Sibling Camaraderie

A close friend asked me recently  "Are you ever worried that your youngest (she is 6 months) may have ASD?".  My answer..."Almost everyday."  

I mean she is a bright little spark, squealing at her brothers like a little peacock, smiling away...but I do find myself scrutinising every new move.  When she popped her little chubby finger into my mouth, my husband and I looked at each other with silent alarm.  You see, at that age, my ASD son used to constantly pop his finger into the mouth of every person who held him, which we later discovered was a symptom to do with his sensory interpretation.  

I am lucky in a way, my eldest son was diagnosed with ASD when my second son was 5 months old.  I never had to go through the stress of "Will my second child also be special needs?" which is a fear that many other parents have to go through.  Earlier studies suggested that  autism in siblings was in the 3-10% range, however recent research has found autism in 19% of younger siblings. These are really scary statistic!  So I can perfectly understand why some parents choose not to have another child.  I know that when we decided we wanted a third child, it was definitely something on our "cons" list.

When we discovered that we were having a girl, I was a little less worried as girl siblings are only 9% likely to be autistic compared to 26% of boys.  Having one ASD child is hard work, I can't imagine what having two or more must be like.   

But, my younger son was a godsend.  Most ASD children have problems socialising with other children, not knowing how to approach them.  My ASD son really struggled with this, and with learning how to play with other children (my turn, your turn).  So you can imagine our delight when last year we saw him not only playing with his younger brother, but initiating a game (which for him is a BIG deal!).  This game play with his brother opened up the way to game play at school.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like he fully participated in all the games the kids played, but he did at least gain the confidence to approach the other children and join in some easy games...on occasion.

He has learned to be responsible for his younger brother, being very overprotective, constantly making sure that my daredevil second son doesn't hurt himself.  He has learned the idea of ownership (mine, yours), the importance of sharing and thinking of others (he always brings something home from the sweetshop for his brother when he goes with his dad - in fact he insists on it). He has learned the value of language and communication, (my second son is quite the little chatterbox), and finally he has learned the comfort of companionship (they share a room and have pushed the beds together to sleep close to each other).  It really warms my heart to see their camaraderie. 

Their sincere brotherly love has taught him all these things and so much more!  I can't wait to see what his sister will teach him...

Community garage sale for charity - Paula Manoli-GRay

A community garage and craft sale will be held on Saturday, June 06 by the Larnaca Parents Network (LPN) with all welcome to participate with a table, or by visiting the event.

The 'Table Top & Craft Sale' will offer the opportunity to clear out unwanted clothing, household goods, toys, books, antiques, furniture and any other items that can be sold, as well as original crafts. And whilst the table fee goes to the LPN's 'Give a Gift' appeal, the sale proceeds are kept by the table-holder, making it a great opportunity for people to make money and also help a good cause.

Table space is €10 if you have your own table to use, or  €13 to rent the space and table. The sale will be held on the grounds of the Greek Evangelical Church (which is opposite the American Academy's Weir Hall building) from 10am to 4pm.

The 'Give a Gift Appeal' supports needy families living locally, and for this event will be used to make up emergency parcels that the Greek Evangelical Church will distribute to those in most need.

Aside from the tables, there will also be refreshments, homebaked goods, food and children's entertainment that has been donated by Angela Ashby of Angela's Activities.

Founder of LPN, Sharon Holmes says that the garage sale will be the biggest of its kind in Larnaca: "These kind of garage sales are very popular in the UK and other countries, but not really seen in Cyprus. So many people have things that they would like to get rid of and this is a fantastic opportunity for them to also make some money in difficult times whilst supporting our efforts to help those less fortunate in the community. The old adage of 'one man's junk is another man's treasure' is certainly true and we anticipate there being lots of fantastic bargains to pick up! It is also an opportunity for artisans to sell their original crafts. We hope to see everyone supporting the local community either by attending or booking a table, as well as promoting the event for us, and we are confident that this will be the biggest mass garage sale of its kind so far."

To Book your table please call Sarah Campbell on 96396784.

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly newspaper, 29/05/15

100 years Kataklysmos: from local customs to tacky plastic! - Paula Manoli-Gray

It is that time of year again… the time of year when Larnaca takes the spotlight and is the epicentre of Kataklysmos celebrations. The time of year that people from all over the island flock to our seafront and every inch of parkable – and non-parkable space is taken up.

So, what do you think of our Festival of the Flood celebrations? They keep going strong, and we actually celebrate 100 years this year! That is pretty amazing, but I don't tend to go anymore.

When I was a teenager, it was indeed the highlight of my year as we (the teens of the time!) would love the bumper cars on the beach and spent most of the time at the fairground on the sands.  I would walk from my parents' home in Drosia, so parking wasn't an issue, and we really did enjoy the whole atmosphere. People would really dress up for it in their finest and walk up and down the promenade people-watching, like they used to in the villages when my dad was a teenager and the Sunday 'peripato' (walk) to see the opposite sex was the highlight of the youth's week!

As I got older the festival started to lose its shine for me. I am not sure if it was the frustration as a driver of not being able to enter the town centre or park, or if the stalls have become increasingly tacky. Fast forward to today, and I don't take my kids in the evening at all for two reasons 1) It is so packed that I become claustrophobic pushing through the crowds and fear I will lose them, and 2) they just want to buy the dodgy-quality rubbish at the stalls and make my life very difficult when I say 'no'.

Granted, the entertainment is good and eagerly anticipated. A lot of planning goes into it and elements of the old traditions, such as the improved rhyming matches of 'Chatista' still take place, but still… I just don't feel it anymore.

The addition of uniform, white tents of recent years is also nice and gives the place a much tidier look - so it is not reminiscent of a gypsy carnival - but the stalls are still not of the greatest standard and as is the case every year, whatever one stall has, the rest have too – all from the same supplier so it is very 'samey'.

And with times changing, there is no longer the thrill of buying music cassette tapes! The stalls selling mix tapes and really, really good copies of international artist's tapes were one of the highlights of my youth! But I do give the 'lokmathes' (honey dough balls) and traditional fruit and nut stalls a thumbs-up, as well as the kiosks of local crafts (my favourite bit) as they are representative of our customs and culture.

As for the people-watching, folks still walk up and down the promenade constantly with no real purpose, but as we are living in a time when people either dress up or down all the time depending on their personality, there is no definition of 'special occasion' wear, so there isn't that pride of having dolled up for the event.

Don't get me wrong… I am all for maintaining traditions and having our own cultural events that form part of Larnaca's identity, and I love the whole atmosphere of it all, but I don't equate that to struggling to park, just so my kids can buy a fake Minion/Smurf/Super Mario stuffed toy!

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly newspaper 29/05/15

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