Life at Sensory Planet

Let’s talk parenting styles.Not to judge. Not to lecture. Just to say — sometimes, gentle parenting looks more like a crime scene clean-up crew and less like a peaceful Pinterest board. And if you’re raising a neurodivergent child like I am, you’ll know the “gentle” bit isn’t always about volume — it’s about trying really bloody hard not to lose your mind when you’re running on 2 hours of sleep and your walls are covered in Sharpie.

Going through the diagnosis process is long.It’s heavy. It’s confusing.It’s a full-time job on top of parenting, surviving, and remembering to eat something that isn’t just your child’s leftovers.

Raising an autistic child often means your calendar looks like a game of appointment bingo—OT here, speech there, psychologist next week. Now toss in a baby or two, two preppies who need support with their early learning, another child mid-diagnosis, a house that never stops, and a partner who’s gone from 3am to 6pm. Sound familiar? You’re not alone—and you’re doing an amazing job, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Ah, the school pick-up run. A time that should just be: “Kids in car, home for snacks, done.” But if you're parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder — plus a toddler, plus a baby, plus another school child — the simple after-school dash can turn into something between a hostage negotiation and an Olympic sprint.

Mornings in our house are a bit like a game of Jenga. One wrong move, and the whole thing topples—sometimes with a flurry of cereal, missing shoes, and someone crying over the “wrong” banana (yes, again).

Life with kids is always an adventure – a sticky, noisy, heart-bursting, sleep-deprived adventure. But when you're raising siblings close in age and one is on the autism spectrum while the other is not, it’s like parenting in stereo – but one speaker’s playing Mozart and the other’s blasting The Wiggles at double speed.