EMILY ANDRE’S OK! COLUMN

EMILY ON PADDY’S ‘LOOKING DISABLED’ ROW, READING TO HER KIDS, CHILDBIRTH AND SMEAR TESTS

Paddy and Christine Mcguinness have spoken out after a man said their autistic children didn’t ‘look disabled’ when they were parked in a disabled bay at a play centre. Paddy called the man ‘ignorant’, while Christine said: ‘I am not proud of having a blue badge. I have it because my children need it for their safety. I don’t want to use this space.’ I really feel for them as it must be hard enough to care for their children – autistic twins Leo and Penelope, six, and daughter Felicity, three – without also facing something like that. Not all disabilities are visible and you can’t make assumptions about who is eligible for a disabled badge. You quite often hear of people without a disabled badge parking in disabled spaces so I think that’s where a lot of the sensitivity comes from.

In other news, boys are said to be catching up with girls when it comes to reading – thanks to apps and smartphones. New research says books tend to put boys off and they prefer the ‘digital world’, but I’ve found my two are both into books as much as each other. We read with them every night and they absolutely love it. Theo will also make me tell him a story every night before bed so I have to make something up.

While it’s good that the gap appears to be closing, I still don’t think giving children a lot of screen time is a good thing and it’s something that should be limited. Millie has her ipad at weekends and Theo only uses his when we’re travelling. I’ve always encouraged them to read books because it improves their speech, language, vocabulary and concentration span.