Soul To Soul / Understanding Autism

Seeing The World Through Different Eyes

Nicola chats to Ann in this soul-to-soul discussion about raising four children who all have autism. She reveals the uplifting moments of daily life with her children and addresses common misconceptions. Nicola also touches on growing up as one of the few mixed-race children at her school and how a lack of understanding and kindness from both staff and pupils affected her education.

If you are interested in hearing the insights shared at a particular point in the video, please skip ahead to the times below:

00:16 - How does the public respond to Nicola's four children who have autism?

03:30 - Nicola describes how being perceived as a 'bad parent' can be very emotionally upsetting.

04:33 - Does autism affect every child in the same way?

06:10 - Learn how some children with autism use mimicking and mirroring behaviour to fit in.

08:19 - Overactive minds and over-sensitivity means sleep is hard to come by!

09:10 - Nicola recounts the racism she experienced in her childhood from being mixed-race.

12:40 - Nicola comes full circle. From leaving school at the age of fifteen with no qualifications to applying to go to university as an adult learner.

14:55 - Thoughts on how we can stop teaching every child in the same way and embrace individualism.

Special thanks go to Nicola for sharing her knowing in this soul-to-soul discussion.

Find out more about Nicola’s business, ‘The Happy Cleaning Company’ here.