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My name is Alison McGinley.I’m married to Paul McGinley.We have four children together.

This blog is all about my journey with autism. I’ll be honest here. I’d only heard the word autism through watching rain man.So that to me was how i viewed an autistic person.

My concerns started when my oldest son Liam was one & a half. I noticed he wasn’t speaking. But people would say “It’s just a boy thing. He’s being lazy”. I didn’t know any different as he was my firstborn. But i raised my concerns with my health visitor. She refered Liam to the Pollok health centre. We had our first appointment in February 2002. The lady assessing Liam noticed he lined up the toys he was playing with. She mentioned to me about getting him assessed for autism. At the time i was pregnant with my twins. So you could imagine how stressful things were. Liam eventually got diagnosed at the Southbank centre in September 2002. He attended mainstream nursery. But had to go to a preschool assessment centre also. This did wonders for Liam’s speech. He attended ASL primary & secondary schools in later life.As we knew he wouldn’t cope in mainstream school. He’s now 22 & such a wonderful caring young man. Who me & his dad are so proud of.

My daughter & son Erin & Aiden who’ll be 19 in May. They went through the same process as Liam. They both had more complex needs though. They were both diagnosed with autism in November 2004. They both attended a complex needs nursery. Erin started talking & was more advanced than Aiden during this time. So she moved on to the same school as Liam. While Aiden stayed on in complex needs primary & secondary schools. Erin is now at college. While Aiden attends a day centre. For young adults with complex needs. Aiden is severely autistic with limited speech. He will need support all his life. As he won’t be able to live an independent life on his own.

Then we have my youngest son Anthony. He was 10 in December. At first myself & my husband didn’t think he was autistic. As he was so different developmental wise to our other kids. But we started to notice little things. Like he was obsessed with the washing machine. He would be fixated watching it. Then we knew he’d also need to get assessed. He was diagnosed with autism in either 2015 or 2016. I actually can’t remember to be honest. He’s our first child who has attended a mainstream school. He’s doing well. But with his autism he does have his challenges. His anxiety can get really bad. But overall he’s a funny & extremely talkative young boy.

I’m 43, so I’ve been an unpaid carer for along time now. It’s all I’ve known as a mother. No one can prepare you for how physically & emotionally draining it is. I struggled for so long.Until eventually i started on antidepressants. Truth be told, i don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t reach out to my doctor. I’m grateful that Aiden gets respite. We as a family all need it.As you can’t switch off with Aiden. He always needs your care. My kids are my world. I’ll never stop fighting for what’s right for them. But the older i get.The less energy i have each day. I always feel that people look down on me. All because i don’t have a “proper job”. Oh how i wish I could go out & work. But what people don’t get. Is being an unpaid carer is a 24 hour job. You don’t get to rest when you get home.

I wanted to write this blog to give a bit of an insight into my life. I urge anyone if you think your child could be autistic. Please push for an assessment. As early intervention is key. My kids have had amazing support throughout their school lives. These teachers, psa’s, bus drivers etc do an amazing job. I’ll forever be grateful to them.

Going forward I want people in government to value us unpaid carers.We don’t get no where near as much recognition as others.Yet in actual fact the money we save them is huge.I could go on & on about autism.But for now I’ll just leave you with this blog.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

Alison

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  • Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
    This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right. You’re going to publish a post…More

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