My girl deals with autism by turning into a cat
rubbing her head against me in a sweet cat-like way which says, “I missed you”. She shows affection in the same way towards her mum Lucy and siblings Quinnlan, 10, Khaleesi, five, and Dexter, three.
Honey just loves cats and I think acting like one gives her the bravery to cope with situations she wouldn’t normally be able to manage, such as collecting a certificate at her school, which is close to our home near Spalding, Lincs. The problem is she has no
safety awareness, and if she sees a cat, she has to stroke it. We’ve had to put a lock on the windows at home because she once saw a cat on the roof and climbed out of the skylight to try to get it, dragging Khaleesi with her.
Autism impacts our whole family – Quinnlan is on the Asperger’s spectrum. He was diagnosed at a slightly earlier age than Honey. He As many as 700,000 Brits may be autistic – more than one in 100 of the population. Around one in 100 children is thought to fall on the autistic spectrum. Up to half may have an additional learning disability. If you include families, the condition touches the lives of 2.8 million people every day. Four times as many boys are diagnosed with autism than girls. is highly intelligent, but struggles with sensory issues and is prone to huge emotional meltdowns if he gets frustrated or angry.
As a toddler, Honey refused to meet our eyes. We recognised the symptoms straight away. It’s not easy having two children with problems. Lucy has to cope with them while I go to my job as a locomotive technician.
But the worst thing is how other people judge our children. I’m passionate about raising awareness of autism, and I’d implore strangers to be more understanding when they see a child having a meltdown.
Coming from a military background, where being late is actually being five minutes early, I find it exasperating when we’re always running at least half an hour behind.
But I try to keep in mind that some of the most extraordinary people, including Einstein and Mozart, were probably autistic.
Yes, our children may be wired a bit dif ferently, but nobody wants to be the same anyway, do they? Phil is running the Royal Parks Foundation half marathon in London on October 9 to raise money for the National Autistic Society. For details, go to royalparkshalf.com/ charities-list/