So…this is the question that has put me off starting the blog until today, and to be fair, I’m still unclear on the answer but bare with me with me while I try to explain…
Smiling and Waving is unapologetically Alastair. Named after the lyrics to David Bowie’s track Five Years that we always joked was written about him
“I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour,
Drinking milk shakes cold and long.
Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
Don’t think you knew you were in this song.”
Alastair is an energetic and charismatic 19 year old. He loves live music, being outdoors, good food (and milkshakes) and good company. Alastair has a wicked sense of humour and a happy, laid back personality.
Alastair also happens to have Angelman Syndrome. Diagnosed by a fluke encounter with someone who paired his his blonde hair, his blue eyes and his smiling and waving (flapping) with that of an individual with AS.
But Smiling and Waving is also us, his parents, his advocates, his supporters, his voice. Together we are independent and determined. We have a lust for adventure and travel and an ability to make everyday fun.
Carer’s Week 2022
My role as a carer began the day my son was born. Although I did not know it at the time, it became apparent very early on that I was an advocate, a nurse, a therapist, a HR department. The only social model of a parent carer was an image I conjured up in my head, although…
Being 17
18!! I feel like a conspiracy theorist must have felt when all the computers didn’t crash on the millennium. 7th January 2022, the day we’ve been working up to for a number of years in relation to transition to adult services with A LOT of different professionals. Today is ‘the big switch’ but in all…
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Smiling and Waving 