0 comment Tuesday, April 29, 2014 | admin
What I've found so far with the gardening front:
Disability Facilities Grant - now, in theory, this should cover works you need done to your home for better accomodation. However, proving that this covers the garden as well takes a lot of work and convincing. They didn't even want to hear about it at first from me, but I keep plugging away, and once I have DLA (which was its own battle, believe me), I will eventually convince them. One must keep in mind the Council will always say "no" before they say "yes". If you're determined, keep appealing!
There are precious few charities out there for disabled gardeners, but there are a few. There is also the ONE charity for disabled children which I've found will actually fund garden works; The Family Fund. It's shocking but it's true - no child's charity will cover for garden works, even though sensory gardens are all the rage at the moment, and school gardens rapidly gain in popularity. That a family could choose between a short term solution like a holiday break, or a long term food/activity solution like installing a garden doesn't seem to occur. However, tomorrow a rep from the Family Fund is coming round and I hope to convince her to the necessity.
We are indeed talking a necessity here - the problem I often have with convincing charities or groups about my son's exuberance is most people are used to dealing with only one kind of autistic child. Quiet, self-stimming, and nonvocal. I cannot count how many times I've had a qualm sending my child to an event or outing and been reassured "Oh, don't worry, we deal with special needs all the time" and yet, when the moment arrives, I can see the shock on their faces as they've obviously never dealt with a six year old who is as tall (and as strong) as someone who is nine, and is so triggery that he can go from smiling and babbling one minute to kicking and biting everyone in reach at the next. And then...after ten minutes, gets up as if nothing has happened. This is not a child you can put into a sensory tent and expect him to sit quietly playing with fibreoptics. He needs to run and jump and climb and play and dig and spin round in circles in a space where I don't have to wear myself out trying to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or others.
Where I live, there are no playgroups for children his age with disabilities. The council and social services themselves admit that there is a huge gap, and that they can't even begin to help until my son is 10. He's six now....and I refuse to sit in limbo for four years and leave my son's development to chance. If there's nothing in the community, then I will have to create it at home.
On those days when getting on the bus is just too much, when you've spent the last �10 on your kid's uniforms for school and you're not sure where the grocery money is coming from, when you eye the flowers in the market and find yourself teary-eyed at the bright blush of colour on a dreary English morning but you just can't rationalise spending the money for something pretty when what you need to buy is milk for the kids...well, wouldn't it be nice if you could go outside instead and pick your own flowers, bring some peas and salad indoors, and let your kids stuff themselves on strawberries and raspberries you grew yourself?
And why not?
Well?
...oddly enough, no one seems capable of giving me an answer for that.
Disability Facilities Grant - now, in theory, this should cover works you need done to your home for better accomodation. However, proving that this covers the garden as well takes a lot of work and convincing. They didn't even want to hear about it at first from me, but I keep plugging away, and once I have DLA (which was its own battle, believe me), I will eventually convince them. One must keep in mind the Council will always say "no" before they say "yes". If you're determined, keep appealing!
There are precious few charities out there for disabled gardeners, but there are a few. There is also the ONE charity for disabled children which I've found will actually fund garden works; The Family Fund. It's shocking but it's true - no child's charity will cover for garden works, even though sensory gardens are all the rage at the moment, and school gardens rapidly gain in popularity. That a family could choose between a short term solution like a holiday break, or a long term food/activity solution like installing a garden doesn't seem to occur. However, tomorrow a rep from the Family Fund is coming round and I hope to convince her to the necessity.
We are indeed talking a necessity here - the problem I often have with convincing charities or groups about my son's exuberance is most people are used to dealing with only one kind of autistic child. Quiet, self-stimming, and nonvocal. I cannot count how many times I've had a qualm sending my child to an event or outing and been reassured "Oh, don't worry, we deal with special needs all the time" and yet, when the moment arrives, I can see the shock on their faces as they've obviously never dealt with a six year old who is as tall (and as strong) as someone who is nine, and is so triggery that he can go from smiling and babbling one minute to kicking and biting everyone in reach at the next. And then...after ten minutes, gets up as if nothing has happened. This is not a child you can put into a sensory tent and expect him to sit quietly playing with fibreoptics. He needs to run and jump and climb and play and dig and spin round in circles in a space where I don't have to wear myself out trying to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or others.
Where I live, there are no playgroups for children his age with disabilities. The council and social services themselves admit that there is a huge gap, and that they can't even begin to help until my son is 10. He's six now....and I refuse to sit in limbo for four years and leave my son's development to chance. If there's nothing in the community, then I will have to create it at home.
On those days when getting on the bus is just too much, when you've spent the last �10 on your kid's uniforms for school and you're not sure where the grocery money is coming from, when you eye the flowers in the market and find yourself teary-eyed at the bright blush of colour on a dreary English morning but you just can't rationalise spending the money for something pretty when what you need to buy is milk for the kids...well, wouldn't it be nice if you could go outside instead and pick your own flowers, bring some peas and salad indoors, and let your kids stuff themselves on strawberries and raspberries you grew yourself?
And why not?
Well?
...oddly enough, no one seems capable of giving me an answer for that.