Frontline Magazine

Olga is 7 years old girl with blue eyes and long hair. She loves listening to music, playing games and reading books. Her favourite movies are Frozen, Moana, Minions and Sing. One day she can give you lots of hugs and kisses and then she might tell you to leave her room and close the door when she is asked to clean her room. She can also be stubborn so often needs to be encouraged to do what she is asked to do.

As I mentioned in my first article, Julien’s health problems took precedent over his handicap. His biggest problem after his digestive problems was his hearing problem. Julien suffered from fluctuating deafness. He had glue ear for many years, so he was fitted with an ear aerator each year which very often didn’t remain long enough in his ears. So it was decided to enlarge his external auditory canal to no avail. I was shocked when the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor didn’t suggest doing a hearing test to check Julien’s hearing capacity. I was told that the paediatrician or the speech therapist had to request it.

The announcement at birth Coping with health problems Hearing problems Taking on too much The ultimate goal Julien was born in July 1983, in...

I am an autistic mother to six autistic children. Like any other family, it is love and understanding that binds us, but our struggle to advocate, be understood and supported as autistic family members when work with professionals, therapists, schools has nearly torn us apart mentally, physically and emotionally.