It seems that Mr Sicko has been really hammering my family these last few weeks. I get the flu and it's taken forever to go. Inaya got sick with gastric virus, and now yet another of the family is sick. Such is life though. I've been looking after sick people and feeding out hay and hard feed to the hungry bunch of bovine and equine vultures out there still glaring at me from the paddock next to my house. My life at the moment seems to be a surreal Dali painting. I want my life back thanks. I hate winter always will hate winter, but I suppose nature says that's how the cycle of life goes.

So what's been happening on the Mad Bush Farm...nothing. Shift stock, feed out hay, clean up poo and do it all over again the next day. Boring boring boring..but I get to talk to my creatures I suppose. Last year poor Sasha was suffering from terrible illnesses and infections. This year she's a different picture all together. Not bad for rising 23. She's now galloping to her feed instead of struggling to make it there. No more weight loss she's actually put heaps on.

And then there is the Terrorist...This month on the 29th of July the Terrorist will turn one year old. Yes she has grown a lot but she is still the tiniest Jersey I have ever seen. She thinks still she should be inside my house rather than out in the cold paddock in the rain with those moo things she still can't stand. Hay has become her friend - but as usual it is still not good enough that the baby of the Mad Bush Bovine Crew is being treated as a..........COW. Totally unacceptable in The Terrorists view. Moo has not yet developed. I still get meeeeeeeeee but no moo. NO CALVES THIS YEAR TO RAISE I FLATLY REFUSE!!!! No more!!!!!!!
All things considered today is the first day I have actually felt close to 100% like my old self again. Maybe for once I can actually sit down and find a chance to go and visit some blogs without feeling the need to go and lie down or have to go and take care of yet another sick family member. I've just realised as well that River will 3 years old on the 10th of July. Another small calf I raised but she was much bigger than the Terrorist and that was the day she was calved. She was 18kg - the Terrorist weighed around a mere 6 or 7 kg. Tiny very tiny.
Looks like our calving dates were all up the shoot. River is now so huge she looks like she is going to explode. Being a first calver usually means their udders start to fill in the 3rd of 4th month of preganancy. She still has a wee while to go. We are hoping she is not carrying twins. The bull we have now may carry a gene that causes twins. Our previous bull seemed to father a lot of twins when he was out tailing off on dairy herds. I do not want twins - not with a first calver. So we'll see what happens there. Calving time for the Dairy Herds will be later this month. The cows will start calving and it's back into the shed for the next season. One thing people should watch out for if they're planning to breed cattle and that is a nasty disease called Rotavirus. Last year a farmer I knew of lost 12 calves in two days to Rotavirus. It pays to vaccinate the herd against it to save a lot of heartbreak and calf mortality on the farm. Worth a consideration if you are on a small farm like mine as well. Don't take chances. Better to vaccinate then end up with dead calves.

Onto some other stuff....

NOTES FROM THE LAND OF GONZO

This time it's Amy's turn to share some insight into Asperger's Disorder and how it has affected her family. This is a great post and well worth taking the time to read. Check out Amy's post here

MORE STORIES OF INTEREST

Story 1: Lugan Zoo Argentina
I've seen some really bad things in my time but this just has to top the list of bad things. A friend of mine Natalie who is an animal behaviourist sent me a link to an article in the Daily Mirror.
Lugan Zoo in Argentina is run not by logical conservation minded people - but by a bunch of certified Village Idiots. I kid you not . According the the Daily Mirror Lugan Zoo near Buenos Aires in Argentine allows visitors to literally man handle the animals. Children have been allowed to enter the enclosures of adult tigers and worse still, a four year old male Lion named Alan has been subjected to the worst kind of humilitation any animal could have. In my eyes this Zoo should be shut down. It does not deserve to even have the animals. This is nothing short of absolute and utter inhumane cruelty - not to mention careless and reckless endangerment to public safety. Read the article from the Daily Mirror here


Story 2: A positive new start for Zion Wildlife Gardens
Imvula, Timba and Tamba have a morning lie down after the excitment of the weekend. - Caption & Image Credit: Sara Reid Zion Wildlife Gardens

The tragic death of Dalu Mcnube on May 26th had left the staff at Zion Wildlife Gardens reeling. The park was temporarily closed while an investigation was undertaken by MAF, the Department of Labour and the Police into the tragedy. MAF allowed the park to re-open once further safety measures had been satisfied. The appointment of Tim Husband of Zooworks has seen a positive and fresh new start to the park with new intiatives already been put into place for the benefit of the 42 big cats residing at the park. MAF have put a stop to the hands on contact of the adult Lions and Tigers to ensure staff and public safety. Despite this ruling Zion Wildlife Gardens had a very successful re-opening with over 500 people turning up during the course of the weekend of the 27th & 28th of June. Local businesses in Whangarei have also chipped in by sponsering the big cats. You can see more on Zion Wildlife Gardens here on their new Facebook Fan Page for great up to date videos plus photos - as well some insights from the Zion Team well worth checking out.


Well that's me for this blog post. Early night tonight so I can get up tomorrow and do the same old routine and finally catch up with several weeks worth of blog posts from all of my fantastic blogger friends. I have some more news to share including an award I received from Diane at My Gemstone Box and I won some pink earrings as well. THANK YOU DIANE!!!!

AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU DEAR WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO HAVE CARED SO MUCH ABOUT ME AND MY GIRLS. I WILL BE CATCHING UP WITH ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS AND ANSWERING EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY AS WELL AS VISITING YOUR BLOGS TO THANK YOU ALL.

I am up the flu with the flu and life has got in the way of me trying to keep this insane blog of mine from vanishing into the wilderness of blogland forever. Have I visited my friends blogs yet?? NO. Lousy flu and everything else including very early nights have kept me off my favourite past time. I like blogging maybe in 20 years my kids will say Mum you are nuts..if they haven't already that is.

Winter has come with a global warming vengeance. Normally when things are *normal* we get the frosts around late June to early July not this year sunshine. Mr Jack Frost has decided to show up almost every morning with his carpet of hard ice and say goodbye to my pasture growth..again. Feeding out, trudging through mud, not falling into the stream (although I zapped my backside on the electric fence) and getting eaten alive by the Terrorist who is now nearly eleven months old. Hard to believe this blog was started off because of a little calf that decided she needed a new mummy - me. When you're sick and on a farm things don't get done by themselves - the sicko does it now matter how lousy they feel. I've seen some good farmer friends of mine be full of the flu and still get out in the cold and the wet to get the job done. But that's what life on the land is all about. Chucking it all in is not an option. The Fonterra payout for next season is predicted to be $4.55 per kg of milk solid. Talking to my close friend Gillian the other day she tells me it takes 10 litres of milk per cow to produce 1 kg of mild solid. How times have changed in dairy farming since the first settlers arrived here in New Zealand. A big herd used to be 50 cows now the average is 240 and even that is considered small. Terry my neighbour next door has a state of the art rotary shed at around $3 million NZ that's a lot of investment to make. In the afternoon during the milking season you can see three seperate herds coming in from different directions. Each herd is 250 cows making a total of 750 and that's not huge. Some farms in New Zealand are milking over 1200. Budgets are being sliced for next season. Some farmers have had to lay off staff to survive, but I think just how lucky we really are here. I live in a community of people who care about their neighbours even if the neighbour might be miles down the road they'll lend a hand when the need arises. That's why I love it here.

Not much really has been happening here at the farm. My garden got murdered by Jack Frost although I had the sense at least to cover over the beans and peas we were trying to grow. Jack Frost is very unfair picking on our garden. He should pick on someone else isntead of the Mad Bush Farm crew and their mad crazy farm. Sasha is outside my window eating her hard feed then no doubt will go off to enjoy a wonderful night of grass munching on the couple of acres I've kept aside for her this year. I hate winter. Flood season is soon nigh, but I'm hoping this time I won't be looking at the boiling torrents we had most of last year. Sunshine hours are up at least. The shortest day has passed and now slowly, but surely the days will begin to get longer.

A couple of very short stories as told to me by my Grandfather and by my dad

Story 1 Pig Soup

During the 1930's when my grandfather was a young dairy farmer he decided he would go and pay his neighbour down the road a visit and see about buying a pig from him for slaughter. While he was there talking to his neighbour a lady came to visit bring along an old farm dog well past his best but loved by his owners. The old dog went wandering off as all dogs do and they all got down to socialising and having a friendly chat about how hard things were but how the animals were all doing well and the pasture growth was good. The cows were all calved and back in the shed, so my grandad had a few shillings to spare to buy a good sized porker. The visiting lady after an hour or so decided it was time to head back to her farmhouse kitchen and ready lunch for her husband and son who were due to come back from mustering their sheep. Just one problem the old dog she had brought with her was nowhere to be seen. Three searched high and low across the hills and down in the steep ravines, but alas no old trusty huntaway dog was to be had. Saddened she hadn't found her dear old dog, the lady headed off back to her farmhouse. The piggery though hadn't yet been checked. While the owner of the farm checked the pig sheds and the farrowing pens my grandfather decided to go and check inside the boiling shed just incase the old dog had got himself locked in. The door though had been left wide open which was unusual. A set of steps led up to the top of the huge boiler where old cows, horses and waste milk was put in along with vegetable scraps and leftovers from the local bakery in the town nearby. Not a problem to anyone then but floating on the top was a dogs collar. My grandfather told me he beleived the old dog had let his appetite get the better of him and had unfortunately fallen in. the pigs still got their dinner and to this day the lady that owned the dog never found out her dear old canine friend's sad fate. My grandfather delayed buying a pig until a week later. Wonder why.

Story 2: Flogging a dead horse

When my Dad was fifteen years old and living in Te Aroha with his parents who were dairy farming at the time he was given a job by a local dairy farmer to take a harse and cart down the long dairy race on the farm and feed hay to the cattle. It paid a couple of bob a week and for a young man of just fifteen that was a lot of money to have. My Dad used to save it then buy something for his sisters or for his little brother. Sometimes when he could he would buy his mother something nice for her to enjoy. Coming from a big family of eight children my dad was the eldest and felt like he had a big responsibility. So day in day out my father would go and get the old horse out of the paddock, harness him up, load up the hay bales and head on down the race to feed out to the cows. Along the the race were many many gates, but the old horse knew the routine and would wait for the gate to be opened then on through he would walk then wait once more for my dad to close the gate and climb back on the haycart. On this particular day the old horse seemed not quite himself. He seemed a little weary standing there in the paddock, but as always the old horse came when called, had his carrot then went to the shed to get brushed and harnessed up and do the daily routine he had done for year after year. He seemed even slower by the time my dad reached the first gate on the race. He got down and opened the gate the old horse plodding through stopping again and waiting for my dad to climb back on, and off they went once more. Nearing the second gate the old horse just seemed to be even slower, my Dad started to get a little worried that perhaps the poor old horse was just having a bit of bad day. Perhaps he had a touch of colic, or a cold coming on it was coming up to winter afterall. Heading now to the third gate. The old horse stopped as normal my dad got down opened the gate but when he turned around the old horse was no longer standing up. Horrified my dad kicked the old horse to try and get him to stand up, nothing happened so he gave it a harder kick, nothing happened. Horror in his thoughts he had killed the old horse - he was sure of it. Closing the gate and in panic my father ran hell for leather all the way back up the long race to finally reach the farmer's house. Completely out of breath he said to the farmer "I think I've killed your horse!" The farmer started to smile then began to laugh out loud. "Oh that old horse I've been expecting to die for the last five years. He was 35 young man. We'll just use the tractor from now on shall we?" My dad had a smile on his face when he told me this story.

More to come and photos as well I'll add to this post a little later (as in a couple of hours time)

Story 5: People who take exception

As everyone knows who regularly visits this blog I have been blogging the news updates from the issue between Craig Busch the Lion Man and Zion Wildlife Gardens. I've been doing this since last year. The Lion Man Series has a fairly good sized following and has his own Facebook Fan page. Not so long ago someone from this page had linked to my blog, next thing I know I have my blog over run by people from that page reading the article the person had linked to in my blog. That's fine. Out of curiosity a little later I had a look and was horrifed at some of the behaviour that was going on at the time. Most of the folk there were good caring people who only wanted to help their favourite star get his park back. The ones that weren't so goo were in the minority. So I wrote an editorial and included my concerns in the post. It had been noted, so I found out by the board administrator, who had then taken steps to ensure this minority were no longer allowed to continue with their less than acceptable behaviour at the time I had written the editorial. Credit to her and her hard work. No fault of her own what happens? Someone decides to take exception to what I had written and decides to make a huge issue out of it on their discussion board. This person took one paragraph out of the editorial while failing to include the rest of the post that also acknowledged that there were responsible people on that site. Taking things out of context and copyright work at that makes for dangerous allegations. What I said at the time was absolutely true - then. Now who knows I don't go there - I'm not a Lion Man fan. Why? Declawing big cats is not my idea of humane treatment other than that I don't really care. I have better things to do than worry about someone elses private life that has been scrutinised in the media through out the last few years. Yes he's done some good but on the declawings - no.

The admin of the board told those concerned not to visit my blog and not to comment. What did they do? They came onto my blog anyway and one just had to comment. Interesting comment at that -

Are you filtering out support for C Busch? It seems you have atracted no supporters to comment at all?

Oh, and FYI? I am neither a hooligan, immature, low levelled, nor do I swear. I agree that it is EXTREMELY distasteful to do that in any public forum actually. I will not let my son on Facebook because of the language all over the site, not just on the NZ Lionman board unfortunately.

That said, I refute your points, commenting on the entire fan base. I am an intelligent, articulate woman that has chosen to support him. I am certainly no savage, I can have a reasonable conversation, I am smart enough to be able to play devils advocate, but there is none of this available to do, as the people (Trolls as you call them)that have gone to the site that do not support Craig Busch HAVE posted inflammatory comments, been abusive and derogatory to members, bleating on about how Craig hit a woman (and not much else to warrant a civil conversation with those of us that can be objective of course - I concur that there are some undesirables), and that we are disgusting to support him? I found that VERY offensive.The board have retaliated. Equilibrium remember?

Your comments here leave you no better than the angry fans (we have certainly seen some really nasty ones) As you are inflicting the same insults.

I would LOVE to have both sides of the story, unfortunately, Patricia has not come forward. Its obvious that the story would hit the public domain, and to be frank, the attitiude of the media toward Craig tends to be mainly due to the "altercation" in his past, the past is really no ones business but his. The situation seems to have built up over many years - with blame on both sides.

I am no idiot regarding Media Hype. But Please spare us the opinion that, tarred with the same brush, we are a group of ignorant, childish, Neanderthals. I am sure there are some, but you will get that in large groups.

I wonder will you post this, or whether it will be "censored" or will I now be called a "Troll" for disagreeing with you?

I assure you there is NO sarcasm in this post, I just wish everyone would get along, the truth would be there for all to see, or that this whole sorry mess had never happened in the first place. Frankly it is none of my business whats happened, either now, or in the past, but I do believe Craig is the best person to be with the cats.

I also firmly believe that whatever has happened, and however large the issue, that family need to forgive and forget.

NO sarcasm? Interesting isn't it and to be quite blunt pointless. Just someone with a big problem and a bad attitude. Do I care? No.

My stand is this. Don't link to my blog in the first place and don't come here looking to witch hunt. I'm not interested and besides my writing is copyright and that copyright has been breached. What business is it of theirs? Quite frankly none. My advice to these people who are in that frame of mind is to stay on their own site and not annoy me by coming onto mine. If they have an issue - send me an email.

STORY 6 - Swoops the Attack Bird on Attack Bird Chronicles

Recently TVNZ news reported that new allegations of animal cruelty had come to light concerning the star of the locally produced series The Lion Man.

The story surfaced on the top rated news programme One Network News on the 31st of May shortly after the tragic death of Zion Wildlife Gardens head handler Dalu Mcnube. Mr Busch had also questioned the safety at the park after the tragedy had occurred. One News claimed to have documents, as well as staff eyewitness accounts which were described in detail as follows:

"ONE News has spoken to staff who claim Busch cruelly killed unwanted cubs.

One worker claims he saw Busch put a cub down using a rock the size of a softball.

"He lay the cub on the ground...he was in a standing position and he threw the rock down on the ground onto the cub. It took three or four times before he was satisfied it was dead, cause he actually... semi missed & he clipped it cause I remember seeing the thing bounce with the impact of the rock," alleges one anonymous worker"

- Sourced from TVNZ

TVNZ at the end of the news item also stated that staff had spoken to One News said that they didn't speak up at the time, but were 'too scared to do so'.

Well respected media expert and top rated journalist Brian Edwards on his blog Brian Edwards Media described this news item as "one of the most disgraceful and irresponsible pieces of journalism I have seen in some years." Yes perhaps unnamed staff had gone to One News with these allegations and, as Brian said "We can't judge those people's credibility because we don't know who they are" - which we don't know who they are. Are they lying? We don't know that either, but it wasn't about who said what or whom said it. Brian's point was the about the ethics of taking unfounded allegations and going on air with it anyway.

Sensational news equals instantly high ratings. Fine if it's founded in concrete fact and they can present the evidence to hand. Where were the documents and the people that were alleging these very serious allegations? Nowhere to be found yet they made it headline news anyway. On this I have to agree with Brian Edwards. The lines between fact and fiction in the case of Craig Busch vs Zion Wildlife Gardens have become blurred and light of the recent tragedy One New chose to drive the knife in with a story that should never have gone to air. Do they have the documents? I don't know - TVNZ may have them or they may not have them. Only they know if they have or not. My comment to Mr Edward's editorial was as follows:

On this I have to agree. TVNZ are claiming they have ‘documents’ but where is the concrete proof? Similar allegations were made back in 2007 about Mr Busch’s treatment of cubs and the adult animals in his care but again these were just allegations. TVNZ also reported that 30 lions & tigers were declawed. On this I went to source namely MAF and obtained the actual report from February 2009. This is concrete fact but to attack Mr Busch concerning abuse without any proof - on this I say shame on TVNZ, I mentioned these allegations in an editorial I wrote hoever I also did not form and opinion due to the fact that these new allegations were just that - allegations. The fact is there are several separate issues involved. The dispute between Mr Busch & Zion over ownership of the park. The Unfair Dismissal Case currently adjourned before the ERA, The now current investigations into the death of a Park Employee from different government organisations and the dispute over copyrights etc concerning the Lion Man Franchise. The lines between have become seriously blurred. TVNZ should not allow that to happen. Thanks Brian for your logical insight.
His reply to me was as follows:

Yes, as I said in the original post, the issue is not whether the allegations have substance, but whether a responsible news outlet should publish anonymous, untested and highly defamatory claims.

My answer to that is No they shouldn't. One thing to have it all there in hand and proven beyond a doubt another to have allegations and nothing to back it up then go to air anyway. On this One News failed to be objective in their judgement.

TVNZ aren't the only ones that have made things out to be fact when they are not. Take the case of a story published in the New Zealand Herald concerning Dr Brendan Moyle apparently advocating Tiger Farming as a means to save the species, when in fact it was about something completely different. Dr Moyle had written a paper titled The Black Market Trade in China which concerned the illegal trade in China of tigers, body parts and the economy generated by that trade. I have blogged about this story previously. Dr Moyle had kindly emailed me his reply concerning my questions in regard to his views on the story the Herald published. His email response was interesting to say the least:

Basically the Herald reporter did an interview and opted to make it very sensational. I'm not one a one-man mission to save the tiger, lots of people helped. Even the headline doesn't match the content of the piece. He omitted the previous 50 minutes I spent talking about the research and jumped straight to some of speculation on the future of tigers. It's a shame because of the research is relevant to the conservation of tigers. For instance, there is a very strong separation of the black markets by geography, sub-species and product type. E.g. there's no pipeline of bone being smuggled from India into the eastern provinces of China. There it's skins and mostly stopping in Tibet. I am afraid that the future for tigers does not look bright. The smugglers and poachers are winning, and have plenty of strategies already established to 'beat' law enforcement. If we look at Indonesia, we know that poaching of Sumatran tigers has been on-going right through the 90s. In 20 years, Indonesia has busted exactly one conspiracy. That was in 2003. And that conspiracy had operated for 10 years without getting detected. India is arresting forest ranger and police all the time for poaching. And India is easy compared to Indo-China. When I started researching tigers (from crocodiles!) we thought that India alone had 4000 tigers. 12 months later, and we thought the whole of Asia had 4000 tigers. That's about 2000 tigers gone. The problem is that many conservationists still believe that the current policy mix will eventually work to save tigers. Lose 2000 tigers off your estimate overnight, but hey, don't worry. Doing more of the same will fix problem sometime soon. From a criminology- and economics perspective- the root problem is that we have policy mix that in practical terms- leads to tigers having a bounty of $US50k on their heads. The only catch is you have to be a criminal to collect that bounty. So, for over 20 years we've been hoping that Asian criminals will turn down the chance to earn $US50k if successful. All they've understood is that conservationists have been offering to make them rich. I'm not sure that most conservationists realise that we're losing the struggle with smugglers badly. There seems to be a general air of optimism that each year will be different, and there will be a turn around in tiger numbers. This hasn't happened in decades. So, unless people are happy with these outcomes, then we're going to assess all our options properly. And come up with some very clever ideas fast.

Either way both reputable media organisations have both an ethical and moral obligation to report the facts as they stand in an unbiased manner - in these two stories both failed that obligation. The need for sensationalism over-rode the need for good old fashioned ethical journalism. Shame on you both.

I came across this distorted looking creature when I was doing some research into something unrelated. Take a look then let me know what you reckon this beastie really is.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

As we all know living in any rural area has it's share of predatory creatures looking for that one opportunity to attack unwary stock. We don't have foxes, snakes, bears, coyotes and cougars to worry about but we do have ferrets, stoats, wild cats, possums and of course our native Harrier Hawks. Harrier Hawks are amazing Birds of Prey and I have a lot of respect for them. One thing I have noticed about the hawks that live on our farm - they have a set flight pattern following it several times during the day. People tend to take them for granted but I think they're worth observing and taking note of how they hunt for then strike down their prey. I've see a hawk pick up a rabbit then drop it 50 feet to kill it. Incredible.



Sadly it was a hawk that took the opportunity to prey on our hens. Dusty was the one that was unfortunate enough not to have got away in time. I found the feathers all over the driveway and realised something had gone horribly wrong with one of our chickens. I was dreading finding the remains I hate dead birds (long story). Strange mentioneing that when i can handle everything else but not avian remains..yuk. No body anywhere then Inaya found poor Dusty under the truck looking very much the worse for wear. We brought the little hen inside and I took a look at her wounds. I didn't hold out much hope given the hawk's talons had severed the tendons in the leg and wing muscles. Inaya of course of was really upset with me for evening suggesting the bird should be put down. I humoured her for the night by keeping poor Dusty warm then waited until the girls had gone to school. I've lost the stomach I think for killing hens. Roosters I don't think twice about. I had a talk to Meredith at the vets and they very kindly put Dusty to sleep. There was no hope for the little hen so it was better to put her out of her pain than the poor chicken end up dying from pain and the infection from the wounds. I'm not angry at the Hawk he was only doing what nature designed him to do. Besides I like watching the hawks flight awesome.

I've decided to continue on talking about Autism and Aspergers disorder under the Post Heading NOTES FROM THE LAND OF GONZO.

I had considered creating a separate blog for this but decided it was just as easy to continue posting here on the Mad Bush Farm since I seem to shove everything else on here. Yes it's supposed to be about farming or something but in truth this blog is about everything. Nothing is ever the same and that's the way I like to have it.

I talked previously about several different things on ASD in relation my family, myself and on how I've worked with Michelle to help her overcome her Autism. I had great feedback from differing points of view. Parents with children with ASD, Mothers with sons and husbands with Aspergers. Each and everyone has a different approach but they find it works for them and that's the point. Each and every situation is unique - just because something works for me may not work for someone else -using your own interpretation is the best approach to use. In this post I'm going to talk about making the connection for speech. Some children with Autism never speak at all, others have limited speech ability and others have been able to form sentences and engage in conversation. Michelle has full abililty to both converse with logical sentences and hold a conversation on a variety of subjects. This has not come easily it's take a lot of hard work to get her where she is now and here's how we got there.

In 2001 when Michelle was diagnosed with ASD it was just before her third birthday, we also were entitled to the help of a speech language therapist. Just one problem. The wait for the therapist to start working with Michelle was going to be more than a year. Fortunately the Speech Therapist was able to at least visit us at home and make some suggestions as to how to help Michelle to start to learn to form words. The principle was so simple it wasn't funny. Everytime Michell made a sound such as a grunt or whatever else came out I was told to face Michelle and say very clearly "Good girl you said Hello!" Three weeks of doing this every day each time this little girl made a sound I would sit with her and say that same phrase over and over again. One fine morning my efforts were rewarded with Michelle getting out of her bed and coming up to me, looking up and saying very haltingly Heee....lll.....O. She had made the connection that Hello meant to greet someone even though we hadn't actually gone all over the place trying to get her to do that. I was so excited I rang my sister (big) Michelle and told her just what (little) Michelle had achieved. I also rang the Therapist and shared the news. Michelle's therapist then suggested I get a toy of some description the used the toy as the starting point for getting Michelle to learn new words. So we used Elmo the monster as the starting point. I would sit with Michelle and have Elmo with me then say Elmo says... Hello... then I would say Michelle says....and get Michelle to attempt to say Hello. After a week of this everyday Michell was able to form and say very clearly hello. The next word I taught Michelle to say was Help. This was important because if Michelle was scared or unable to tell something was wrong this would enable her to tell me that she needed help. I used Elmo in the concept of play. I put Elmo in a bucket then made out Elmo could not get out. Elmo says... HELP. We did this for several days putting Elmo in all kinds of situations each time saying Elmo says HELP. Poor Elmo I think after all the terrible things I did to the little red monster he'd want to disappear into the back of the ancient toybox. We still have him here - a little worse for wear but still intact. Each time I would Say Elmo says HELP..then say to Michelle Michelle says...HELP. This little girl connected the word Help with asking for assistance from Mummy. It took a solid month of constant repetition to help Michelle grasp the concept of asking for help and saying the word HELP.

Using Toys as part of a play concept for developing a child's speech I have found is really effective. Tammy from Autism Learning Felt gave her son a Car Pet. A creature made from carpet with eyes. Her son thinks his carpet is cool and it's given him the things we all take so much for granted. Joy and happiness are probably the most important therapies a child with ASD can be given. These emotions help to open up a whole new world and the possibilities are limitless. The only limit is how much we are prepared to join in that world and make the effort to play with our kids, talk with them and spend that time. Several of my blogger friends have children with ASD in one form or another and have shared their experiences in my previous post in the comments. Worth a read and a visit to their blogs. Wonderful. caring people I have had the great privilege to know. Well until the next part of making the connection. That's all for Notes From the Land of Gonzo.

After a lot of hard work and many many night's thinking I had to make a decision about what to do with little Sonny. We already had an overload of animals here on the farm. Standing at a total of over 20 enough was enough. The three weeks I had spent working with this little dog had made a very very big difference. I mentioned to the vets that Sonny needed a new home but not just any home. He had to have a fenced area, lots of love and the company of another dog to play with.....

/> Yes I felt really bad about giving this little puppy up. He was at last a happy, contented little dog with a tail that finally wagged and a big improvement in his attitude. BUT with so many animals and my media work committments getting the better of me I decided that it was far better for Sonny to go to someone who really could put in the time to bring the pup to his full brilliant and wonderful self. Thanks to Catherine at the vet centre here in Maungaturoto we found the best possible home a little Chihuahua could ever have..


A lovely lady I know quite well named Marie offered Sonny a fantastic home. He now lives with four other little Chihuahuas and is really really having a fantastic time. Marie just loves him so much and so does her husband, He has turned out to be a fantastic little dog and has fitted into their home and the Chihuahua gang just fine. Saquatch I think is missing his little playmate but well I think he has been far too busy these last couple of weeks doing all kinds of wierd and wonderful things including following Inaya and Michelle into the Bush and well ending up looking like he had either had a really bad hair day or maybe he was into those mud therapy treatments. I've heard from the TV programmes mud is very very good for hoomans but I don't know about white kittens fur

As you can see Sasquatch was a star candidate for the NOT WHAT TO WEAR TV series. Bad fur coats just don't get the photo shoot guys fired up not one bit. And No Inaya is not trying to strangle Sasquatch she was trying to stop him from climbing all over the sofa with all that mud on him. If everyone has been wondering just what the heck I have been up to it's like this. Deadlines, more deadlines,dead tired and a lousy Kidney infection that took its time to go away. On top of that winter has now come so now it's back to fixing broken fences, feeding out and hoping like hell my house doesn't slip away because we have a huge council stormwater drain 50 feet from our house. 2 years ago we ended up losing just over 30 ft of bank in one nights worth of heavy rain. Piles of tractor, truck and car tyres later the slip is mostly stablilised - no thanks to the local council and their damned drain. Moving on here now I've grouched about drains. Strange things have been occuring around the Mad Bush Farm. The first very wierd thing was with Feather our golden laced Wyandotte Hen. She ended up with a really bad version of a Japanese Goth chicken. All her neck and brest feathers fell out and now well anyone would think she was into a complete new look. The next even wierder and stranger thing has been to do with a certain species of marsupial known as the Australian Brustailed Possum aka Rotten Marsupial Sod. Rotten Maruspial sod this time was a little guy (and is still alive I might add *mutter*) that has taken up residence in one of our cabbage trees right by the house. Normally Emerald hunts and kills these nasty smelly little pests. Not this one. It's so tame I ...well yanked it by the tail one night to see if I could pull it down then bop it on the head...Yes claw power won over skinny arm power...drat! Did it do anything? No it just sat there clung to the tree and gave me that innocent look *who me?* Yes I know I'm a rotten marsupial sod that destroys everything I can get my teeth onto but...you plan to remove me from this tree will always fail for we are 71 million strong so shove off stupid hooman idiot with the skinny arms and by the way that fag in your mouth does nothing for your fashion sense..darling** Worse than that there is a budding odd friendship now developed between Sasquatch and the RMS (Rotten Marsupial Sod). Sasquatch licks the possum and the possum tries to groom him. Bizarre but true I will try to get a photo of it but as for RMS his days as resident here on the Mad Bush Farm are numbered. The gun will be coming out thanks to Uncle Len. Then no more RMS living in my cabbage tree. Well I have a load more to blog about but I'll finish this post and then start figuring out the next one. And guys I'll catch up with you all now things have settled and back to normal. Because as usual I have been subjected to...MADNESS!

st week I obtained a full copy from MAF of their investigation into the declawing of 21 Lions and 9 tigers under the care of Mr Craig Busch from 2000 to 2008 respectively. At the time of writing this post Mr Busch has been the subject of new animal cruelty allegations. TVNZ claim they have obtained documents and witness statements concerning the inhumane destruction of unwanted cubs and other incidences. At this stage unless absolute concrete proof is at hand I won't be forming any type of opinion. Brian Edwards on his blog noted this news as "Shameful Journalism". In this case I tend to agree. Bringing such an allegation to Primetime news without clear facts and definite evidence equates to unethical reporting. TVNZ have an obligation to report the facts not sensationalism, in this case their report was exactly that. Sensationalism and nothing more.

The issue between Mr Busch and Zion Wildlife gardens is currently a civil matter to be decided by both the Employment Relations Authority in relation to Mr Busch's Unfair Dismissal Case, and by the High Court concerning the dispute over the ownership of Zion Wildlife Gardens.

In the matter of the Unfair Dismissal Hearing Mr Busch like any other person classed as an employee is entitled to a fair and unbiased hearing by the Employment Relations Authority as prescribed in the Employment Relations Act 2000. Sensationalist type reports that have been circulating such as drug taking, unfounded animal cruelty allegations have had no basis in fact nor will be they considered relevant to the individual case. The Employment Relations Authority will take into the account the facts concerning the conditions of Mr Busch's employment and nothing else but the facts. In due course they will reconviene the hearing - a date is yet to advised for this.

However on the declawing I have obtained the proof and from the source namely MAF who released this to me under the Official Information Act. The link to this report was posted on Mr Busch's Facebook Fan Page. Below is the response from Mr Busch's colleague as posted on Facebook concerning the declawings:


Declawing of big cats is a contentious issue and we would like to address this.

In the year 2000 Craig brought his first tigers into New Zealand. Having sought and followed advice from experts in America, he spoke to vets in the quarantine area and the cats were declawed. This took place in the presence of MAF vets who made no comment and accept that this would quite properly have been taken as tacit acceptance that this was standard practice. The cats have never shown any negative effects from the operation. In fact one declawed lion at another zoo lived to the age of 22 and never showed any ill effects from declawing. Two of the cats at Zion were declawed before being given to Craig and brought to New Zealand. Since 2006, all cats declawed at Zion have been done so under the authority of the Director Patricia Busch.

Declawing is still standard practice in the US and most big cats used in films have undergone the procedure – this includes ‘Clarence’, ‘The Ghosts in the Darkness’ and the tigers in ‘Gladiator.’ * In fact declawing was banned in 2006 by the US Government. See Media Release at the bottom of this post

In the matter of declawing, Craig has always acted on advice from experts in the field, and the declawing that has taken place has done so for the following reasons:

• To prevent cats from injuring each other (like the one who could so easily have lost an eye in the latest series of The Zoo.)
• To create a safer environment for human interaction with the cats, in turn providing the cats with behavioral enrichment and promoting their conservation
• And, coincidentally, reducing damage to their natural surroundings, for example trees.

At no time has Craig ever broken the law and has always acted with the best interests of his cats uppermost in his mind. Since other interpretations of the declawing procedure have been brought to his attention by MAF, who up until July 2008 had no issue with the procedure, the declawing policy has been reviewed and no further such operations will take place involving his animals.

Jill

Overall the reasons given for Mr Busch's requesting the veterinarians concerned to declaw 21 Lions and 9 tigers are in line with the MAF Report- with the exception of one that has been outlined in the MAF report as follows

• Limiting the ability of the animals to do damage to each other when travelling for promotional purposes.

Let's face it. Large Felids aren't cheap to feed. An adult lion requires as least 45kg of meat per day in order to maintain condition. To make the park commercially viable - the obvious option would be to travel these animals around the country in order to increase revenue and publicity for the benefit of Zion Wildlife gardens. However this has been at the expense of the animals concerned. MAF had this to say in their report concerning Mr Busch's reasons for having the animals in his care declawed.

On the face of it, the routine front pad declawing procedures adopted by Zion Wildlife Gardens Limited did not conform with the requirements of the Act which require that a net animal welfare benefit accrue to the animal on which the restricted surgical procedure is to be carried out i.e. directly to the specific
animal that is to be declawed.

MAF veterinarians at no time had questioned these procedures which is disturbing to say the least. MAF Animal Welfare were also not aware of the declawings until things at Zion became a serious issue - however a MAF Insector is mentioned in the investigation as discussing the declawings with Mr Busch but no action was taken. This does not mean despite the claims above that these procedures were in any way legal.

In 2008 during winter inspections a veterinarian with large cat experience was present and produced a report for MAF on the declawings. It was noted by MAF that after further research on declawing and declawing outcomes it was concluded that the procedure was un-necessary in the circumstances cited by Mr Busch and should be immediately curtailed. The veterinarian that produced the report also was in view that the declawing procedures would result in long term physiological damage to those large felids already declawed at Zion citing gait issues and arthritic complications.

Further enquiries were made by MAF with the New Zealand Veterinary Association. The NZVA indicated their endorsement of the position taken in the report that the declawing of large felids at Zion was not in the best interests of the large felids unless it could be demonstrated by the veterinarian performing the procedure on behalf of Zion Wildlife Gardens Limited, that a net animal welfare benefit accrued to the particular animal declawed. In other words there was required to be a medically justified rationale for the declawings of the animals at Zion Wildlife Gardens, by contrast with the general operational and promotional reasons advanced by those concerned in support of front pad declawing of the lions and tigers.

There was no benefit to the animals concerned only to Mr Busch and those involved with hands on contact with these large felids. Declawing comprises of ten separate amputations of the first toe bone with the claw attached and the severing of tendons and nerves thereof. Thus the animal ends up walking literally on the tip of the second toe bone affecting its physiology overall. While short term effects may not be apparent - given that lions and tigers can live up to 20 years and beyond in captivity the long term effects as described in the report will give these unfortunate animals a lifetime's worth of pain. The justification that it is routine in the US is irrelevant under New Zealand law, as well as the fact that declawing in the US was banned nationwide in 2006 - for this Mr Busch has no valid excuse. His decision was unjustified, inhumane and the law should be changed so people like Mr Busch ,and others who do likewise, as owner regardless of the length of time, should be prosecuted. As it stands at present the law is toothless and does nothing to enhance animal welfare.

It is a very sad state of affairs that this has happened however, it has happened and the best possible outcome is for the welfare of the animals concerned to be put in foremost consideration. What their future as yet will be at Zion Wildlife Gardens - that is yet to be determined.

* The argument that declawing in the USA is routine is completely incorrect. Declawing was banned nationwide in the USA in late 2006. Media Release as follows

DECLAWING captive wild cats BANNED nationwide under Animal Welfare Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 12, 2006

310 795-6215 or 877 PAW-PROJECT

Contact: Jennifer Conrad, DVM

Declawing Banned nationwide under Animal Welfare act

LOS ANGELES, September 12 – Declawing captive wild or exotic animals such as lions, tigers, wolves and bears is no longer permitted under the federal Animal Welfare Act. In the recently announced policy decision of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency has declared that declawing, the amputation of the claw-forming bone of an animal's foot, cannot be performed with the intent of making the animals easier to handle. According to the USDA, declawing is "no longer considered to be acceptable when performed solely for handling or husbandry purposes since (declawing) can cause considerable pain and discomfort to the animal and may result in chronic health problems." Defanging, or the removal of canine teeth, from these animals and from primates, such as monkeys and apes, has also been banned.

"This policy change is the culmination of efforts by many animal advocates within and outside the USDA," stated Dr. Jennifer Conrad, director of the Paw Project and exotic animal veterinarian. "It will spare captive animals the crippling pain and misery caused by declawing."

The new policy applies to animals held by USDA license holders including exhibitors, dealers and breeders of wild and exotic animals, as well as research facilities. This decision is estimated to affect thousands of animals. Though the new policy does not affect animals previously altered by these methods, it will protect all animals that have not had these procedures already performed.

Continued routine use of these procedures may subject USDA license holders to citation for noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act and may result in a fine or license revocation.

The crippling effects of declawing were first presented in a scientific paper by Dr. Jennifer Conrad at the 2002 conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. An attendee of the conference, Dr. Timothy Reichard, then a veterinarian at the Toledo Zoo, expressed interest in Dr. Conrad’s findings. Armed with her data, Dr. Reichard authored the 2004 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) animal welfare position paper which opposes declawing big cats and which is the basis for the new USDA policy.

USDA Big Cat Specialist, Dr. Laurie Gage has written that "declawing big cats, especially the larger species, is inhumane" and that "depriving them of their claws because they have an owner who has no idea of how to handle or manage them seems unjustified."

The declawing of wild and exotic cats is already illegal in California as the result of AB 1857, the Paw Project-sponsored bill, which was authored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2004. Declawing is classified as "mutilation" by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British counterpart of the AVMA.

Currently there are more than 100 big cat sanctuaries in 41 states caring for thousands of declawed cats. Since 2000, veterinarians working with the Paw Project have performed reparative surgery on over fifty lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, and jaguars that had been victims of declaw surgery. The surgery cannot replace the missing claws, but can lessen many of the crippling effects of declawing.

"This is a major victory for the animals and those who care about them," said Conrad.

Below is the copy of the full MAF Report on the declawing of 21 Lions and 9 Tigers at Zion Wildlife Gardens between 2000 -2008 released to me under the Official Information Act. Mr Busch requested these procedures to be taken out. These were done in the presence of MAF Veterinarians in some cases. I stand against declawing as being an un-necessary and inhumane practice. But that is my own personal opinion.
MAF Report Zion Declawing Investigation Feb 2009

29 May 2009


MAF Biosecurity New Zealand and Department of Labour
Statement – Zion Wildlife Gardens
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has today enacted powers under the Biosecurity Act 1993 and temporarily closed the Zion Wildlife Gardens near Whangarei to the public in the wake of this week’s death of a keeper at the park.

The park will be closed until MAF is satisfied that it is able to consistently comply with the animal welfare and enclosure requirements for zoos and wildlife parks. At this point in time, MAF is ensuring that the welfare of the animals is not compromised and the park is being well managed. There is no intention to euthanase any of the animals.

The Department of Labour has also served two Improvement Notices on the park and the Department will be working with the park to ensure compliance with the notices.

The first notice requires the park to meet MAF standards for animal enclosures.
The second requires the park to institute interim safety measures to protect staff where segregation from animals is not possible.

Improvement notices require a workplace to improve its health and safety so people are not put at risk of harm. More information is available at:
http://dol.govt.nz/publications/research/keeping%2Dwork%2Dsafe/keeping-work-safe_03.asp

The management of Zion Wildlife Gardens is fully co-operating with the measures.

By way of background, zoos and wildlife parks in New Zealand are subject to legal requirements set out in the Containment Facilities Standard for Zoo Animals. This document is available on the MAF Biosecurity New Zealand website:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/border/transitional-facilities/animals/154-03-04.htm

MAF was well through a scheduled review of the zoo standard at the time of this week’s incident. This review includes the guidelines for close animal contact and ‘encounters’ but was not prompted by any specific event. As part of the standard review, MAF is working closely with New Zealand’s zoo industry and international experts in the field. The zoo standard review will be informed by the outcomes of any MAF or Department of Labour investigations.

There will be no further comment made by either MAF or the Department of Labour until further notice.

Zookeeper killed by white tiger named

6:05PM Wednesday May 27, 2009
By Jared Savage and Moana Tapaleao

thoughts go out to the family of the keeper who lost his life at Zion Wildlife Gardens today our condolences to Dalu's family and to those who were close to him. We are so sorry for your loss. And to Dalu you were a great and special friend to both people and to the animals you cared for.

'Lion Man' shocked at tiger's fatal attack on keeper

Updated 3:42PM Wednesday May 27, 2009

The attack was witnessed by eight French and English tourists.

A witness, who declined to be named, said the attack was "very, very frightening".

Police said the keeper suffered injuries to the abdomen and lower leg which were received by "tearing" by a big cat.

Two keepers had gone into the white tiger enclosure about 11am today when one of the two tigers in the enclosure attacked a male keeper.

Despite the best efforts of the second keeper and a rapid response from other wildlife park staff, the tiger would not let the park worker go and he died at the scene.

The tiger was destroyed by wildlife park staff.

Mr Busch described the attack as "a terrible personal blow for me as I knew the keeper well.

"My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues. Obviously I also know all the animals at the park which are owned by my Wildlife Trust, and I am deeply upset at the news of this attack."

Police will not be releasing the keeper's name until next of kin have been advised.

Police and OSH staff are investigating the incident which is believed to have been witnessed by a group of eight overseas tourists.

Four police officers were at the scene, and ambulance staff have now left.

Victim Support staff have been called to the scene to help the distressed park staff and visitors. The park has now been closed to visitors.

MAF and the Coroner have also been advised.

Staff at the park, which holds 42 lions and tigers, will release a statement later today.

Police are at the scene.

If it is a Royal White tiger, then it would be a blow to the Wildlife park.

There are only 120 Royal White tigers left in the world and the tiger, a sub-species of the Bengal tiger, is considered extinct in the wild.

Series of incidents

There have been two previous reported attacks at the zoo, which houses 42 rare lions and tigers.

In February, a man was savaged by a "large cat" and required surgery.

He was bitten on the knee by the animal.

Last year, a Scottish teenager was left scarred for life after being attacked by a lion.

Lisa Baxter, 19, of Gullane, was working at working at the zoo on April 23 when Timba, an African white lion, sunk his teeth into both her hands after she put them through a hole in the fence, designed for television cameras, to stroke a cub.

The Wildlife Gardens website lists its white tigers as Jahdu, Rewa, Abu and Tygo, all Royal White Tigers.

"Each has its own very distinct personality. The only female, Rewa, carries the solid white gene and has already produced New Zealand's first two Royal White tiger cubs in late January 2005."

It describes itself as a "tranquil countryside retreat" near Whangarei in Northland, New Zealand, and is home to television's Lionman - Craig Busch.

Just yesterday, Mr Busch gave evidence at an investigative meeting before Employment Relations Authority member Yvonne Oldfield into his claim for reinstatement to his job at Zion Wildlife Gardens in Whangarei.

There were Ms Oldfield was in the park today at the time of the incident.

But Mr Busch s lawyer Daniel Erickson said that contrary to media reports there was no one from the Employment Relations Authority at the park at the time of the attack.

Mr Busch said he was dismissed from the Northland wildlife park which helped make him famous without notice and without being given any warnings.

- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF

18 May 2009

Johnny Rotten invited to visit New Zealand’s free-range cows


Federated Farmers Dairy wishes to invite former Sex Pistols front man, John Lyndon (aka Johnny Rotten), to come down under to see for himself, the difference free range cows makes to the quality of butter and other dairy products.

“Never mind the butter, it’s the quality of the milk what counts,” says Willy Leferink, Federated Farmers Dairy vice-chairperson.

“While all milk may contain the same basic properties, kiwi cows are in a league of their own.

“Grazing outdoors on GM free grass and natural winter feed makes for happy cows and fantastic quality milk. This milk is crafted into quality butter and other dairy products and the only thing holding us back in the UK, is the European Union’s ridiculous tariff barriers.

“One of our senior staff members, David Broome, lived in the UK for seven years. He tried Country Life Butter, once, and described it to me in colourful terms that Johnny Rotten would understand.

“David said only hand crafted but expensive British butter matched New Zealand butter for quality. The difference being that New Zealand butter can readily be found by British consumers in their local supermarket and convenience stores.

“New Zealand butter and dairy products, like our wine, is a taste revelation.

“New Zealand’s climate and quality pasture means we are in an agricultural sweet spot. British consumers literally taste freedom when they eat New Zealand butter.

“While I’d like to think of dairy farmers as being the rock stars of the New Zealand economy, I’d be pleased to host that old punk rocker, John Lyndon, on my farm.

“Perhaps Mr Lyndon could use some of the money he got paid for endorsing the British brand to pay for his flight down under,” Mr Leferink concluded

If Sam the Eagle ever visited our farm he would leave muttering "YOU'RE ALL WIERDOS!" Perhaps I should rephrase that from muttering to screaming as he heads for the nearest point of sanity. In a way Sam the Eagle would be quite right - two of us on this farm have an official looking piece of paper from medical experts with the very complicated sounding Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Oh what a tragedy! Poor people having such a terrible thing life will be so difficult right? I haven't found having Asperger's Disorder a tragedy - it's just a diagnosis telling me I'm a little wierd now and then. I have my quirks I'll admit but saying having ASD is a sad state of affairs - on that I beg to differ. For me it's just a diagnosis - I've had for years. I always knew I had it - all I needed was a Doctor to tell me that yes indeed I was in fact someone with ASD. Other than that I get on with my life and deal with any issues if they arise in a positive manner - woe is me gets put in the trash bin.

Reading up on Aspergers and Autism began when my youngest child Michelle was born. She wasn't doing the things most babies did. She just sat and stared most of the time. She didn't move and she was about impossible to feed any solid food to. Tell me about it. I knew she was Autistic but of course those expert who tend to ignore a mother's intuition were insistent that Michelle did not have Autism. Oh yes she did. Not just that the Autism Gene is prevalent in my immediate family. My dad was a little off the wall - he was never diagnosed but we all knew deep down Dad was also affected by ASD. He was a sucessful businessman, a great father and had a huge circle of friends. So much for the anti-social part there.

I've read all kinds of stuff on ASD. Different diets, blaming MMR vaccinations for ASD, name it I've read it and came to just one conclusion. Do what you know works best. Someone somewhere termed the purveyors of special diets, supplements and intensive programmes for ASD diagnosed children as Autism Nazis. I tend to agree with them. Subjecting your Autistic child to a regime of gluten free diets, intensive over the top therapies and endless diagnosis sessions just doesn't cut it and in the end does it really work?.

Here's how I view Autism. Think of a room with a huge pile of jumbled boxes - and each box represents the things we take as coming naturally - none of the boxes are in order. For someone with ASD learning to speak,climb a tree, acting in an appropriate way, emotional response, motor co-ordination, creative thought. The boxes aren't put together in the room right. Sending your child to a specialised Autistic school won't prepare them to cope in the real world. The real world is a different place and yes people can be cruel - but sheltering our ASD kids from the real world won't do them any favours. I view helping these kids as putting all those jumbled boxes back ont the right shelves and into the right order. A bit like getting the missing pages of an instruction manual and putting them back into the right page order. Fill in the gaps and connect the missing parts together one step at a time.

When I took Michelle at 2 years old to visit Dr Mike she had only just started to walk. Speech didn't exist, and her fixation on her hat and her plastic books were the only thing that existed in her closed little world. Dr Mike is an expert of Autism and instead of telling me I had to start some regime of special diets, intensive medical therapes and heck knows what else - he told me to treat Michelle as NORMAL just as I had worked my way through the challenges I had with my Asperger's Disorder so it was that day by day I worked with Michelle to start her on her own journey to overcoming her challenges and I was on my own without David (the girls dad) to help.
Dr Mike helped to organise an Early Intervention Teacher, a Speech Language Therapist and a Physiotherapist to work with me and Michelle to get things working together. They gave me the tools and the support I needed to get started. We walked every day for two long years - Michelle had a badly turned in left leg which with the right exercise walking,climbing, and playing returned to its normal position. The other day I watched her at 10 years old climbing a tree. A far cry from the terrified little pre-schooler hanging onto a playground ladder screaming while her Physiotherapist and I encouraged her to take the next step up. She can ride a bike, create her own artwork without copying. She writes imaginative stories and can read at her own age level. Why? Because I treated her as any other normal child making the allowance where I had to whil still being aware that some things couldn't be rushed. The first word I taught Michelle to say was HELP. And it worked. If she was scared or unsure she would say Help. I taught her colours by walking along the road and saying this is a yellow car, this is a yellow flower etc etc. One step at a time this wonderful little girl of mine has blossomed. She still has her challenges but she's now learning to overcome those herself.

My one huge criticism of the support by our government in New Zealand for ASD diagnosed people is that there isn't any. What little there is of it is flawed, under-funded and in need of a huge improvement. The only decent organisation for getting any information and help from is the New Zealand Autistic Association but even they can only do so much to help. Where I live in Northland the nearest branch for the NZ Autistic Association is in Auckland. Not their fault - buildings and staff cost money to maintain. One thing that needs to be done and that is for the government to stop cutting the budgets of RTLB teachers, Speech Language Therapists, Child Physiotherapist and Early Intervention Teachers. If a child with ASD is caught early then they have the chance to have a great life without having to be trapped in that room of jumbled boxes for life.

As for yours truly? Well it's like this I've overcome my minor glitch - almost. Now I'm trying to avoid doing my landscaping in straight lines. I think the old hose laId out in a curved shape should sort that out. They say in some writings on Aspergers creativity is lacking....so why do I draw mad cartoons then? Must be copied from the mind of Gonzo the Great...


Sorry Sam we're all Wierdos here and loving every moment of it.

Barely five days ago I came home with a less than friendly puppy. Dumped on me by my ex-husband simply because the pup had become suddenly a very bad problem. The only problem was the people - not the dog. We've made huge progress in a very short time. A visit to Amy's today reinforced my belief that perhaps Sonny had finally realised nobody was out to hurt or growl at him. Amy's dog Tia had had similar aggression issues and she hadn't ever been badly treated. She had a great home - just a little dog with a big dog rules the house attitude. Not anymore she doesn't. Amy has done wonders with her and tonight that was confirmed with both dogs getting along really well. Tia played boss but it was her house. No biting anyone, no snarling or growling. Sonny jumped up onto Amy's lap, and above is the proof, that yes, indeed, a little love and kindness goes a long way to putting things right. How's that for a good thing and not just for the dogs but for all of us today. Thanks Amy you rock!