One of the most common characteristics of children with Autism is a real difficulty with socialising and forming meaningful connections with other people, as a result, so many children with ASD, like our Awesome Archie, often face social isolation and occasional loneliness. Research suggests that a connection with a companion animal can both reduce loneliness and provide needed companionship in children like him. It also suggests that lots of neurodivergent kids have strong human-animal bonds due to the fundamentally non-judgmental nature of animals / pets and their unconditional love 🙂
Its surely no surprise then that Archie is of course a lover of ALL animals, his first love being Mickey , The Fedora wearing superpuss of course! This love has prompted us to explore family days out with animal’s at the core and today it was the turn of Monkey World in Dorset.
What a truly amazing place to visit, particularly if you are a neurodivergent family. Firstly the price. We managed to get a family ticket ( 2 adults and 2 kids) plus Archie who was permitted to bring me for FREE as his carer! This is such a brilliant idea and a really impressive and inclusive gesture. We are so impressed.
Not only that , the toilets were all clean, the shop was not over priced and the coffee was fantastic! Furthermore, their were ample picnic tables dotted around and there was no question AT ALL of the permission to bring your own packed lunches, which for us with all of our brood is a must. Check out some of our Monkey world highlights below and know that we highly recommend this as a great and inclusive day out for all the family!
Click here for reel 🙂 https://www.instagram.com/p/C3apF7iIuSI/
A well earned rest!
This half term holidays has been a beautiful one for us. Aside from our monkey adventure, we have done NOTHING! We as a family have spent almost all week watching Marvel movies, playing games (some board, some computer) and eating well. It has been a time to reflect, recalibrate and reconnect.
Rest is a VITAL part of protecting our mental health and what we all NEED to feel our best. While doing my research for this post I discovered that there are 7 types of rest…who knew?!
- Physical: Physical rest is about resting your body. In addition to sleep, physical rest can include anything that restores your body, like getting a massage or attending a yoga class.
- Mental: Mental rest is about giving your brain a break. People need mental rest when they’re overwhelmed and struggle to shut off their thoughts. This may might include things like stepping away from a busy work day to take a walk
- Emotional: Emotional rest is about being authentic and honest with your feelings. People need emotional rest when they get stuck in people-pleasing (saying yes to a commitment, even though they want to say no) or feel like they have to project a certain image (responding with “I’m great!” when someone asks how they’re doing—even though they’re actually struggling).
- Social: Social rest is about pursuing positive, energizing, and supportive social connections, or simply taking a break from socialization altogether. This is my biggest issue!
- Sensory: Sensory rest is about giving your senses a break. People need sensory rest when they overwhelm their senses with constant stimuli, a common challenge for our kids with Autism!
- Creative: Creative rest is about exposing yourself to artistic, nature-based, and innovative environments, without feeling the need to produce a creation—and feeling the sense of inspiration that comes along with them.
- Spiritual: Spiritual rest is about connecting with something larger than yourself. People need spiritual rest when they find themselves so caught up in their issues that they can’t see or connect with the bigger picture.
Paying attention to rest deficits is a critical part of our mental stability , If you’re exhausted, you can’t do your best —and if you’re not getting the right type of rest, you’re not going to be able to get past that seemingly endless exhaustion.
Something that sadly I have learned the hard way!
So we at Awesome Archie encourage you to rest, find peace in a movie or book and don’t be afraid to say no to that cafĂ© invite. Your REST IS VITAL!