High Contrast
Autism Siblings: Freya O’Horo and Her Blog!
Freya O’Horo is a Mayo native studying Social Care and Practice in Athlone Institute of Technology: Autism Siblings Ireland. Her younger brother Dian, is five years old and received an autism diagnosis at the age of five. “We knew something was up pretty quickly,” Freya remarks “he kept to himself quite a lot and had delayed communication.” Upon Dian’s diagnosis, Freya was struck by a lack of resources for siblings of autistic children. This information gap led to the creation of Freya’s Autism Sibling blog. “It started when I was 16 as a school project, but I haven’t been able to let go since! I’ve found it really helpful for connecting with other people.”
Autism Siblings is a blog spreading information on autism supports and resources from the point of view of her experience as a sister. It served as a platform for Freya to connect with other siblings. Topics range from interviews with Occupational Therapists about their professions to discussions with autistic adults. Freya keeps any work with services restricted to those she an Dian have personal experience of. For instance, one of her pieces covers equine therapy in Mayo. Freya also worked with Sensory Clothing.ie who educated her on sensory friendly clothing options. “I want information to be true and genuine and to have worked for Dian.”
Dian is currently 11 and attends St. Dympna’s School in Ballina. (Freya completed her work experience there.) He receives occupational therapy along with speech and language therapy. He is extremely skilled with both computers and languages and enjoys being outdoors and physical activity. “He’s verbal now and he loves the chat. He’s also very funny and loves playing pranks. He’ll sometimes switch to another language while talking to us. We’ll say ‘we can’t speak Russian, Dian’ and he’ll speak in Russian slower and more sarcastically.” At present, Dian can speak Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian. Freya admits, however, that this could change next time she returns from college.
Dian’s skill with computers has a number of applications. He largely learns through computer use. He also has a good memory for passwords. Unfortunately for his teachers, this means Dian can always override any internet barriers if he’s in the mood for Youtube.
Dian’s stims were the inspiration for Freya’s chewable jewellery. “He bites his arm a lot when excited. I hought it might be safer if he had something else to chew.” Despite wanting to help Dian, Freya noticed sensory equipment tends to be very expensive. The result of her efforts were necklaces with soft chewy material to enable an easy, safe stim. “After a bit of searching I found brilliant brands that kept the prices low for me. Dian wears a bunch of them: he thinks he’s a little gangster with them around his neck!” Freya is hoping to expand into bracelets and rings in future. Freya’s had a lot of positive feedback from parents, with one mother even remarking it’s helped reduce harm for her child when he’s having a meltdown.
Freya studies Social Care and Practice due to an interest in disability supports and hopes to one day work in the field. Her work is a testament to the network of support that emerges between families after diagnosis and the value of understanding from within the community.
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by AsIAm.ie - 6 February, 2018
Last week, our CEO Adam Harris featured on RTÉ Radio 1's The Business programme, discussing the g...[...]
Announcing our ‘Teach Me As I Am’ Early Years Programme
by AsIAm.ie - 12 January, 2018
AsIAm are delighted to announce the dates and locations for our new training programme for early ...[...]
Interview: Dr John Hillery
by AsIAm.ie - 10 January, 2018
Dr John Hillery is the President of the College of Psychiatrists in Ireland. In this exclusive ...[...]
Brian Irwin: Accessibility & Finding the Supports You Need
by AsIAm.ie - 19 December, 2017
Brian Irwin, a self advocate based in Cork, talks about his personal journey as a young person on...[...]
AsIAm CEO attends SuperValu Autism-Friendly Shopping Project Launch
by AsIAm.ie - 1 December, 2017
AsIAm Founder and CEO Adam Harris helped launch SuperValu’s Autism-Friendly Shopping project earl...[...]
Laura Crean: Just what is a ‘successful’ transition?
by AsIAm.ie - 17 October, 2017
Laura Crean is a member of AsIAm's Youth Leadership Team and currently in her first year of study...[...]
Louise Ryan: Knowing Parents’ Rights for Your Child’s Education
by AsIAm.ie - 2 October, 2017
Louise Ryan from Co. Limerick, a mother of two young boys on the autistic spectrum, talks about h...[...]
Socialising & Building Social Skills
by AsIAm.ie - 29 September, 2017
Amid preparing for school or for college, whilst we’re often completely caught up worrying if we’...[...]
Joanne Weller: Back to Education and Transitioning from School to College and Further Education
by AsIAm.ie - 22 September, 2017
It’s the time of month again to go back to school and starting third level education, even going ...[...]
Kevin Hanly: New Journeys Starting College
by AsIAm.ie - 1 September, 2017
With the college term fast approaching, students across Ireland are busy readying themselves for ...[...]
Sibling Safety this Summer
by AsIAm.ie - 4 August, 2017
The season of summer is well underway. As we enter August, children everywhere across Ireland wi...[...]
Spotlight: Middletown Centre for Autism
by AsIAm.ie - 24 July, 2017
The Middletown Centre for Autism is an educational and research facility whose work revolves arou...[...]
Interview: Autism, Tipp G.A.A. and Me
by AsIAm.ie - 6 July, 2017
This week, we sat down with Kevin Hanly, a young man from Tipperary to talk about his experiences...[...]
NEW MONTHLY COMPETITION: Your thoughts on…
by AsIAm.ie - 1 September, 2016
We are excited to announce a new monthly competition on AsIAm.ie! Every month we will ask users t...[...]
Jonathan Victory: Aspergers Syndrome & Martial Arts
by AsIAm.ie - 5 December, 2014
Jonathan Victory shares his positive experiences of Martial Arts as someone with Aspergers Synd...[...]
Parents Guide: Birthday Parties
by AsIAm.ie - 29 September, 2014
Attending, and having, a Birthday party is an important part of growing up! For children with A...[...]
RTE News Six:One – AsIAm.ie “Back to School” Handbooks
by AsIAm.ie - 10 September, 2014
The challenges of "Back to School" for students with Autism, and the launch of the AsIAm.ie "Back...[...]
My Child / All About Me Handbooks: Every child with Autism is different
by AsIAm.ie - 24 August, 2014
There is an old adage: "If you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism" It ...[...]
Newstalk Breakfast: Vanessa Fox-O’Loughlin shares her story & AsIAm “Back to School” Handbooks
by AsIAm.ie - 22 August, 2014
Yesterday we were delighted to launch our AsIAm "Back to School" Handbooks for teachers, parents...[...]
Press Conference: AsIAm “Back to School” Handbooks
by AsIAm.ie - 21 August, 2014
AsIAm.ie has today published a series of guides to help people with autism deal with the major ch...[...]
Sean O’Rourke Show Podcast: AsIAm “Back to School” Handbooks
by AsIAm.ie - 20 August, 2014
Tomorrow, AsIAm will launch its "Back to School" Handbooks on Autism, for parents, students and t...[...]
Download Today: AsIAm “Back to School” Handbooks
by AsIAm.ie - 20 August, 2014
Education can throw up many challenges for students with Autism such as the environment, structur...[...]
Dr Aoife Lyons: Organisational & Study Skills
by AsIAm.ie - 5 April, 2014
Dr Aoife Lyons, licensed clinical psychologist and university lecturer in UCD and DCU, ha...[...]
