visit to the farm

went to the farm this evening,which was very nice.
got to see lottie,she had a good hugging and a big bowl of food to finish off her spoiling.
then we went to look at matilda and her calf-matilda is a very tame jersey cow.
she got a load of rubs and had gotten a licking off her in return,the little one attempted it as well- she looked like bambi.

not had a good day,so it was very nice having this quick trip out.
here is some of the photos taken:-with lottie,she was desperate to get into her house for some food.



had to brighten this one up in GIMP as it was very dark,am being given a licking bath by matilda-can just about see her tongue out-ready for action in this.


and here is lottie,kindly showing us where her house and food cabinet is,as if we dont know already.

EDFN updates

have got the forum fully installed and nicely skinned now,it was quite difficult working around as have not worked with full on phpBB for some years and it was a lot more simple then.
had to upload every single tiny file and folder that makes up the coding one by one in server CPanel as FTP wasnt working-so had spent days just uploading.

needs a lot finishing off,but getting there.
getting some mySQL errors,but luckily it isnt because have fucked up uploading, am using free hosting which is pretty good mostly,just has the odd overload as its free shared server hosting.
may transfer it to a paid shared or dedi server if the site gets popular.

please wish lots of luck for next week

next week,have got a meeting going on,that involves social worker,key worker,pyschologist,and our home and organisation managers-not sure who else is going.
not going to be joining them-hate official stuff like that,but pyschologist is coming straight after to explain what went on,outcome and all of that.
-its a meeting to try and get the extra funding back off the council,as pysch,staff and so on have been collecting logged evidence that this funding is needed and makes a huge difference to life,
will be able to do PT voluntary work mucking out horses if this goes ahead,and see lottie every week hopefully! what person who isnt disabled only gets to see their pet every few weeks if they are lucky? how they get this past the discrimination laws is beyond own thinking.

a new ASD site launching-SOON

a new site is launching soon,called EDFN [embrace difference,fear normality],dedicated to the whole autistic spectrum,not just one severity,functioning, area or age group-like what usualy happens with 'ASD' sites.
-as well as autistics,it welcomes people of all ages,and people who are indirectly connected to ASDs in some way [such as families/parents with autistic children].
-the message of EDFN is that people need to always believe in hope and a positive future for their autistic son/daughter/sibling etc regardless of severity,that autistic adults are not the same as autistic children, and that people with any ASD label can be successful in life with the right support.
-EDFN is not an extremist anti cure site,its pro choice as have never agreed with the way people believe they have a right to force their belief on others when they do not experience an ASD the same way.
however,it is about spreading encouragement,supporting the autistics who already exist instead of abandoning us and spending money on future cure research that may never happen.
anti cure/pro cure people are welcome to the site,if they can respect that everyone has their own view and not to force theirs on others.

it will be an actual site,plus a phpBB forum-have not finished installing the forum, will be doing that today hopefuly all going well then starting the site off.

have got the next part of this autism project waiting to start as well once the site is finished.


heres where the power of autistics,self diagnosed autistics,and families/friends/ support staff etc of autistics come in.
the site will have a section on how ASDs affect ourselves and everyone around us,life experiences,-peoples personal experiences.
if woud like to share own story,please email: rda.rider [AT] gmail dot com.

thanks.


more information on EDFN coming very soon.

stirrups are for cowards

at the weekly riding session this week,it was exclusively dressage training-practice for RDA dressage exams to be exact.
am now able to get jas into canter from halt,and can do rising trot without any stirrups,and had also learnt to hold and use a whip for the first time.
roll on summer,hope to ride fully bareback the odd time again if jas allows it.

designer equipment,on the NHS

today,the new padded helmet [prescribed this time] FINALLY arrived from hospital,it had only been sent out this week.

surprisingly though,it wasnt the illuminous stand out one had expected from them,it was a quality puma rugby helmet:

[^photo taken via laptop cam by the way].

the neuros had told us the hospital has never dealt with specialist helmets before,and these are hard to come by in the UK as they were mostly phased out.
but they use rugby helmets for epileptics/challenging behavior on the wards,which are actualy better in a lot of ways as they are more surrounding and protective and not as standoutish.

neuro is also coming to visit next week,though am seeing pyschologist same day so dont have to, as neuro only has to see staff.