Light It Up For Autism Awareness Blog Hop

                                           
As it's World Autism Awareness day today, I've something a little bit different on the blog. I'm joining in with the 'Light it up Blue for Autism Blog Hop' which has been organised by Veronica Zalis and Tenia Nelson.
I don't usually write much about family life on my blog but our 19 year old son is Autistic so any opportunity to bring awareness to Autism is a good one, especially if it involves crafting :)
We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism awareness and you can see the complete list here.... if you would like the chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies leave a comment on this blog, and any of the other blogs participating in todays hop, the gallery of blogs can also be found here. Winners will be announced on Monday 6th April.

Well the colour theme for todays hop is, as the badge suggests, blue; so I decided to stop procrastinating about making a Project Life page and get to it..... and a page about our lad, James, seemed the perfect choice...

So this is my first PL page and I could make many pages on James and his autism but instead, I decided to focus on  the numerous school photos I have of James, which is a fair few... he's been at the same school now for almost 15 years. He attends a Special Needs school which caters for children from 4-19 years of age, he's been fortunate enough to join their various satelitte inclusion classes in local mainstream schools during some of those years which is a great way to raise awareness of autism amongst the mainstream pupils too. James finishes school this July and the daunting step of going to college awaits.

I have put my favourite photos together for this page, they show how he's matured from a baby-faced little boy into a handsome lad... okay, I know I'm biased :)

....and yes, as well as the classic 'missing tooth' photos we have the lovely 'graze across your nose' school photo too... don't they always pick the right time for accidents!!

The black and white photo was taken about a couple of years ago.... I wasn't sure how wearing a tie would go down with him... he loved it but he never came home with it in quite the same tidy knot. He could never tie it himself so had to learn how to remove it over his head for P.E lessons... not a problem now as he wears, what he calls, his 'home clothes' although he's not always great at selecting them appropriately :)

Looking at the photos above, James looks outwardly like any 'normal' mainstream child which is why Autism Awareness is so important. The spectrum is so vast and the children/adults on it are all so different, they do not have labels and nor should they... they do not fit one mold. Living with an autistic child or adult has it's ups and downs the same as any other, you just learn to deal with it differently and ultimately adapt your life accordingly. James is a very special person and his attributes far outweigh any problems... it's just that somedays you need to be constantly reminded of that ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy visiting the rest of the hop participants.... I certainly hope to grab some time over the weekend to visit some too :)

Jenny x