[Speaker 1] (0:00 - 2:46) Hello, this is Anna Kennedy at Women's Radio Station, voice of Women Worldwide, talking all things autism. Well, hello everyone and I'm back again and I'm back from Liverpool. I had such an amazing time with my team, Autism's Got Talent Roadshow. It was amazing. We had over 400 people that came to watch the show and the finale was just so uplifting. Everyone moved towards the stage, there was cheering, there was clapping and the performers were in their element. A lot of them were saying it was the best five minutes of their life, they wanted to do it again, it was too quick. The relationships and friendships that have been made behind stage and then we were asked to do a piece for Channel 5 News with Cal Ruddy who's one of the performers and it was just social media was going mad. We had something like over 40,000 views just on Facebook, it was going all over Twitter and Instagram so we are so excited about the show and we're preparing already for next year. We've got four or possibly five but I'll talk to you about that maybe in our next show but we've got four already booked, four we're going to the Isle of Wight, we're back at the Mermaid Theatre which is already booked now for May the 4th, we're going to the St Ives and then we're going to do one in Rhyslip and then there's a surprise one that hopefully we'll be able to announce in April. So if you're interested in appearing on Autumn's Got Talent, the main show is in London and the closing day is December the 31st so check out the charity website www.annaKennedyOnline.com, the entry form is on there, send us in your YouTube clip and show us your talent. So today my guest is Chrissie Lowry, hello Chrissie. Hello Anna. So it's your first time in Covent Garden. It's me as I've never been here before. I love Covent Garden, I come here all the time so I wish I had a flat Covent Garden, I just love this place, it's always buzzing. So we're going to be talking a little bit about your business and we're going to be talking about your family, we're going to be talking about autism so we're going to have a lots to chat about. So let's talk a little bit about your sons and you've got a son and a daughter of the twins and one of them's got autism. So can we talk a little bit about how that all started, that journey for you? For my twins, my twins came early, three months early, they had something called CMV, I'll try and articulate it, Cetromegalavirus. Okay, what's that? That is a virus that's just like chicken pox or a cold sore and it's disastrous really for people who are pregnant or there's different areas that it can be very difficult for and because I was pregnant and never had it before, it's a cough and a cold to you and I. [Speaker 2] (2:47 - 2:47) Oh, is it? [Speaker 1] (2:47 - 7:29) Yeah and I think about 80% of people under the age of 40 have had it. Okay. So it's quite huge but it's very very not heard of and it's the major cause of special needs and hearing loss. So it affected both of your children? Yes, yeah at the time and there was a hospital for a long long time and SAC has now got autism. So was it their premature? Yeah, three months. Like Patrick, we were chatting just before we came in here, we were sharing stories. Yeah, so Patrick was premature. So yeah, but they're doing really well now. Oh, that's really positive. So tell me a little bit about your family. So I have five children that range from 31 to 11 and I have three grandsons and I live at home with my younger children and yeah, that's my family. I want two dogs. Two dogs as well. I've got a little dog as well, little Chanel. I've got a Pomeranian. It's across Terrier and Chihuahua. She is a small dog but she's got... Barks a lot? Yeah, she thinks she owns the road. Bay is like that. I've got a chocolate lab as well. He was completely upset but yeah, Barks. Yeah, took a long time for Angela to get used to our little dog. Six months but she was really perseverant and she just followed him around the house and then just one day she sat on his lap and he just thought I'll give in. So they're just best of friends now. We've had her for about 11 years. Mine are quite little. Okay. Two and three. Okay. So you've set up a business. I have set up a business. So why did you set up the business? What was the reasoning behind it? We'll talk a little bit more about what the business does but just let's just like touch up on it. I didn't set up a business to set up a business if it makes sense. I was a clinical nurse specialist in the youth support team so I got to have children with very challenging mental health issues. Okay. And I got sick myself and let me just see if I get this right because I've got a memory issue. Okay. But I was basically bed-banged, house-banged if you like, for about a year and I taught myself to sew because my son didn't sleep. That was the starter. So how did you cope if you're bed-banged with all the children? I don't know. My eldest, my friends. Okay, so everyone clubbed together to support you. What will we do without our friends? It was in that house but yeah, started ordering online and met a lot of other people online like me, if that makes sense. Do you know sometimes people say social media and online is not such a good thing but I think if it's used in the right way it's a lifeline for people and you can make so many useful contacts, you can make some great friends, you know I've got to meet you because of social media. Social media is awesome for me. Yeah, if it's used in the right way it can be awesome. Yeah, absolutely. So okay, so carry on to tell me a little bit about, so you said about for about a year. Yeah and at the same time my son was having issues at his primary school, he was labelled as a naughty child, he was put on high exclusion, risk, exclusion and very bad time. I don't remember a great deal about it. Okay. And then I think I was looking on the internet and I saw something that I thought would help Zach, Zach's a nester. Okay. So Zach puts everything in his bed to try and get comfort, hip hip in wet towels, you know he'd put anything, anything that isn't what you want in a bed. Okay. So I saw something on a vegan site and I adapted it, taught myself to slurp, so mm-hmm. I borrowed my mum's sewing machine and then I taught myself to sew which was quite difficult as I never sewn and I put fabrics and I found things that Zach liked and I made him a hero bed in the end and that helped him sleep. Oh okay, my mum, that reminds me of my mum, she came over from Italy when she was eight years old and her mum used to sew and she learned so much by just watching my mum on those old-fashioned singing machines where your foot goes up and down. So yeah, and she's made, she made a living out of being a seamstress just by watching my mum. So you talked a little bit about nesting and that's something a bit new for me, so for listeners that are listening about it that might be experiencing thinking, oh what am I doing wrong or is there something I should, you know, can you just talk a little bit more and embellish about it? Yeah, of course I can. So Zach has struggled with sleep like a lot of children or adults with autism do but he has to find comfort. Okay. So a lot of people use weighted blankets, he didn't like those. And he just wanted something to surround himself with comfort, it's like a big hug. [Speaker 2] (7:29 - 7:29) Okay. [Speaker 1] (7:29 - 8:00) You know what I mean? And he put in things that lie on him and comfort him. I think I've got lots of pictures somewhere of him in his bed with everything in it. But like it could be anything. So is it the same things every night or are there different things that he puts in the bed? Going back to when he was about eight or nine it was different things but now he's got his cuddle bird and he's got his blood, he's got what he needs. It sounds a bit like Temple Grandin and the machine that she used for cows doesn't it? So it's a little bit almost like a hugging thing but it's not a person, it's things. [Speaker 2] (8:00 - 8:00) Yes. [Speaker 1] (8:00 - 8:12) So it's inanimate objects if you like that he finds it comforting. Yeah that's Zach Ian. Yeah it's a bit like Angelo, he used to always walk around with a blue brick when he was younger and it wasn't anything soft, it was like this blue wooden brick. [Speaker 2] (8:12 - 8:12) He had to have it. [Speaker 1] (8:12 - 13:31) Yeah and he had to have it. And if we lost it, it was just like, oh so what I did was I brought lots of blue bricks. So I had like a little stash of them because for him that was his comfort at that time. Yeah Zach's like that with blue tuck as well, he has to have blue tuck in his pocket. Oh okay. He's very tactile Zach is. Yeah so Angelo has quite significant sensory processing issues even like with his foods, you know when he eats chips he flicks the end off each chip because it's like a bit crispy if you like and he always tests the food and you know like he's pressurizing it or whatever and we get used to those sort of things day by day and then someone comes in the house and they watch them and you just think oh because we've got so used to seeing it's just like an everyday thing for us it's just like that's what's normal for our family. So yeah and even with Patrick obviously not now but at the time when he was younger like no the chips didn't have to touch the fish fingers they had to be separated and it was like stress when all that happened or if I bought custard creams they have to be Crawford's custard creams they couldn't be any other custard creams so yeah there's all those little things that we go through as a family. Yeah we get through a lot of pasta. Oh do you? Yeah he has to he eats a lot of pasta. Yeah I tell you one thing as well not so much now but my eldest son Patrick couldn't watch people eating he'd have to turn and face the wall or he just couldn't cope with people. The noise. Zach has a noise thing with eating and yeah I've noticed quite I've spoken to quite a few people actually that are autistic that just can't bear to even eat in a restaurant they have to go somewhere quiet and you know. Yeah we use it a party on Saturday and Zach he was all sitting around the table with a family and he was out in the other room on the floor. Yeah it's whatever works that's you know it's just we've got to adapt haven't we. So can we talk a little bit about the system that you went through because I'm always interested in where people live and what it's like to get support in education so where you live in Stroud is it? I know it's a very much a postcode lottery but what it's like it sounds like a shocking you've just told me. So tell me a little bit about diagnosis trying to get the right type of school. The diagnosis itself was okay because I followed that through myself and I had my nursing background and I knew what to do. But the school itself was shocking they gave him no support they just excluded him excluded him sent him home. He blocked himself in the bathroom and he said the school room was like a thousand and heard of an offence and he just gave him no support whatsoever they did not pick up on any of that. They didn't have the diagnosis at that time? No. Okay. No. Although the head did say to me he's either anxious or got us Burgess but she never did nothing about it apart from exclude him. Okay. It came to a point where I took him out and I found a school where all my children go to and they had a communication and interaction centre on the side and it changed him. Okay then so we're going to talk a little bit more about the businesses that you've set up you've set up two businesses from home so I'm really interested to hear and to share information with everybody. If there's anybody listening at the moment that might be struggling trying to get a diagnosis or trying to find the right type of school or just want advice or you just want to have a rant please contact us at the charity it's www.annakennedyonline.com. There's lots of information on the website there's lots of information about the events that we've got we've got the AKO expo coming up which is at Brunel University which is in March we've got the events autumn's got talent so if you're a performing artist please contact us if you want to ring the office it's 01895 540 187 we're on social media Anna Kennedy online Facebook at Anna Kennedy one on Twitter and Anna Kennedy OBA on Instagram From all the presenters and the team behind women's radio station thank you for listening you've been the most amazing audience with your sparkling enthusiasm and support so from our hearts we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year full of joy and surprises Hi I'm Lara Heems, founder and designer of Lara Heems jewelry. I make luxurious jewelry at affordable prices using silver semi-pressure stones and high quality triple-a cubic zirconium. It's elegant, stunning, stylish and long-lasting. Who needs diamonds? 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It's Anna Kennedy talking all things autism and my guest today is Chrissie Lowry. Just to let you know that last week we had UK charity week which was amazing. So basically what we were doing from the 3rd to shouting out about smaller charities across the country that are lifeline to a lot of families. Everyone seems to support the bigger charities but don't forget the smaller charities. There's lots of volunteers that are giving up their precious time and working for the cause. I'm so proud of my charity team at Anna Kennedy Online. They're all volunteers and we are such a tight team and we work our little socks off and we're doing whatever we can to raise awareness about autism and to create opportunities. So now we're going to be talking about sleep issues. So as people know they've been listening to me. I have lots of sleep issues with my youngest son Angelo. It hasn't been particularly good. The last few days again he's been going to bed at three o'clock in the morning and waking up at half past six. So this is hard. I know I deal with it every day but I do find it hard and it's because it's the tiredness that kicks in. Tends to be sort of towards in the afternoon and then obviously I've got to pick Angelo up and you've got to keep him occupied and everything that goes with having family life with two lads that have got a disability. So talk to me a little bit about sleep issues. Have you got any tips? Oh god there's so much isn't it to sleep deprivation. It kind of affects the whole family doesn't it? [Speaker 2] (16:31 - 16:31) Absolutely. [Speaker 1] (16:31 - 26:57) Big time. Absolutely. But um with Zach his sleep was like horrendous. He didn't sleep nights. Whole nights we were um deprived but I think with him it's it's more to do with the tactile the softness and the hug and the and the um comfort I think. Has he got sensory issues? Yeah he has sensory issues yeah and he has certain um fabric yeah that he uses as well. So there's one called a dimple fleece he really likes that. Okay. I don't know if you've heard of the mermaid fabric? I haven't what's that? So that's like the sequins that go like this. Oh right right right right I didn't know that was called mermaid fabric. Okay yeah okay I like those cushions where you can only go different yeah. So I've made him a blanket. Oh okay that's a good idea. So that sort of tends to help him get off to sleep and obviously quietness or be in there sometimes just sitting in the room. Yeah Angelo likes to fan on at night time and so does my eldest son Patrick and if I haven't got the fan on even though Angelo has got minimal verbal skills he'll go fan on just before I'm going out because that and sometimes I know he wants it on but I just want him to say to me fan on you know because I'm trying to obviously encourage him to speak as much as possible just to let you know sharing with you in the coffee shop that Angelo has minimal verbal skills and um he's got a lot going on there but I'm just trying to pull it out and usually it's food orientated so I want cake I want drink um I want angel cake is his favorite but I was fastening his shoelace because he finds things like that quite difficult and then all of a sudden he just put his hand on the top of my head and he said keep up the good work and I just looked at him and thought where did that come from and I just thought I want more I want to listen to more it just like it makes my heart flip you know and it's just like I want to listen to more of him talking I thought he's got so much going on in there and so yeah that was like a special moment for me too but it was just funny when he said keep up the good work I appreciate you look I said something else but yeah so um let's talk a little bit about something that you've created called the cuddle bed so what is the cuddle bed so the cuddle bed comes in um different fabrics like I said you can have it um adapted customize okay to whatever you need and it sort of it's in sections it's washable removable covers and it either goes on the bed or around them so what's it made of it's made of inserts like pillows okay zips up and the pillows go in and that so does it go like over the mattress and then under the mattress no no no it's a portable bed really oh it's a bed it's a cuddle bed all right okay I thought was something that you actually put on your bed no no exactly Zach has his on top of his bed and it's been there for four years okay and I need to change it is it quite robust because Angelo is just mr bounce and he just loves that sensory throwing himself yeah so I've had to buy it god knows how many beds I've gone through I've had metal beds I've had wooden beds we've put mattresses on the floor but finally I've got a bed that's quite robust it's like what I call tonker proof oh yeah so um that works but it's um also got a polyurethane mattress because he still wets the bed at night so um you know I need to have some yeah I do ones with waterproof bottoms as well I mean I've been guided by the people that I've been sort of who've contacted me as well because that's obviously everyone's different aren't they so how long has this been cuddle beds yeah cuddle beds has been going if a property is a business for three years okay before that it was just to help Zach and I created a Facebook page but I was sick myself and I don't even remember setting up that page I don't know what happened okay it fined me I think I know that sounds woo-woo but I think it phoned me okay and it grew from there okay so um is it single double king size any oh okay customize it yeah so have you got a factory then that makes them I have a unit no not that big yeah one day um big yeah I am speaking to China to try and get help yeah and we have a range of um bean bags and blankets now and everything is autism based because it's my life if that makes sense so if someone's interested in looking at your website what's the website www.cuddlebed.co.uk are you on social media I'm everywhere so I'm on Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube Facebook okay so then just need to type in cuddle bed and it comes straight up yeah okay so yeah I'll be having a look at that to see what you've got available I'll look at anything that's non-invasive for Angelo's and get a bit of sleep you'll see Zach there Zach absolutely loves going live he loves helping and choosing with the fabrics both twins was on a live and it went on to Forbes because I want it up to nearly a hundred thousands of people because they support you don't they yeah and sleep issue is like huge for our families and when especially when you're trying to look after your sons go to work I've spoken to so many families lately that have having to give up work because it's just not working at schools for them so they're doing homeschool I homeschooled mine for about four months but it's just like obviously it's so hard for the family because you've got to try and do something you know that's going to work for the family but also work for your sons and daughters but then also work for your siblings that haven't got yeah special educational needs yeah sometimes that can be really hard to split yourself into yes so I fit mine in through their school time yeah and after we moved to schools my younger son then had issues as well and he was only going to school for about an hour so it's something that I was able to do around my family okay so you've set up also another business you were telling me and it's called Heartisan so that's Heartisan and it's a crafting network online shop so tell me a little bit about that how did that come about so when I first started cuddle beds I thought I need to sell these at some point I must have done and I applied for Not On High Street and they said oh I wasn't in unique enough which is fine and it just I know why were they looking anyway I don't know it's IPO'd it's just mine I did you know it's mine but that's fine and I thought oh do you know what I'm gonna make my own I can do that and through the time where I was sick um waslam I've got lots of uh diagnoses I met lots of other people the same as me that crafted and we bonded and we we call each other madamins because we're all a bit crazy yeah and we all make certain um crafts so I set up with another lady called Tina and um we set up this beautiful magical marketplace called Heartisan and we not only sell the goods there we support all our vendors if you like okay so is that online as well that's online as well that's heartisan.uk.com okay um you went on something called Dragoness Den I did and and that was two years ago is that right two years ago yeah okay so tell me a little bit about Dragoness Den and what did you have to do okay so Dragoness Den is like a nationwide um competition where they find out someone who has a unique product it's very much like Dragon's Den exactly the same as Dragon's Den you've got a pitch in front of them so it's a little bit scary is it a UK thing yes okay yeah and uh yeah so that was that and then since then I won small business Sunday with Theo Pafita so I had my own dragon really all right okay and then how did you get on with him what did he do for you he's amazing oh he's amazing yeah he seems like a decent guy the twins have met him okay okay that's good it's really grounded real down to earth yeah he really helps you there's a whole group of people who've won and they help so it's having that business part of it because I'm a nurse I'm still a nurse and I think that go go into the business thing you do need help with it yeah so you used to be um was it a nurse for um homes residential homes for adults who are on the autism spectrum yeah I did years ago yeah so how was that how did you get into that how did I get into that I emigrated to New Zealand I've got a bit of a colorful life and then when I came back I thought what I'm going to do in my life and I thought I'd like to do business strangely enough okay then I worked um to put myself through college in different residential homes and the autism home was one of them I just stayed and went up so many adults were at the home I think there was probably about 30 I think that about five different homes with varying functions levels okay so was that your first introduction if you liked to autism no when I was a teenager I did some school options at an adult opportunity center but okay that was just once a week going in helping it's weird though isn't it how like as a young adult that you obviously were touched by autism and then later on in your life a child is on the spectrum so everything's for a reason I think um Zach's 13 they're both 13 okay and how's he doing at school he's good now yeah he has his own challenges of course he does um he has difficulties with homework and getting things done and writing yeah homework's like a biggie for our kids I like I remember Patrick used to say right I've been to school now so I did the expo to do homework it's just like home is for home so um there's a lot of kids that have issue with that he's got a planner and you can't read his writing and we've had a few issues with that so they're gonna and I do a book for him so I know what his homework is because he in the secondary school already he is yeah he's here right that can be a biggie for us can't it so um oh well I'm pleased to hear that he's doing really really well and I'm definitely going to be looking at your cuddle bed um website and obviously I've had a few but I didn't realize it was so big so I'm just going to have a look and I hope that you do um get a factory I'm going to it's my plan for next year brilliant okay well I'd like to thank you because I sat through Robert Dyer so I meant that Robert Dyer okay that's the opafita shop so I am growing I didn't know that okay so thank you for coming today thank you for coming all the way from Stroud welcome so again um if you're interested um or you want to speak to someone about autism or you're not quite sure if you might think your child might be on the autism spectrum so if you can contact www.annakennedyonline.com and if you're interested in writing an article for our charity website again just send me an email and we'll have a look at it so I'm here at women's radio station voice of women worldwide [Speaker 2] (26:57 - 27:22) thank you speak to you again soon women's radio station is looking forward to a great 2019 with more shows coming your way all the presenters and the team behind each program would like to say a big thank you for listening we are the voice of women worldwide and we cannot be without you the journey has just begun with more exciting programs soon to be revealed [Speaker 1] (27:23 - 28:29) women's radio station the voice of women worldwide I'm Isabelle Manavi an executive coach do you want to change a negative into a positive we can do this by coaching you to rewire your brain using simple visualization techniques in 20 years of practice I've seen this transform lives for more information look on women's radio website call me on 07984422171 I'm listening Mirai be limited we are a virtual PA consultancy we provide remote administrative services our offering is diverse we manage your calendar we update your client database we take care of your property in France and in London we also offer bookkeeping and translation services we'd like to know more please call 07786848998 for further 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is a not-for-profit community interest company supporting women is our passion we're currently welcoming donations to help towards our running costs to keep this important initiative alive to donate simply head to our website every little help