An Autism Mom from My Memory Tree shares “As a parent of an ASD child I’m sure you will sympathise with me and agree how hard it is most days not to become a quivering wreck in the corner! Especially before the diagnosis when you don’t really understand why your child is acting so differently to other children. My husband, daughter and I have been beaten, kicked, bitten and verbally abuse for years. Our son has now been diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, sensory processing difficulties and behavioural problems; this took a whole agonising 6 years!! I won’t deny or lie to you that my best friend became a bottle of Pinot Grigio after our battles trying to get our son to bed.

Every morning I would wake up dreading the thought of getting out of bed, not knowing if I was about to meet Dr Jekyl or Mr Hyde. I must admit that we would get a little warning when a meltdown was on its way, he would become edgy and move around a lot and most of the time we had no clue of what was causing our son to feel so agitated.

We decided to keep a day to day account regarding our son’s behaviour, we were desperately trying to find his trigger points so we could avoid certain situations to make our son a happier child. My husband wondered if there was anything online which could help us keep this diary as we both work and take turns in looking after our son, it would be much easier if all our information was in one place. My husband searched and searched but there wasn’t anything on the internet which would be completely private, I didn’t want some stranger being able to read about our son’s private life, or see any of our family photos etc.

My husband designed My Memory Tree, a completely secure and private website where you can create photo albums diaries & scrapbooks, (the scrapbooks are versatile and can be turned into life/story/memory books, My husband being a foodie has created a Family cook book, & we created a scrapbook for each of our children’s school art/achievements it really is down to the user’s imagination and needs) The best thing is that we are in complete control with whom we want to share our private stuff with. This has made it so much easier to write in the same diary which we have called ‘Trigger Points’ and to have all our memories organised in one place.It has also given our daughter a private place to express herself.

Since using the website ourselves we have found many trigger points such as our son  could handle loud noises but did not like loud noises in crowds and the smell of strawberries and nail vanish made him meltdown instantly. He does not like being asked the same question twice, and he is to avoid consuming banana flavoured milkshake and certain sweets.

ASD children find it hard to tell you what the matter is with words, we have found that pictures work really well, this website allows my son to upload pictures and design his own story books and print them off from home; most of his stories are about his day and we enjoy reading them back to our son at bedtime, which makes the whole bedtime routine more enjoyable and provides some fun family time. He also has a fascination with wildlife, and has created his own wildlife scrapbook which he is particularly proud of. I am currently using the website to write about our experiences and our personal journey.

Having an online diary means that I have access on my device all the time and I am able to add an entry whenever I need, so if my son is finding something difficult or having a melt down I don’t have to remember all the details,I can do it there and then. I have also found that while we are adding to the diary in these situations It creates a small “time out” for both of us and this benefits us both. Having all your information on hand is also helpful when having hospital/community visits.

My memory trees mission is to create a friendly environment that everybody can use to capture their precious moments, but to have the ability to be a helpful tool to those with specific requirements.

mymemorytree.com