Inside the Bubble

Welcome! If you're reading this then you've possibly stumbled across my blog whilst killing time getting your your kid to sleep, or because I've shamelessly plugged the blog on Facebook! I suppose I should begin by introducing us. Boring I know, but necessary as a starter really!

The centre of the bubble is Master Bubble himself (also known as "The Bubbly One"). Five years old, disagnosed with autism at 3 years and a severe global developmental delay also at four. The Bubbly One is entirely too cute for his own good, which serves him well as he is a bundle of non-stop mischief who moves from sun up (if we're lucky) until the Clonidine kicks in at night. He is mostly non-verbal, sensory seeking, musical, messy and did I mention cute? He's also an affectionate and happy little boy who lives with a joy that is contagious. I know this beautiful little boy better than anyone else on this earth but have so much yet to discover about him.

Added to the bubble in late 2012 is The Little One. The Little One arrived in this world seemingly knowing that more would be asked of him than of other little brothers. He is happy and easygoing, enamoured with his big brother, and seems thoroughly amused by the chaos he's been born into! It's something of a shock after living in the autism bubble for so long to hear him babble to us and see him respond to his name. In the same way that I watch the Bubbly One, so fascinated and desperate to get inside his head, I watch the Little One, amazed to see him wanting to let us in at just six months.

Then there's my best friend and husband, whom we shall call Daddy for the purposes of this blog. Patient, hardworking and always putting himself at the back of the queue, I was truly blessed the day this gentleman asked me to be his wife and our boys could not have a more selfless and loving father. Daddy is a very private person so I won't be posting about him directly but be assured that he is always in the thick of the action (usually diffusing the situation and making me laugh at the absurdity of what we deal with sometimes!).

Then there's me- Mum, Mummy, Mumma. Thirty two years old, university educated stay at home autism mum. My journey is really just beginning and I feel like an old soul already. I've always worked in the disability world, but after struggling for the first year after Master Bubble's diagnosis I found that as much as I loved my guys at work I just had nothing left for my son at the end of each day. I miss those days though and so often The Bubbly One will do something that reminds me of someone I worked with. Most of the time I'll smile and silently thank that person for preparing me for my most important job, and other times admittedly I jump on him with a "don't you start that!". When I'm not kid wrangling (and often when I am) I am attached to my iPhone. I am something of an autism blog junkie and have a serious addicton to Facebook. I also like to escape with my much neglected friends every now and then and attempt to scrapbook some of our crazy life. I'm a Christian and regularly wrestle with God about why things are the way they are. Sometimes I feel like I get it, other times I have no clue, but the conversation is never boring!

Finally, I guess I should explain the name of my blog. The Autism Bubble is what I call the safety zone we tend to live in these days. Don’t get me wrong, we still get out into the world, but we are getting to the stage where the parties our son is invited to are for other kids with disabilities (mostly autism), his therapists have become friends, we socialise with other autism families. Other autism mums have become my dear friends and my phone and Facebook are full of them. Because his level of disability is assessed as severe he goes to a special school- where he fits right in and is happy.

We still have friends whose lives are untouched by autism (apart from our visits) and I love them dearly, however it feels as though we live on another planet when I hear them talk about their kids. I am sure that, all things being okay with The Little One, that I may have to learn to function in the real world soon enough, but for now, life in our autism bubble is what I know. Sometimes I try desperately to burst from the bubble, and for everybody’s sanity it is important- but I have become comfortable in the bubble too. Maybe it’s about accepting where my son is at. Maybe because it’s a place where I am a little sheltered from the fact that he is years behind his peers no matter how well he’s progressing. In the bubble I don’t have to fight so hard to celebrate my beautiful son and to prove his value to the world. In the bubble he is happy- and so am I.

So welcome to The Autism Bubble! Now that the formalities are out of the way I look forward to celebrating our beautiful son and sharing our journey with you.