Naomi is an adult on the Autistic Spectrum needing specialised autism specific residential care run by the Disabilities Trust. She is also my daughter and has allowed me to write about her journey through life here.
I will from time to time provide updates about how she is doing - for example our recent trip to Brands Hatch to watch the Super Bike racing on Easter Sunday.
Naomi at her sister's wedding
Posted in
Wed Aug 18th, 2010
On July 3rd 2010 the whole family gathered together for Naomi's sister Jo's wedding to Kevin. The day was brilliant with blue sky's and very warm temperatures and plenty of opportunities for lots of photographs.
Here are Naomi and her carer Kirsty enjoying themselves at the reception.
After this photo was taken Naomi got up and danced with her other sisters to the brilliant duo band we had. The food was excellent and a good time was had by one and all.
Naomi has had a brilliant year improving all the time and now taking in kit drumming sessions which have helped her with her coordination no end.
Naomi and Carol Painting a Bird Table
Posted in
Mon Jul 20th, 2009
This is the first time that Naomi has attempted to write anything recently with the help of her carers.
Naomi's version on painting a bird table at Hollyrood that went in her community home back garden.
In this picture Carol (my carer) amd me were painting a bird table. I helped build it and painted it myself with the help of Carol. It took a few weeks to build and was a happy day for me when we finished it. The bird table is in the garden at home. It attracts birds and wildlife. I am very pleased with the bird table.
Carol's version
It was great fun painting the bird table that Naomi had worked so hard to build. The bird table takes pride of place in the garden and is enjoyed by a range of visiting birds and the odd cheeky squirrel
Easter Sunday 2009 at Brands Hatch
Posted in
Tue Apr 21st, 2009
On Sunday April 12th Naomi and her carers Carol and Zsofia as well as David and myself had a date down at Brands Hatch to watch the Britsh Super Bike Championship races curtesy of PR company Capitalize.
When we got there we were greeted with the fog that we'd woken up to in Surrey and Sussex - would we be able to see any of the races as we couldn't even see the track!
Brands Hatch at 9.30AM
To keep ourselves entertained we all visited the 'Think' Motorbike Academy and had great fun trying out all the different bikes.
Vicky, Naomi and David
Lunch time came upon us quickly and by that time the fog had cleared enough for the first of the qualifying rounds of the day to go ahead. We were bang opposite the pits and the start and could see the riders lining up to go out onto the race track - it all felt very exciting.
After lunch we went back to the 'Think' tent and met John Reynolds - 3 times British Champion. He was fantastic with Naomi and didn't hesitate for one moment in speaking with Naomi and immediately put her at ease and very generously spent enough time to have his photo taken with her.
Naomi with John Reynolds
After that we went back to the track and saw our first proper race - the teenagers! They sat at the start buzzing like a swarm of bees in flight and then they took off after their target - 10 laps for the juniors. It was incredible to see the speeds these young people got up to - and no crashes! I was impressed!
Naomi watching a race very intently.
Naomi loved it all and sat very relaxed crossed legged the whole time with a little smile on her face not saying word. Sometimes she can be very vocal in unusual situations but having grown up with David riding a bike she seemed very much at ease and at home allowing her carers to thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well.
The race that stole all of our hearts wasn't the superbike races but the massive deep throated KTMs which roared and pawed the ground like a herd of buffalo about to gallop of into the distance. The sound was stupendpous and not only vibrated the ground but us with it - we all on mass went WOW! This brought about the biggest mile from Naomi and totally made our day. Naomi really didn't want to go home - this was far too much fun!
It was a wonderful day and Capitalize who were running the 'Think' Motorbike Academy tent were fantastic in their acceptance of her autism.
Naomi and her carers Carol and Zsofia
I feel that this is something we will do again with Naomi as she was thoroughly fascinated by everything but we couldn't have done it without her carers from the Disabilities Trust.
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