Adama McCullough from Barrow -in -Furness UK – recently wrote a stunning and thought provoking blog about how she and her two daughters met Peter Capaldi, the actor who plays Doctor Who, while on holiday in Cardiff. Her youngest daughter, Roxann 5 has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism Daily Newscast covered the story here.
We were interested to learn more about the lady behind the blog and her young daughter.
Adama was more than happy to talk to us. She told us that Roxann was diagnosed last year and that she knew something was not right from around the age of 2.
She told us:
“I know that no child is the same but I was lucky to have been a mum before and noticed that something was not right. At first I thought that perhaps she had ADHD due to the fact she would never sit still but then more things were cropping up.”
Adama talked to her sister about Roxann as she knew about ADHD and she told Adama that the things she described to her sounded a little like ADHD but that she really needed to contact her GP.
However she told us that she had a fight on her hands with being taken seriously and that it took time for Roxann to be finally finally diagnosed.
We asked what support, if any, that the family receive.
Adama said:
“My support is very little and I rely a lot on my sister and auntie.”
She continued to tell us:
“Roxann has speech therapy to help her with communication. I had parenting classes which are designed for parents who have children with learning disabilities and we go to paediatrics every 6mth for reviews.”
Bernadette and Roxann
We asked if Roxann attends a mainstream school and Adama told us that she does although it took some finding after no schooling for 8 months.
“They are wonderful and give fantastic support not only to Roxi but to myself. They send home a book each day that the teacher writes in so I know what she has done and can talk to her about her day.”
We were curious to find out what a typical day consists of in the family home and Adama told us while laughing, one word, “stressful”.
“Routine is the key to keeping it less stressful, but Roxi is still struggling with bad meltdowns after school. I’ve been told it’s because she holds it together while in school and once home she goes into sensory overload. We use PECS and have charts to try and make home life and going out easier.”
Roxann has an older sister, Bernadette 13, and we wondered what their relationship was like.
Adama candidly told us:
“I know that Bernadette struggles with Roxi, but she does try her best to stay calm and help her. Like she will pull funny faces at Roxi when she is getting distressed to try and stop her going into full meltdowns.”
We then turned to the subject of meeting Doctor Who and that the story made parents of autistic children, and those without, smile all around the world. We asked if Roxann had now accepted the new Doctor as she had met him.
“Yes I think so as we watched the episode again where Matt regenerates and this time Roxi smiled and said he likes me.”
We finally asked Adama if there was anything else she would like to share with our readers. Her final words were:
“I’d just like to say thank you once again to everyone who has left me kind messages. It has inspired me to get blogging so that I can help others who are in lost places like I have been in.”
We too would like to thank Adama for writing and sharing her blog.
You can read Adama McCullough blog, ‘amchertyfairy’ here
Jo Worgan is a published author, writer and blogger. She has a degree in English Literature. She writes about life with her youngest son who is on the autistic spectrum. Jo tweets (@mummyworgan) and is also a freelance columnist for the Lancaster Guardian. ‘My Life with Tom, Living With Autism‘ is her second book and a culmination of her blog posts, and available on Kindle now, along with her first book, Life on the Spectrum. The Preschool years.
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