A new report today claims that Autism begins the womb. It claims that patchy changes in the brain, long before birth may cause symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The new study carried out by The New England Journal of Medicine raises hope that better understanding of the brain may improve the lives of children with Autism.

This is good news for parents as ASD is still a relatively unknown entity. With no known cure there is a growing amount of research but there is still little evidence to support some of the claims made by the reports. Among these claims was one recently that autism can be detected as young as 6 months.

As a father of a 6 year old boy with Autism, I am by no means an expert in the condition.

James was diagnosed a couple of years ago officially but we suspected for some time that he was different. We knew he was different to our daughter Jessica, who is a year older than him but passed that off as boys are lazy or just told ourselves that all children are different and all develop at different speeds.

On Jessica’s first birthday, she could practically hold a conversation with you. On James’ first birthday he could practically sit up- sometimes. We noticed that he would form odd habits like picking up a ball and crawling to the edge of the rug to drop the ball onto the hard floor, then retrieve it and do the same thing again and again. He seemed reluctant to make eye contact sometimes, which we read was a sign of autism, but then at other times he would make inappropriately direct eye contact- sometimes physically grabbing your face to force eye contact. Despite noticing his unusual habits he was such a pleasant baby that we thought he was just laid back.

Because Jessica was so forward as a baby, she was quite a handful, always exploring everything and needing a lot of supervision. He would happily sit for long periods of time occupying himself with a shiny object spinning on his baby walker.

As he got older he began to display aggression and angry behaviour when he got frustrated and could explode apparently without warning in seconds. Eventually, we mentioned our concerns to our GP who reassured us that all kids develop differently and there is a reason they call that age the terrible two’s. He did though refer us to specialists who duly diagnosed his condition just before his 4^th birthday.

I remember when my wife was pregnant with Jessica, I asked her if she had to choose between beauty and brains for our unborn child, which would she choose? She chose looks and I said brains were more important, (we agreed of course, like all expectant parents would, that our children would be beautiful and intelligent).

With this perhaps in mind I was reluctant to admit that James was different. I dreaded him being labelled as disabled or Autistic James. To me he was just a perfect little boy that was slightly different.

We attended a parent workshop, where no children were present- just parents talking about their experiences. What we discovered there was that we are quite lucky and that James’ symptoms seem to be quite mild compared to some. It also emerged that my feelings of denial were not unusual. There seemed to be a pattern of particularly Dads, that didn’t want to accept that their child might be different. I don’t know if there is any scientific facts to support that claim, but from the people in that room it was the majority. The other thing that struck me was that most of the children being discussed were boys.

One lady who turned up late and alone came in all flustered and told us that her husband would have loved to have joined us but he was away working in China on important business. I saw little need to share that information with us initially, but later during discussion she revealed that her and her hard working husband had noticed that she didn’t really engage with other children and seemed to have little imagination when it came to playing. They also notice she was a little clumsy or awkward. To cure this they had enrolled her in dance class. When this failed to fix her they took her to a doctor. She was 12. I may be wrong and it may just have been my perception but I suspect they were so busy keeping up with the Jones’ that they couldn’t possibly comprehend the chance that maybe there was actually something wrong with their daughter.

To the shame of this country there is still clearly some sort of stigma attached to disability and individuality, particularly if the illness is of the mental nature. All parents surely consider their children to be beautiful, special intelligent beings and parents of autistic children are no different.

As our suspicions of his autism, pre diagnosis grew, we of course read books and articles online on the subject.

As anyone who has googled any ailment will know, the symptoms and results of those symptoms are terrifying. I once self-diagnosed and convinced myself I had a twisted testicle and therefore had only a matter of hours to get to the hospital or lose it, after reading an internet article. After a high speed trip to out of hours’ emergency clinic, I was told I had a water infection.

So, I was reluctant to accept the information available on the internet but there seemed to be so many conflicting reports that it was impossible to be sure either way. I found a chart that said if your child has two out of the five behaviours in table one, and three out five in table two, and three out of six in table six then your child is autistic. The stereotypical autistic symptoms did not fit James. He displayed hardly any of the behaviours in table one and two but arguably displayed most of the behaviours in table three. 

One of the well known facts about autism is that sufferers are detached and don’t like to be touched and call feel emotions.

None of these things are true of James. Admittedly, when the family dog died recently, although he noticed we were all visibly upset he patted his mum on the shoulder loving and said “oh dear, can I play on the Wii now mummy”.

He didn’t seem to comprehend the fact that the dog was dead and when we said “Tilly is in heaven” he seemed to think this was another country.

When I had my motorbike stolen and set fire to and was understandably annoyed by this, James talked about it endlessly, saying things like “you haven’t got a motorbike now Daddy because naughty boys stole it and set it on fire didn’t they”. He doesn’t understand tact, but then neither do many people who don’t have autism. He does though love his family very much and delights in telling us all the time. He shows his love more than anyone else in the house and cuddles and kisses us constantly. He still throws himself on the floor occasionally, if we take a different route home from school and sometimes he won’t eat anything but pizza but his odd habits are less odd to us now.

He is unable to do some things that other children his age take for granted, such as colouring or drawing but he is able to do many things that none of the other children in his class can do. His reading is more than a year advanced for his age but he has needed help to simply hold a pen or to feed himself with a knife and fork.

He is able to memorise patterns and routines remarkably well and loves game shows, often watching the same episode again and again, rewinding it when the audience laugh for an action replay like a football fan might when there is a moment of brilliance. When he watches shows such as the cube he is able to reel off statistics like Mo farrar played this in game 3, he lost two lives..

I have spent hours trying to get him to hold a pen, trying time again to get him to form a recognisable circle, to no avail.

Tonight when his sister was writing on a card for her Grandma, James picked up the pen and wrote JAMES in perfectly legible writing. By the time he got to S he was almost wetting himself with excitement because he knew it was a big deal. I have no idea how he learned to do it, or if he will be able to do it tomorrow. He says he going to.

At bed time he insisted on wearing Jessica’s pink One Direction pyjamas, untroubled by ego and blissfully unaware why he looked funny, yet knowing and delighting in the fact that he did.

He surprises me every day with his loving faithful way, and amazes me with his manipulation skills saying things like “ you’re going to watch me play on the Wii tonight Daddy aren’t you because you’re my best friend and I love you so, so much”. How can I possibly say no?

A good friend of mine said recently that I cling to James as much as James clings to me. This is possibly true and I wonder if this is common in other parents of autistic children.

I’m certain that they like me, believe their child is a beautiful, clever, loving treasure.

If I was to give any advice to parents who suspect their child has autism it would be to get a diagnosis as quickly as possible, rather than being in denial or hoping it passes. Our NHS system does have some wonderful mechanisms in place and the help and support by highly skilled professionals is invaluable. There is additional help and funding available in good schools and children can flourish and develop much quicker and much easier with that help and live a fuller and richer life.

Don’t let your pride get in the way of your child’s well-being!

                                                    

An All Woman Shortlist for Sheffield Heeley -Why Nikki Bond should be your first choice:

In January this year Sheffield MP Meg Munn announced she would be stepping down at the 2015 General Election. Sheffield-born Munn was first elected to parliament in 2001. Her Heeley constituency in the city is an interesting seat that represents traditionally poorer areas of the city such as Arbourthorne and GleadlessValley while also looking after the leafy suburbs of Greenhill and Norton.
To represent the people who live in such diverse areas will take someone with special skills. I have previously written about the differences within the city in levels of child poverty and the fact that the residents of our poorer areas will probably have quite different issues to those of the wealthier areas.

While the issues of unemployment, antisocial behaviour, food poverty and benefits might be in the thoughts of the less fortunate residents, the people that inhabit the more sought after parts of the city are less likely to be affected by such things.
It takes a talented and dedicated person to be able to empathise with the poorest and most vulnerable in society, whilst appreciating the needs and desires of the business community and the aspirations of the more wealthy. Electing a suitable candidate might well be a difficult task..

Sheffield, according to Wikipedia, boasts green spaces that cover over 60% of its land. There are over 250 parks and 2 million trees. A third of the city lies within the Peak District. In stark contrast, there are areas within the city that have been in need of regeneration for years. While parts of the city are flushed with extravagance of the wealthy and the exuberance of the tourism industry there are run down areas which have become short stay parks or people passing through or down on their luck; single parents who have been given priority housing or people who have experienced a relationship breakdown and just need somewhere as a stop gap. The result in these areas is often that the residents don’t think of it as their home and so there is no community spirit.

Sheffield is crying out for someone who will work tirelessly to improve those areas, to create spaces where even the passing through can feel they belong and the lost and vulnerable can feel safe.

I have for a long while been a believer that a city like Sheffield needs an MP who can relate to the needs of Sheffield people on council estates but still be able to appeal to more affluent voters in areas such as Heeley.
Nikki Bond is hoping to step into that role and having met
her recently, I believe she is the right person for the job..

 

I caught up with her today in a coffee shop in the thriving Ecclesall Road area.

I went with open mind knowing little of her other than what I had read on Twitter. I knew she was an advocate for feminism and equality. I have seen her support the No Page 3 campaign and the living wage, and was aware she had attended rallies against the evil bedroom tax and fascist EDL movement; but chatting to Ms Bond for a while it is clear that she is much more than just a feminist and activist.

Nikki travelled around the world as a child and enjoyed the luxury of boarding school; not because she was born into wealth or is the daughter of aristocracy, but because her Dad was a Private in the Army and stationed abroad. The Army paid for her education in boarding school so the Army kids were able to get a stable education - a privilege her parents would not otherwise have afforded. Her mother works as a special needs Teaching Assistant, which may have been where her passion for high quality education (and public services) for everyone, rather than only for those can afford it comes from. Just this week she was at the NUT rally showing her solidarity and support for the teachers on strike.
Since settling in Sheffield, where she studied at
Sheffield University, she has worked tirelessly to help the underprivileged and the most vulnerable in society as a local councillor. She is a passionate campaigner for women’s rights, as well as working with domestic violence charities. She has previously worked in admin roles and as a waitress. She still finds time to do the administration work for her husband’s gardening business, despite her busy schedule. Last December she worked on “small business Saturday”, which was a national day to support small businesses. Nikki somehow managed to find the time to distribute posters to almost every business in Nether Edge to encourage people to shop and buy local.
Although my intention was to interview Ms Bond and ask her some testing questions about how she can relate to real peoples’ issues, I found myself talking about many of my own experiences as she listened to what I had to say and empathised with the plight of everyday life.
She told me her first inspiration to get involved in politics was her Grandfather, who used to tell her stories of when he worked in the factories. She recently found out that her Great Grandparents worked in the cotton mills in Manchester. She is clearly and rightly very proud of her family’s working class background and this has had a big influence on her politics. It also accounts for the work she does to strengthen communities. She is involved in projects such as refurbishing local amenities, engaging the help of volunteers to mend the damage done to a community building by anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

She clearly relishes the challenge of getting people engaged and involved with this kind of project and she is in the process of enlisting the help of builders, plasterers and painters to create a space that can be enjoyed by everybody in the community. .

She told me she wants to be a community politician, not hell bent on looking after the interests of the Westminster village but listening to and providing a much needed voice for the people.
High profile politician’s parachuted into marginal seats purely because the seat is winnable should not be the motive.
The Farages and Cleggs of this world might be highly polished orators, able to debate with pizzazz on live TV and impress us by remembering our name when asked a question on BBC panel shows. But to understand the needs of a constituency and represent its electorate with honesty and integrity takes someone who cares more about the people who elected them than the rewards and social standing the office offers them. Nikki Bond makes no claim to be working class. Nor does she defend the system which allows only the well off or retired to be in politics. Despite not being poor or uneducated she seemed perfectly comfortable in the company of a clearly less well educated working class Yorkshire man.
She is part of an all-woman short-list for Sheffield Heeley.I suggested that all women short lists aren’t ideal, just like all working class short lists aren’t because they can result in a lack of respect for the winner, giving room for sceptics to suggest that the successful candidate would not have won in an open race.

Nikki accepted the suggestion with a glint in her eye that gave me the impression that she would be a formidable opponent, were any one to suggest such a thing of her. While my point was arguable, she believes it is undeniably high time that something was done to break the mould of middle aged, middle class white, male politicians that dominate both the government and opposition benches in the House of Commons to promote more diversity in politics. Even Education Secretary Michael Gove was complaining about this at the weekend.
Many young people are said to be disengaged with politics
because they are unable to relate to the grey, off the rack politicians we see on TV.

Nikki donates much of her time to working with young people and it probably helps that she is relatively young herself. At 31 years old, she was younger than I expected; but her mature attitude combined with a great amount of energy and enthusiasm made me feel confident at her capabilities to fulfil this important role.
She is a Cabinet Advisor for environment, a member of the GMB and is known to run the occasional marathon.
She is able to associate herself with the younger voters, the business community, and being a trade union member gives her the ear of the workers. She is a big supporter of the Living Wage campaign and regularly appears on local radio and in the Sheffield Star and has written articles on her
experience of online trolling for the Guardian. She has also had press releases in ILM news, a monthly newspaper written in Urdu and distributed free across Sheffield.
I was struck by her normality and enthusiasm, while feeling slightly daunted by her natural belief that what she is saying is true. In a world where politicians talk in disingenuous riddles, Nikki Bond will stand out for me, as a beacon of humility and honesty. I would absolutely urge anyone who has the chance to go along and meet her, to do just that.
To enable Nikki Bond to stand as Heeley’s next Member of Parliament, she needs Labour party members to vote for her. So if like many people, you want an MP who cares about the community she lives and works in, who works relentlessly for people less fortunate and is a genuine real person then I strongly urge you to give your support to Nikki by retweeting, reposting or sharing this with friends and family members.
Hopefully come 2015 Nikki Bond will be the next Member of Parliament for Sheffield Heeley.



                                       
 

Just over two years ago, in February 2010 I wrote my first blog article. I have just re-read it for reference and it was quite shabby really. An attack on the media for the constant habit of banker bashing. In retrospect it’s difficult to remember why I was defending the bankers. Perhaps a little naïve and perhaps I have changed my views. It is equally difficult to remember what my motivation was to begin writing the blog. I had previously written to local MP’s with little success, although I did manage to manufacture an audience with Paul Blomfield MP, who was very polite and accommodating.

I suspect the main reason I began to write it was my growing frustration at the lack of diversity in politics, in the media and in the legal system, which are all dominated heavily by middle aged middle class white males, giving a very narrow view of how the country ought to be run. I wondered who was going to speak for people like me and decided that I would try to give myself and people like me a voice. I have since written 75 articles, including one published in the local news-paper, The Star,( http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/letters-opinion/viewpoint-how-the-other-half-now-have-to-exist-1-5826928 ) I have amazingly had over 5000 views on posts about football, racism, mental health, the elderly and trade unions. I have also read a lot of other people’s blogs including my friend and colleague James’, which I will post a link to at the bottom, who I am proud to say I coerced/bullied into writing, as I have a couple of other colleagues.

 Some of the blogs I have read are by people who clearly are frustrated wannabe journalists and some are simply on an ego trip. Others are for information purposes and others are just people wanting an avenue to get rid of their anger at the every-day humdrum agitation of existence. I suspect some of them are written by people who are too shy to speak out publicly in real life and some may contain hidden messages to loved ones or even poorly veiled criticisms of employers or friends. Blogging gives a platform to all.

Some are deeply touching and some have occasionally moved me to tears. Some inspire and some are just rubbish. I have tried since 2012 to write something profound. As yet, I haven’t managed in my opinion as I tend to have a reluctance to give no more of myself than my opinion. I struggle to share my actual emotions on events in my own life.

I wish I was writing when my first child was born so I could have shared the joy and optimism of being a new parent. I would have liked to have written in real time about the anguish of my divorce or the shame of my bankruptcy, or the grief at the death of my ex father in law and my wife’s Granddad. I was not and did not and so probably will not but I envy the people who are able to share their most intimate thoughts and fears with an anonymous audience. Those who are brave enough to bare their souls and warts to all deserve to be respected and those who dare not write such self- analysis should probably not judge those who dare.

I generally tend to avoid the topic of myself and write about atrocities such as the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus in India. http://fitandproperopposition.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/india-and-pakistansappalling-record-of.html or the disgraceful lack of coverage by the right wing media about things like the illegal blacklisting by some of the country’s biggest construction firms against trade union members.

I try to write in a balanced way and often give both sides to an argument but I have been criticised by some for not being controversial enough. Does one have to be controversial to attract readers or is this simply a result of sensationalised tabloid journalism we are all sadly too familiar with? In one my early posts I tried to court controversy by saying that asking the opinion of multimillionaire businessman Lord Beecroft on changes to employment law was like asking Gary Glitters opinion on the age of consent. A line I stand by and still agree with but these days I try to avoid such comments. Does this make me a sell out? Should I go balls out to offend purely to get more views on my page to pander to my ego? Perhaps. Mainly I write this for me. I don’t really seek approval on my opinions and they are just that- my humble, often uneducated, ill-informed preconceived opinions. If no one ever reads them at least there will be a diary of my opinions for my children and grandchildren to read. Which once again leads me to the desire to write about the people I love and experiences I have shared with them. I would very much like to write about my ambitions and aspirations and my fears and failings so that at least I may be understood one day when I am long gone. Alas, I suspect I shall continue to write about the failings of government and the success of football teams rather than sharing my own innermost thoughts but I salute those who do. keep blogging..

http://jamestringham.wordpress.com/

 

 

Home secretary Teresa May has said that policing has been damaged by the investigation into the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation.

The report found that a police officer had spied on the Lawrence family and it failed to rule out that corruption may have compromised the investigation. It is over 20 years ago since Lawrence was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men. There is now to be a judge led investigation into undercover police activity.

It said that Detective Sergeant John Davidson, involved in the Lawrence enquiry was guilty of corruption, even though this was not revealed in the McPherson review, a previous 1998 enquiry. It was though previously revealed by BBC’s Panorama in 2006. The report also said key evidence into corruption had disappeared.

The damning report puts the spotlight on the police force once again after damaging recent reports into corruption and dishonesty in the Hillsborough disaster and during the miner’s strike.

A new inquest into the Hillsborough disaster which cost 96 Liverpool fans their life in 1989 is set to start at the end of this month. It is likely to find that officers on duty on the day lied to the media and altered police reports. The South Yorkshire force has claimed for years that extreme drunkenness by the Liverpool fans was to blame for the tragedy. These claims have always been denied by the families of the dead.

Police have also been accused of brutality in the ‘80’s during the miner’s strike.

These reports and others, do nothing for the reputation of our Police men and women despite many of the incidents in question taking place over 3 decades ago. As more details of corruption, racism, violence and dishonesty come to light, the public’s trust of police sinks lower and lower.

The average starting salary of a Police constable in England and Wales is £22,680 rising to just over £25,000 on completion of training. The average wage of a primary school teacher is £24,000 while the average for a bin man in some parts of the country is over £30,000.

In 2012 seven police officers were killed while on duty making a total of over 4000 in the last 180 years.

When I was a young lad growing up in the 1970’s I would have been terrified of going home and telling my parents that I had been told off by a Bobby, because people had respect for the law. There is barely any respect for the profession any more or the authority they hold. We are constantly hearing bad story’s about the actions of police from brutality to criminals in custody and violence against protestors to senior officers hiding evidence of corruption and institutionalised racism. But the question remains – where would we be without the thousands of honest conscientious and brave men and women who risk their lives every day to protect us?

We should not judge the many by the actions of the few and should instead acknowledge the noble job these people do. They have a thankless job. If they do nothing they are attacked. If they act they are attacked. They face hatred and hostility each and every day, in town centres around the country, purely for pulling on the uniform to serve and protect us. The dangers they face in situations such as the wave of demonstrations by the EDL and other groups sweeping the country or simply at a football match on a Saturday afternoon are such the most of us will never begin to imagine.

While it is fair and correct that the bad apples and guilty are sought out and punished we must not penalise the entire police force. They deserve respect and gratitude for their endeavours in keeping us safe in our homes and on the streets or we would live in a vigilante wild west.