, it's scary and exciting but it will continue as long as live. I hope.

Photo owned by wili_hybrid (cc)

Summer Ends

The summer holidays have ended and for a few hours each day, my lot are just about the only children around not in school or nursery. We needed new wellies; walks through the forest and down to the beach tend to leave one's footwear rather mucky from September onwards. So we went to the shops and noticed for the first time in months how we stuck out, even more than usual.

But since so many of their friends are in school and not tearing up and down the streets on bikes, my children were content to settle to some reading, writing and 'rithmetic (or Mathematics, as Thomas says gravely) and that sort of thing. As usual though the best part of their learning comes through conversation, asking questions, playing their games, reading, watching TV and whatever takes their fancy at any particular time.

Duncan has discovered Mr Men so has started collecting the books, watching the films, playing games on the PC and making pictures. He's quite taken with Sonic the Hedgehog too, and he and Thomas take turns to play a PC demo game he downloaded. Duncan gets Thomas to help him with the trickier parts. Sometimes he gets distressed when it's not going well. He's been distressed a lot about something or other these past few months. It's been hard for him and I lost a bit of my coping mojo for a while there (hence the lack of blogdom). So he was sad, and I was grouchy, making him sad and screamy making me tired and head-achy and so on.

But I discovered a great cure for these feelings of stress and inadequacy on the internet; a 3 night holiday in Portugal. Actually my sister found it for us. In an astonishing coincidence, she needed a bit of respite from life's arrows just now too! We both went to stay in a posh hotel where we lazed in the shade from a hot sun by the pool/beach, swam a couple of times, dined well, drank a bit and strolled a little and I read 3.5 mostly lowbrow books. It was the laziest most relaxing holiday I have ever had and it was marvellous. On our last visit to the beach we thought it wise to get off our backsides and go parasailing. But there were no slots left for us, so we stupidly handed over money to have some youngsters pull us behind the boat as we sat side by side on an inflatable dingy thing. I was not 100% sure I wasn't going to die while out there, gripping the handles and bracing with my legs as I fought to stop myself from crashing into the sea as we bashed and bumped our way through the surf. It was nice enough when they slowed down and went straight but mostly, it was hellish. Afterwards our arms ached and shook and even now, there's pain in many parts as I recover from that self inflicted ordeal. At least, I forgot my troubles utterly while it was happening as I focused only on the path of sea in front of me.

I returned to my family, a bit sorer, more freckled, but relaxed and ready to work. They'd all had a lovely time without me. They'd been for long bike ride on one of the days and Gordon enjoyed spending more time with the children than usual.

I'll be happy to get back into our normal life groove and hope to do more blog reading and writing again.

Awesome Autism Blogs

The questionnaire on autism blogs I wrote about earlier (and if you can, offer to complete one yourself) made me think about something I take entirely for granted in my life, the many and varied autism blogs I read.

I was asked to rate how helpful I have found such blogs as a source of information and support in raising an autistic child. I had to answer truthfully that the blogs I read have made a tremendous difference to my life and my knowledge of autism and how to best raise my son. I have never thanked all of you who write these blogs. You write fantastically well, thoughtful and thought provokingly. You explain, challenge, advise, illustrate, unearth, advocate and amuse. I have had many of my thought processes utterly revolutionised by your words. The changes didn't stop with my attitude to autism and disability, I began to think and learn more about all sorts of societal privileges and assumptions on the value of life. By following your work on promoting good standards of science and the ways in which quackery has become embedded in autism discourse, both in causation theories and in the treatments offered, I have thought more about evidence, ethics, and the scientific process than I did in 6 years of formal scientific education at universities.

The first autism blog I remember reading was Left Brain/Right Brain. It was started by Kevin Leitch and was an amazing resource. It still is, and now it has evolved to a group blog with several excellent writers offering up regular posts on autism research, the rise in dangerous autism quackery, the legal tussles and advocating for rights and accommodations. I soon came across Amanda Baggs awesome writings on Ballastexistenz and the sparkling wit and elegant prose of the much missed Autism Diva. She might not be writing these days, but her blog is still a fantastic resource to dig into. Obviously I can't discuss fantastic autism blogging without mentioning the women who share an enviable ability to dissect mountains of data and writings and do a great job of keeping in check the people who claim to know what they're talking about when they really demonstrably don't, autism researcher Michelle Dawson and super librarian and "mere mother ... and housewife" Kathleen Seidel.

I could go on for pages but will limit this to just a few more of the people who have made the biggest difference to my own life. Bev who blogs at Asperger Square 8 is someone I have praised many times for her pictures that say so much so clearly and simply, and who has recently added a few wonderful videos to her site. Kristina Chew has been blogging for years about her son and regularly offers her educated and insightful assessment the latest autism story in the media. She now blogs at change.org with Dora Raymaker.

Orac from Respectful Insolence often blogs about autism quackery, in particular the vaccine causation nonsense and the dangerous quack treatments sold to vulnerable parents by charlatans only interested in the profit margin. I think however, Orac would much prefer it if he never had to write another autism post ever again.

My new favourite blog is The Gonzolog which combines all the things that make blogs great; intelligence, passion, humour and well argued opinions.

Finally, 3 men writing blogs I love to read; Ed at The Standard Review, Mike Stanton's Action for Autism and Steve's One Dad's Opinion. Heck, all the autism blogs listed on my sidebar are bloody brilliant and I can't eulogise all of them.

I wrote on the questionnaire that one of my aims for my blog and that of my blogging friends who have autism and/or parent autistic people, is to confront the ignorance and misinformation that is so prevalent abut autism. This is discriminatory and unfair on people like my son so I hope to show that having a child with autism does not mean the end of a happy family life, and that he can learn and grow without any bogus therapy. I am also intent on challenging the spread of quackery that abounds in autism.

I said that blogging is useful publishing platform that anyone with an internet connection can access, so it's a great way of reading the thoughts of ordinary people around the world, and of connecting with professionals. Once you figure out who talks sense and who is full of hot air and worse, then it's a great way to connect.

However, I forgot to mention the toxic posts of the people who promote the quackery whole heartedly, the damage they do to individual children whose parents follow their advice and inflict the unproven treatments on them as well as the negative and skewed portrayal of autism they promote.

Simon Singh's chiropractic article: “Beware the spinal trap”

Many bloggers today are reprinting a slightly altered version of the article on chiropractic Simon Singh wrote for The Guardian. Unlike scientists who defend their claims by discussion in the scientific media, the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) used the method so beloved of practitioners of non evidence based medicine, and sued Simon Singh for libel. There's nothing the alties like so much as a spot of legal chill.

Like all forms of woo, chiropractic is said to cure/treat autism. Quentin Wilson says it cured his autistic son and he used to be on the telly talking about cars so he should know. His anecdote is used by this UK chiropractic clinic as some sort of evidence of effectiveness.

Chiropractic is one type of woo that has before now, seemed to avoid close inspection from the DCs of the world who excel in exposing pseudoscience, as it seemed more scientific, or at least, sciencey. But the decision of the BCA to apply legal muscle to silence reasonable critique has only drawn lots of people to focus attention on their practices and positions. They are not enjoying the scrutiny.

Simon Singh wrote a decent, informative article and it'd do no harm for more people to read it.
If you agree that the law has no place in scientific disputes, please add your name to the statement.

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Beware the spinal trap

Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results - and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.

You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that '99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae'. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.

In fact, Palmer's first chiropractic intervention supposedly cured a man who had been profoundly deaf for 17 years. His second treatment was equally strange, because he claimed that he treated a patient with heart trouble by correcting a displaced vertebra.

You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact some still possess quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything, including helping treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying - even though there is not a jot of evidence.

I can confidently label these assertions as utter nonsense because I have co-authored a book about alternative medicine with the world's first professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst. He learned chiropractic techniques himself and used them as a doctor. This is when he began to see the need for some critical evaluation. Among other projects, he examined the evidence from 70 trials exploring the benefits of chiropractic therapy in conditions unrelated to the back. He found no evidence to suggest that chiropractors could treat any such conditions.

But what about chiropractic in the context of treating back problems? Manipulating the spine can cure some problems, but results are mixed. To be fair, conventional approaches, such as physiotherapy, also struggle to treat back problems with any consistency. Nevertheless, conventional therapy is still preferable because of the serious dangers associated with chiropractic.

In 2001, a systematic review of five studies revealed that roughly half of all chiropractic patients experience temporary adverse effects, such as pain, numbness, stiffness, dizziness and headaches. These are relatively minor effects, but the frequency is very high, and this has to be weighed against the limited benefit offered by chiropractors.

More worryingly, the hallmark technique of the chiropractor, known as high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust, carries much more significant risks. This involves pushing joints beyond their natural range of motion by applying a short, sharp force. Although this is a safe procedure for most patients, others can suffer dislocations and fractures.

Worse still, manipulation of the neck can damage the vertebral arteries, which supply blood to the brain. So-called vertebral dissection can ultimately cut off the blood supply, which in turn can lead to a stroke and even death. Because there is usually a delay between the vertebral dissection and the blockage of blood to the brain, the link between chiropractic and strokes went unnoticed for many years. Recently, however, it has been possible to identify cases where spinal manipulation has certainly been the cause of vertebral dissection.

Laurie Mathiason was a 20-year-old Canadian waitress who visited a chiropractor 21 times between 1997 and 1998 to relieve her low-back pain. On her penultimate visit she complained of stiffness in her neck. That evening she began dropping plates at the restaurant, so she returned to the chiropractor. As the chiropractor manipulated her neck, Mathiason began to cry, her eyes started to roll, she foamed at the mouth and her body began to convulse. She was rushed to hospital, slipped into a coma and died three days later. At the inquest, the coroner declared: 'Laurie died of a ruptured vertebral artery, which occurred in association with a chiropractic manipulation of the neck.'

This case is not unique. In Canada alone there have been several other women who have died after receiving chiropractic therapy, and Edzard Ernst has identified about 700 cases of serious complications among the medical literature. This should be a major concern for health officials, particularly as under-reporting will mean that the actual number of cases is much higher. If spinal manipulation were a drug with such serious adverse effects and so little demonstrable benefit, then it would almost certainly have been taken off the market.

Simon Singh is a science writer in London and the co-author, with Edzard Ernst, of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. This is an edited version of an article published in The Guardian for which Singh is being personally sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.

Short Questionnaire for Autism Parents

I've already mentioned this and once again call on anyone with an autistic child, formally diagnosed or not, to answer some questions for a Masters student. I've copied the questions out below so you can see how quickly it can be completed. It's available to fill in here. Email Paula at pjohnston24@qub.ac.uk if you can help.

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The following questionnaire is designed to assist a Masters degree student in Autistic Spectrum Disorders, in their study to determine how internet blogging sites assist parents of children diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in understanding the disorder and finding ways to cope with the pressures associated with everyday life.

By signing below you are consenting to the information you provide being used in this study. Complete confidentiality will be upheld at all times and the database were your information will be held will be password protected and destroyed after its use.

Questionnaire

1. Name: Sex: Male Female
2. D.O.B:
3. Country of Origin:
4. Occupation:
5. Marital Status:
6. No. of children:
7. No. of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder:

8. How long have you been using internet blogging sites?
Less than a year
4-5 years
1-2 years
5-6 years
2-3 years
6+ years

9. What initially made you want to access internet blogging sites? Put an x in one or more box.
Information
To meet friends
Advice
To share with others your experience
To meet other parents
To find out about local autism events
Escapism
Other, please specify:

11. How frequently do you use internet blogging sites?
Everyday Once every 2-4 weeks
4-5 times a week Once every 1-3 months
2-3 times a week Once every 3-6 months

12. How many internet blogging sites about ASD do you use?
1
2-3
3-5

13. When did you begin to use internet blogging sites about ASD?
Before your child’s diagnosis
During the diagnosis process
After your child’s diagnosis

14. How far have internet blogging sites improved your knowledge about ASD?
Significantly improved
Slightly improved
Not really improved
Not improved at all

15. How far have internet blogging sites helped you personally with your child/ children with a diagnosis of ASD?
Significantly helped
Slightly helped
Not really helped
Not helped at all

16. How far have internet blogging sites provided you with any emotional support you may have needed? This would include writing to other bloggers.
Significantly helped
Slightly helped
Not really helped
Not helped at all

17. How far have internet blogging sites provided you with any practical support you may have needed? This would include information / advice other bloggers may have written about ways they have worked with their child/children.
Significantly helped
Slightly helped
Not really helped
Not helped at all

18. Have internet blogging sites you have used provided you with any particular advice about outside established agencies which provide support to children with ASD and their parents?
Yes If you answered yes move to question 19.
No If you answered no move onto question 20.

19. Did you find the information provided useful?
Yes
No

20. Why do you feel you now access internet blogging sites about Autistic Spectrum Disorders?
Information
To meet friends
Advice
To share with others your experience
To meet other parents
To find out about local autism events
Escapism
Other, please specify:

21. Do you think you will ever cease from accessing internet blogging sites?
Yes If your answer is yes move onto question 22.
No If you answer is no, skip to the end.

22. Why might you stop using internet blogging sites about autism?

If you have any other comments or opinions to make about your use of internet blogging sites about ASD then you are most welcome to add them in here:

The questionnaire is now complete. Thank you so much for your time and effort in helping to assist my study.

Autism Blogs: Can you help a Master's Student?

I was contacted recently with this request:

I am a student from Queen's University Belfast and I am currently studying a masters in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. At present I am doing my Dissertation which is based on how internet blogging sites assist parents of children on the autism spectrum and so your website is of great interest to me. I realise you are a very busy person but would greatly appreciate it if you would be able to complete a short questionnaire or be able to help me pass my information onto the bloggers of your website. I plan to contact 60 participants in order to fully answer my question. This is all completed with confidentiality and your information will be deleted after it has been used, no names will be used in the writing up of the dissertation and my topic has been approved by Queen's University, Belfast ethics committee.

I agreed to take part and was forwarded the questionnaire. Since this takes the form of just a few multiple choice questions with the option to expand on answers if you choose, it takes just minutes to complete. The questions are about why people read blogs and what they gain from them.

If anyone reading has an autistic child* and would be wiling to take part, please email me (thefamilyvoyage at yahoo dot ie) or leave a comment here and I will pass your details on to the researcher.

*I don't think the child has to have a formal diagnosis but the researcher could clarify that. After all, blogs are often helpful while parents are negotiating the diagnostic process.

Happy St Patrick's Day and another new blog

Happy Paddy's Day to each and every one of you who read what I spew forth onto this blog via my cracked laptop every so often.

Photo owned by Irish Philadelphia Photo Essays (cc)
I guarantee I will not be mixing with his type at any stage of the day.

I'd say the parade in Dublin will be good, but I've never been to the Belfast one and have no intention of changing that habit. Our trip to a local parade last year ended in mixed success. Since I'm at home with just the boys, we're just going to make some little cakes and cover them with green icing before devouring with a nice cup of tea.

We'll go out to see the my dad and step mum later and I think it's much wiser way to share the day with people who care for us and who won't tut at non-normal children.

Also, I've been encouraged/persuaded/forced to start up a blog for Duncan who wanted a blog of one's own. Go and have a look and say hello. You never know, he might even not ignore you!

A new blog of quality and interest

Lady has started back on her blog, Looking in Rock Pools. It had previously been set to invited readers only but she wanted to go public and let everyone enjoy her erudite and informative posts. She had abandoned it for almost a year but updated again today. She says she has loads more things to write about and it's all good practise for her. So pop over and say hello to my girl.

Irish Blog Awards- top blogs I discovered

While reading various blogs in the past month or so as part of my duties as one of the many judges, I encountered so many blogs I didn't know existed, not so surprising I know! A few were utterly dire, clearly I won't link to these, but some of them I loved.

Fist of all Daddy or Chips? which seems to be a magpie sort of blog picking up on fun, pretty and shiny things. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm missing layers of deeper meaning, some sort of rage against the system. It's got pop and well built men and more pop and I liked it a lot.

Next I want to highlight Stranded on Gaia which somehow I'd not read before. It's a popular blog, frequently updated with funny as hell stories and rants and some top quality swearing. I'll be back.

I discovered what might be the most beautiful blog of the lot, Lickable Wallpaper. It's by an Irish couple who did the most marvellous thing; quit jobs and everyday safe life to travel the world. The blog records their journey with fantastic photos and makes me so very jealous. (If you're reading Cathy, you'll love this one.)

I met Eddie at 4am or so after the awards when just 4 of us remained sitting around the skewed world-map table (Ireland was shown as x2 times Britain's size) and talking until the cleaners arrived the next morning. We only went to bed in case we were given a cloth and some polish.

I don't know what they're going to do now they have come back home, but I think it would a shame to let such a great blog sit untended.
So Eddie, g'wan and get back to it.

I looked at many amazing photoblogs. These people are all astonishingly talented, but one of those that I loved and which didn't make the shortlist was venividi, a blog by a Polish person living in Cork. I'm no photographer (which I hope doesn't make my praise too limited!) but I thought the images presented were amazing, telling stories, captivating and making me wonder what was happening and wanting to know more about the subject. There was a lively discussion on each post some in Polish and some in English.

Many of the photos were taken in Cork so as I walked around the city on Friday and Saturday, it seemed at times to be that bit more familiar as I spotted scenes and places I'd seen in the blog.

I may think of more in time but that'll do for now. Good on you all for what you've created.

Irish Blog Awards, great times but how does it work?

I enjoyed myself so much this past weekend. Heading down to Cork for the weekend, staying in a decent hotel and meeting lots of fabulously interesting, opinionated, talented articulate and passionate people. I loved having some time with my beloved little sister and the banter and craic were mighty altogether. The Ladies Tea Party was delightful and the award ceremony was organised and enjoyable. Everyone I met was warm and friendly and all were impressed at how well Damian and all his helpers had managed everything. New friendships were made and old ones strengthened.

It was delightful to return to my family. Gordon met me at the airport with the boys. Thomas blew kisses every time I looked around and smiled at me like a matinee idol, Duncan grinned and held my hand as we drove to pick Lady up from her friend's house. It was a rapturous reception.

Later I had a quick look at the blog which won in my category and was shocked to see that it only started on December 2nd. Now I'll be honest, when the shortlist was announced, I had a quick read through the 4 other "Specialist Blogs" and I thought that the only one that didn't stand a chance of winning was the one that won, Irish Economy. The blog content, while incredibly topical, seemed to me, to be written in a dry textbook style. I fully admit that I only spent a few minutes reading it, whereas I read many posts by the other bloggers, and personally,I was more impressed at their content, style, wit and the level of engagement they had with readers. And what I had taken on first glance to be a blogroll on the Irish Economy blog, was in fact the list of contributors- 24 in total. Each of the other 4 blogs shortlisted are written by just one person.

Now I'm confused about something. Perhaps people will think this is just sour grapes that I didn't win. It's not though...

I was a judge for this year's blog awards. Judging each person's quota of the massive list of nominated blogs began at the beginning of February, only 2 months after the Irish Economy blog commenced. But crucially, the awards nomination rules stipulated that, "to be nominated the Blog has to have been actively blogging between July 15th and December 15th 2008." As a judge, I took this to mean that to be eligible, all blogs (except those nominated for best new blog and best blog post) had to have regular posts in the period stipulated, not that the blog must have had some posts at any point in that time. It never occurred to me to use the 2nd possible meaning. For each blog I judged, I went to the archives and read a large selection of the posts written between July and December and ignored the rest so when I came across blogs that hadn't started until later in the year, I gave them as few marks as possible and wrote my reasons for the low mark in the allotted space. It now seems that other judges interpreted the nomination rules the 2nd way and I fear I have discriminated against many good blogs.

I would appreciate it if Damien or someone who knows, could clarify this. It's too late to do anything about it this year but I hope that by next year, it will be more obvious to those nominating and judging, exactly what the rules are.

PS, I'm really delighted that 3 of the winners were those I nominated; well done, Maman Poulet, Trust Tommy and The Cedar Lounge Revolution, and well done too all the other winners...even if some of you might be glad you weren't judged by me.

Shortlisted for Irish Blog Award

This is utterly smashing. The short list is out for Saturday's Irish Blog Awards and I'm still there in the specialist category. No too bad; about 50 or 60 blogs were nominated in this category, it being the one for all the blogs that don't really fit in anywhere else. This was whittled down to 20 or so in the long list and there are now only five finalists. I'm up with four exceptional blogs:

Best Specialist Blog - Sponsored by iQ Content

• xbox4nappyrash.blogspot.com
• biopsy.wordpress.com
• irisheconomy.ie
• thefamilyvoyage.blogspot.com
• irishtaxi.org

Each category has five finalists this year and those I've had a look at are excellent since each blog is judged by about 7 people on merit not popularity. Some of my own favourites didn't make it to the final stage though...boo hoo.

The awards party takes place in Cork on Saturday night. I'm flying down on Friday and meeting my sister who is coming over from London. She'll make sure I behave myself when I'm let loose with no children for a couple of nights in an unfamiliar city. There will be much merriment and unlike last year, I will actually know some others there. I'm looking forward to it.

Duncan takes over my blog

I've been caught up in efforts to stop the Action for Children demonic autism campaign (now with 625 members!)

But I must still blog as I have been ordered to do so.
The little man created another of his fine, artistic videos. He asked me to upload it to YouTube as usual, but he also asked me to help him annotate it with little speech bubbles. He's more aware of YouTubian innovations than I am!

So he provided the text and I provided my limited technical assistance and we've developed the following masterpiece. Oh, and I was also instructed to, "put it on the blog"!

He asked me to let him type a bit, so here's Duncan's post. He asked me to put his words in italics. I must get him a blog of his own.

The Rugrats are going to the jungle with dinosaurs and eggs and meat of the egg travels the desert. Must wait.
The End

So as asked, here is...Rugrats, The Return of Reptar Rex.

Apology to Blogger Blogs I've Spammed Recently

I installed the new Blogger gadget called Blog Links a few months ago. It was nice, allowed me to display the various blogs I enjoy all listed by most recent post date. I was happy to share my favourites and perhaps even alert new readers to these brilliant blogs.

But I have noticed that on the Blogger blogs I'd included in the "Blogs I like" list, loads of spurious backlinks to this blog were being generated somehow. I've read about it and found that it seems to be a glitch in the software and there's nothing I can do to stop these links for now except to remove the gadget. So I've done that and updated my old fashioned link lists instead.

I'd like to apologise to the owners of the blogs hit by the spammy backlink lists. It's an embarrassment to see them pilled at the end of your posts when they're irrelevant. Hopefully it shouldn't happen again, at least not from here.

3 years of The Voyage

I wrote my first post on January 16, 2006. I'm surprised and proud to have stuck to this blogging game for so long when I was never a diarist or much of a writer.

My aims for doing this have been to have a record of our lives and my children's development though I have tended to focus much more on Duncan recently and I rarely now write about our home-education pursuits, except for learning through living. I have changed my layout to display all my favourite blogs, not just those with a disability/autism/home-education/science theme. It's easier to keep up with new posts and hopefully, others reading here might sometimes have a look at something new.

Blogging has been a great way to connect with people and learn from them. I've met some in Real Life and some have become true, close online only friends.

Obviously, I want to keep increasing the numbers of people who read what I go to the bother of writing, and I have received more visitors with each passing year which must be good. OK they are still shitty numbers compared to the bigger blogs. I'm hardy going to change the world with this! Like most of us blogger types, I enjoy an occasional fix of comment crack which some good people have been kind enough to supply.

The biggest surprise and highlight of my year as a blogger was to win an award at the Irish Blogger Awards for Best Specialist Blog. Even had I not won, that was a fantastic experience and was the first time I got to meet some very friendly, funny, welcoming and supportive people and later, it was lovely to join some of these people in contributing a chapter to the Homepages book.

As always I have loved the energy, vision, honesty and power in the efforts of those in the disability/autism blogging communities (you know what section of this I mean) to tackle discrimination, delusion and to improve the lives of people like Duncan.

I hope that in some small way my words will seep out and possibly influence someone somewhere to think differently about autism.

Nominate now for 2009 Irish Blog Awards

I've just done it. How about you?

It's time to nominate your favourites for the Irish Blog Awards, 2009. So go on then, shoo!

Homepages - Tales From The Irish Blogosphere

Doesn't it look great! There's a great new book out. It'd be perfect for Christmas presents for all your friends and family. It's called Homepages and here's some more information:

Homepages is a unique collection of stories and photographs, the first of its kind in Ireland. The nation’s best bloggers hold forth on the theme of “home”, covering everything from pets and expat life to parenting and the Kellogg’s Variety Pack. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and thought-provoking, it promises a captivating read and showcases some of Ireland’s best undiscovered writing talent.

All proceeds from the sale of this book, compiled on an entirely voluntary basis from submissions made via this website, go directly to Focus Ireland, who provide services and support for people who are homeless across Ireland.

The book is now on sale for €14 ( £10.96 ) via Lulu.com on a print-on-demand basis. Click here to order your copy!

Now doesn't that sound like it'd be a good read? It'll make you laugh so much you'll wee, and cry like The Champ's just died, or provoke such deep thoughts that you'll be modelling for the next Rodin.

These are the contributors:

• Pauline McLynn
• One For The Road
• Manuel
• Sami
• Primal Sneeze
• Colette McNamara
• Red Mum
• Crack Jackson
• Radge
• Grandad
• CD
• AJ O’Flaherty
• Suse
• Claire Wilson
• Darren Byrne
• Ann
• Paul S
• Kate
• Annie Rhiannon
• Rosie
• K8 The Gr8
• Jo
• Katherine Kenny
• Caitriona Dwyer
• Conortje
• Anna Lally
• Marian Roche
• Devin Mungovan
• John Butler
• Red
• Beth Morrissey
• Sarah Gostrangely
• Elizabeth Hutcheson
• Simon Tuohy
• Yvonne Reilly
• Ciara
• Colm O’Brien
• Grannymar
• Andrew
• Gray Wright
• Darragh Doyle
• Narocroc
• Twenty Major
• Gimme A Minute
• Ian Poulton
• Sharon Fennell
• Bryan Mukandi
• David Maybury
• Red Leeroy
• MK
• John Braine

It is after all, a list of the nation's best bloggers, or rather, the nation's best bloggers...and me.

Plaudits to Catherine Brodigan for getting this organised. She's done a marvellous job and I hope it sells like hot pies and makes loads of money for Focus Ireland.

Politics of the people

People can change things. America has shown us so. I stayed up really late on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to watch the results of the US presidential elections, enjoying the company of some fellow bloggers. I was delighted with the result. From what I've seen and read about the candidates, Obama is by far the better in his policies, aims and intentions. People have chosen the candidate who is clever, accomplished and well organised. His campaign was fantastic especially when compared to the nastiness of McCain's. I'm glad there will be no more McCain "my friend" speeches nor any of his nonsense about autism, and I am glad the majority of Americans showed their opposition to the global screw ups his party have made, and that awful Palin woman.

It's obviously wonderful to have an African American family taking up residence in the White House. I think that people all over the world who are of a minority race in their home country, will be happy with this. I know Gordon has been deeply affected.

I listened to Obama's victory speech live and warmed to his inclusive address to people of all racial backgrounds, to gay and straight people, disabled and non-disabled. How about that?!

But, closer to home, the Irish government has just announced their disgusting decision to scrap HPV vaccines for teenage girls due to budget shortfalls. Even if times are hard, this is a terrible decision and is a real let down. The HPV vaccine is the only medicine yet developed that acts as an effective preventative measure against a form of cancer. I live in Northern Ireland so my own daughter will still be vaccinated when she's old enough, but what about all her cousins? I have 5 wonderful nieces living in the Republic, they all deserve this protection too.

"An angry person" by Duncan. It's how this decision makes me feel.

Via Red Mum I read that people are being encouraged to write to Mary Harney, Minister for Health, telling her how they feel and attaching a photo of their daughter (if they have one). We've seen that when enough people are motivated to make a change, it can happen. Lets see if the Irish people can effect this small but important change.

It's a shame about California and Prop 8 though.

My Lovable, Kick Ass Blog

At least Nick thinks so, as he's passed on both of these award/link building things to me, and for which I am most grateful.

I've only been reading his blog for a month or so, but it's a fine thing, with stories and photos of his adorable son Jacob, as well as observations on life and what makes it worth living. He even knows that Raising Arizona is the best Coen brothers' film, most people get that one wrong.

So now I have to name some kick-ass, lovable blogs (I'm combining the categories):

First, I pick Michelle Dawson, who blogs at The Autism Crisis, and keeps her minions in the loop at the TMoB board (the longest comment thread ever). Michelle is an autism researcher who works hard to address the glaring lack of evidence for most of the assumptions commonly spoken of as truths, about autistic learning and abilities. She just hit the headlines in Canada for her terrific win at a Human Rights Tribunal against her former employers, Canada Post, who discriminated against her in shocking ways when they discovered she is autistic. She represented herself throughout the arduous legal proceedings, and her win helps all Canadian autistic people, as well as everyone working for fair workplaces. She took this action solely because it was the right thing to do and didn't claim any compensation.

Next up is Kev Leitch who blogs with a team at Left Brain/Right Brain and who has recently been part of the Science Blogs book club discussion of the fantastic book by Paul Offit (I'm half way through it) Autism's False Prophets. Kev's been leading the fight back against the rise of dangerous quackery in autism discussions for years now, as well as promoting the importance of real rights, acceptance and ways to make things better.

Another blog I've come to more recently and love, is Grannymar, by, um, Grannymar. I had the pleasure of meeting the woman herself in Belfast last month, and even though she's an Irish blog celebrity, she was warm and welcoming. I was about to look through her blog for an example of what there is to love about her. It wasn't a hard task, the very first post is a touching account of her marriage with some great advice to everyone in a relationship. I dare say the woman will kick an arse in need of it too!

Another fine Irish woman blogger is Maman Poulet, whose ass-kicking of charlatans and crooks and exposure of their lies, is a joy to behold. She recently had a scoop about Sarah Palin's foreign travel claims, hee hee!

The last person I'm going to single out, is Kathleen Seidel, the blogging librarian who is so terrifying to grubby money grabbing, vaccine-claim lawyer Clifford Shoemaker, that he served her with an unjust, invasive and extensive subpoena in a craven attempt to intimidate her and stop her exposure of what he has been engaged in. He claimed that she, as the “mere mother of an autistic child and housewife,” was too well informed. He lost, the subpoena was quashed, and the judge set sanctions on Shoemaker, telling the fool man, "clearly he is unfamiliar with the extent of the information which a highly-competent librarian like Ms. Seidel can, and did, accumulate."
Kathleen continues to kick the asses of dangerous quacks.

So there you are. I hope they are all pleased with the accolade.

Creative Camp Belfast

Yesterday, I had the chance to go off for a few hours to Creative Camp in Belfast, an event billed as bringing together "technology and creative enthusiasts who want to make things happen with web, mobile, open source, new media, music and design."

I was unsure whether to attend, not knowing if my web endeavours really fit that description. But I decided that with this blog, I aim to make things happen, specifically by challenging assumptions, in a very small way for a few people. But mainly, I felt it would be good to get out and hopefully meet a few folk whose online identities I could fit to a real world face.

I enjoyed the talks I heard, and the atmosphere of untapped possibilities. One man discussed soluble dresses. Strange topic that! He was an artist involved in a project hoping to highlight the problems of our throw away culture. It's very worthy, but he showed a film of dissolving dresses making pretty colours in (now toxin laden) water tanks and it dragged on for rather too long. He made me laugh when he said that working on the project had alerted him to the dangers of plastics, and we shouldn't give babies milk in plastic bottles as it can harm them some way, by "damaging their DNA or something." I shouldn't scoff, but hey ho.

For another talk, a man described with near evangelical glee, a system of project organisation called Getting Things Done. And yes, it does require capitalisation. I could do with following some of his tips.

I came in half way through a talk on creativity in the work place. As some people mentioned the importance of team work, socialising as a way of getting to know your colleagues and getting the proper balance of control and flexibility, I thought about those workers who have lots to offer employers but who prefer not to socialise down the pub or who can work with a team but like to do their part in a project alone and communicate via email. Basically, I thought about autistic and disabled workers and how they can be accommodated. I never spoke up though, I'd come in late and was a bit too shy. Perhaps at another one of these I'll think it through properly, get some advise and give a talk.

The event was well organised, and it was great to meet people from the local region involved in all sorts of clever and creative activities. I enjoyed chatting with Grannymar and Alan, both of whose blogs I read regularly. I met Phil, another regular read and Damien, blogging maestro and the guy who runs the Irish Blog Awards and the new Irish Web Awards.

The whole thing, including a decent lunch, was free. When I explained to one of the organisers, a woman called Mairin, that I was "just" a blogger, she demonstrated the spirit of Creative Camp by deciding to have a panel discussion about blogging with Grannymar and myself, whom I suspect were the only people there not to be in paid employment. It was cool. I mentioned why I started to blog and what I get out of it, and enjoyed hearing others discuss their own views. One guy was a bit waffly and too keen to share, but there's always one of those.

I left after that as Gordon's mum was minding the children for part of the day. I missed the first train home so dandered around a book shop for a while, picking up a book I've been meaning to buy for a while now. Borderlands is a detective novel set in my home town and surrounding areas. I started to read in the shop and almost missed the train again.

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that I have a life beyond these walls.