Autism and ADHD parent
A weekly letter about family life with autism and ADHD
I’m Tessa. Every Wednesday I send one practical letter about what works at home for my two neurodivergent children, and I make printable cards and planners and two short courses to go with it.
Sensory
- New
The Bonfire Night plan we make every year
Headphones on the hook, a window instead of a field, and an exit we agree on.
The beanbag, the blanket and the fairy lights
How a corner of our living room was built, cheaply, over one wet weekend.
The shirt with the tag and the jumper with the seam
Sunday-night clothes sorting, and the school jumper we ended up buying three times.
Routines
The clocks went back and my son did not
Dark at half past four, awake at five: what we changed in the first week.
A month with the timetable on the fridge
Which cards we use every day, which get ignored, and the one Arlo removed himself.
Bedtime in seven steps, drawn on a card
The order we never change, and the one step Wren is allowed to swap.
Siblings
Playdough as a peace treaty
Wren and Arlo cannot share a sofa, but they can share one lump of dough.
The puddle on the way to school
Wren avoids every puddle, Arlo needs to find them all, and we still reach the gate.
Two kinds of holiday in one small caravan
Arlo wants the beach at seven, Wren wants the caravan quiet. A week of taking turns.
School
The one-page note for the supply teacher
Seven lines about Wren on a single sheet, for the day her teacher is away.
What I asked the school for, in the first fortnight
Four small requests in an email of six lines, and what I let go of.
The dress rehearsal for the first day of term
Shoes, bag, the walk to the gate, then home for biscuits, two days early.
Downloads and courses
Shop
Download as soon as you pay. Yours to keep.
About
About me
I have two children, Arlo and Wren, and a small house with one very full hallway. I am a parent, not an expert, and I write down what worked, what did not, and what I tried at seven in the morning with one shoe missing.
Each Wednesday there is one small idea: a corner, a card, a sentence for the school gate. Some ideas last a week and some last years, and I tell you which. My kitchen is never tidy and the tea is usually cold, and it is all in the photographs.
Newsletter
The Calm Corner
One practical letter every Wednesday: a small idea from our house, what worked, what did not, and nothing medical.