The Beginnings…

It all started in 2004. After returning from the child psychiatrist’s visit I decided to take my daughter’s healing into our own hands. Her behaviour wasn’t severe enough to warrant ‘medication’, and yet there was no alternative.

That’s when we started on a long journey that took us to the couches of celebrity therapists and dipping into every fad that was on offer. When she went to bed at night… (on a good night!), I would turn on my computer, desperately searching for answers. The morning would greet me with sodden wet sheets and yet another day would unfold.

This is a time I don’t really want to revisit. A powerless time where a different future seemed a million miles away. I suppose you got use to living as a hopeless and helpless individual – a far cry from the military veteran, university honours graduate, teacher and British Airways long haul Air Hostess I once was. A proud person who had worked hard to prove my worth in life.

Yes… I hear you, the parent who feels like a shadow of their former self.

It wasn’t too long before I started going to the pantry on a daily basis. A small annex painted custard yellow, on the side of my Victorian house where my desk lived. Each day I would sit facing the keyboard and screen knowing that there were thousands of parents out there that needed help.

The Social Media hadn’t really developed then and it sure did feel lonely. Especially, when all your friends had what appeared to be ‘normal’ children. Back then it was a little different from now where everyone knows somebody hovering on the autistic spectrum.

I don’t like labels… I find them de-humanising. I’m not a pot of jam and neither is my daughter!

I find it interesting now how it appears popular for young people to crave a label. Any label! They wear it like a badge of honour. I blame it on years of staring at ‘boxes’ where everything is titled (mobiles). Thank God I arrived on this planet early enough to relish the Freedom Years.

I want to say cut a long story short.

The 64 Day Plan was born right there in the little Welsh pantry. The idea to develop the daily actions into 64 cards followed not long after.

Cards have always been my friends. You’ll know what I mean if you were an only child growing up in the pre computer game age. On entering adulthood, they were with me again on those long 12 hour nightshifts in a secret bunker in Scotland. Many hours were passed with cards in one hand and a NATO special brew in the other on the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) Squadron, waiting for the sirens to blare out. Our job in the Royal Air Force was to spot the odd bear that rocked up… and not of the furry kind!

The 64 Card Deck for out of the box children/adults (ADHD)

Check out my cards below. You’ll find 15 cards complete with meanings.

Select a card

Contact me for details: info@familyhealingacademy.com