Oooh I have been nominated!

I started this blog last year after doing a somewhat epic 200 mile relocation to a city where I knew no-one but knew it was the right place to be. If you have read this blog with any regularity you will know my son J has special needs and is profoundly Deaf. We were drawn to Exeter because of the Deaf Academy here and planning for J’s future.

I lived in London for 17 years prior to this and it was always our intention irrespective of any needs (and we weren’t expecting our son to have any needs above and beyond the ‘norm’) to leave London prior to primary school age. I grew up in the country and have always loved the countryside. I found London in the last few years to be quite a suffocating experience for me. I hated tube travel with a passion. The bombs of 7/7 really made me want to leave even more but really I had to wait for the right time. Last year it turned out was that time. With it, a very good friend encouraged me to start blogging about our new life here. And so it began.

 I have really enjoyed writing over these last few months, recording all of the new places around Devon that we have visited, knowing there are soooo many more places on our doorstep to see in the coming years. Writing about J’s needs and my anger in finding the lack of support for parents of Deaf children in regards to basic communication needs. I’ve written about all sorts of things: CHARGE Syndrome is naturally a biggy in our house, deaf issues, gardening, a few crafty bits here and there, places we have visited and even the odd review chucked in.

My love of photography has really grown and this area affords such fantastic opportunities in that respect. When I started I didn’t want to put photographs of J on here but as the blog has evolved I have realised that really this is as much about him as it is about me. I hope in sharing my journey with J to some extent it will be of some use to other parents that face the challenges that CHARGE presents. We are quite a rare lot with 1 in 10,000 births. Aside from other families in our situation (and some professionals), not one person I have met has ever heard of CHARGE so far. Indeed I had not either until J arrived in our family.

I am really delighted to have been nominated for ‘Best New Blog’ in The MAD Blog Awards this year. There are many excellent blogs that have been nominated and I don’t expect to win for one minute; but this is lovely in anycase and I could not possibly let it go unmentioned!

 There is still time to nominate  until the 18th February for your favourite blogs in various categories. There are many blogs I enjoy reading. Below is a list of just a handful but is by no means exhaustive.

Adequate Parent
RocknRollMum
Crafts On Sea
Hello It’s Gemma
I Need Curtains for the Window in my Head
Definitely Deaf
The Mostyn-Thomas Journal
Booked Up