AJ's Journey

22/04/2023

10 years of Ashton! What an incredible 10 years it’s been. Happy birthday to our beautiful miracle. Thank you for showing the world what true strength, resilience and bravery is. You fought hard for your place on this earth. Despite your challenges, you always try to find joy . Your laugh is infectious and your smile is sunshine! We love you so much Lion Cub 🎉🎂🎁🥳🦁❤️

5 likes, 2 comments - on Instagram on April 22, 2023: "10 years of Ashton! What an incredible 10 years it’s been. Happy birthday to our beautiful mira..."

04/01/2023

Happy new year Team AJ! We hope you’ve had a wonderful festive period. Ashton had an awesome day yesterday going to see Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live at the Hydro. Santa brought him tickets since he loves watching cars and trucks. We weren’t sure what he would make of it but you can see how much he really loved it!!!
We also discovered that the Hydro has a Changing Places toilet which made a huge difference to us as we didn’t need to rush home ♿️👏
Thank you to the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks team for a fab show!

27/11/2022

We would like to say a huge, sparkly THANK YOU to M&K Imaginarium for the incredible, INCLUSIVE festive experience they provided for Ashton and his besties yesterday ❤️ Santa and Nutmeg were incredible, they brought so much magic to the children and adults! They also done some great Makaton signing 🫶 We are so grateful for this experience.
Grottos etc are difficult for disabled children for various reasons like accessibility and sensory issues. This is the third year we’ve had this amazing company and each year they blow it out the water! Thank you so much for making our Christmas magical and inclusive ♿️❤️✨🎄

11/10/2022

It’s that time of year again, time to get cosy!! Our wheelchair cosy from BundleBean is an absolute game changer! Waterproof on the outside and cosy on the inside. It’s a universal fitting so it will attach to any size wheelchair. There’s an awesome range of designs in both adult and children sizes. Oh and a cheeky wee discount code of ASHTON10 for you to use ❤️🌈

07/10/2022

We are a little late but yesterday was
No two people with cerebral palsy are the same. Ashton’s cp was caused by brain damage due his extreme pre term birth at 23 weeks. He is quadriplegic meaning it affects all four limbs. The type of he has is spastic cp meaning his muscles are tight and stiff. He has dystonia too which cause involuntary movements and spasms. Ashton’s level of cp is level 5 which is the most severe.

Despite this, Ashton is thriving. He is happy and extremely resilient. Thank you to modern medicine and our amazing NHS, Ashton has a fantastic quality of life.
Cerebral Palsy affects every part of our life. It affects where we go, what we do, the type of home we have and the equipment we need but it never impacts Ashton’s bravery or vibrant personality. Today, we honour all the amazing all over the world. 💚

22/09/2022

Our brave little Lion Cub was admitted to hospital on Tuesday for a planned, small surgical procedure. Knowing that he would be fasting that evening, I wanted our fussy little lion cub to eat as well as he could during the day. Before setting off for the hospital, we took him to our local Mchargs Bakery as he loves a roll and sausage from there. While we were in there, another customer paid our bill! 🥹❤️
I didn’t get his name but he had a uniform on that had Creative garden design on it. If you see this - thank you so so much. You didn’t have to do that, we are very touched by your kindness.

Ashton did fantastic in hospital, he was so brave and we are back home with a very happy lion cub! ❤️🦁

P.s sorry for being so quiet on here!

23/08/2022

On Sunday Ashton enjoyed dinner at TGI Fridays XSite Braehead He absolutely loved his food but it reminded me just how unique Ashton is and how the environment around him affects him. No two people with cerebral palsy are impacted in the same way. As part of Ashton’s type of cerebral palsy, he also has dystonia that causes involuntary movements and spasms.
A lot of things can trigger dystonic spams in Ashton like being very excited or upset, loud noises and certain movements. Watch how the person passing with a child past Ashton’s wheelchair triggers a dystonic spasm. Then watch the right hand side of the video, he triggers each time a member of staff walks out the kitchen and passes. It doesn’t distress him, it’s just part of how Ashton functions. Extreme spasms and tightness can be painful and uncomfortable for him. Due his muscles constantly ‘firing’ he does rely on a cat nap during the day.
A lot of people ask why he wears a mitten or sock on his left hand. When he triggers, his hand goes to his face and he scratches himself very hard and can make himself bleed, no matter how short his nails are! It’s a completely involuntary movement.
Also if anyone knows where we can purchase larger sized (baby style) cotton scratch mittens from, please let me know. I can’t find the seller I purchased these ones from on Etsy last year!

16/08/2022

And just like that, our Lion Cub goes back to school! Aged 9 and into primary 5. Ashton enjoyed his summer holidays but is very excited to be back at school as he was getting a little bored. He thrives on packed, busy school days!
Good luck to everyone going back to school and please remind each other to be kind ❤️

21/07/2022

Hi Team AJ ❤️ It’s been a while but Ashton is doing well. Today we had a visit from Tommy the chimney sweep from T Burns & Son Chimney Sweeps to sweep our chimney (After his son Ben installed a fantastic wood burning stove for us last year 🪵 🔥).
After I paid Tommy he gave me some money back and insisted I get Ashton something nice. Here he is enjoying every bite of his McDonalds chicken nuggets and has some chocolate buttons for later. Thank you so much Tommy, it was lovely to meet you. You’re an absolute gent!

24/04/2022

We would like to say a huge thank you to Laura from Animal Magic for stepping in last minute and saving Ashton’s birthday party! We all had an absolutely brilliant time. We loved meeting her menagerie and learning about the animals. Laura is so knowledgeable and interacted so well with the kids and adults, very engaging and animated! We all enjoyed a good sing song too! Laura even spent time coaching some of the adults to overcome their fears of certain animals. I’m terrified of spiders and ended up having a tarantula crawling up my arm without any fear! We’re talking about it all afternoon. We definitely cannot wait to have her back again. If you’re looking for a mini zoo in Glasgow or surrounding then we highly recommend Animal Magic! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🦜🐢🐹🐍🕷🦔❤️

22/04/2022

And just like that, our tiny 17 week early, 1lb 4oz baby boy is now a handsome, vibrant, noisy nine year old!! Happy birthday Ashton, you make us so proud. We love you so much our little Lion Cub ❤️🦁🎉🥳🎂🎁🎈

17/04/2022

Happy Easter Team AJ! 🐣🐰 I hope you’re all well. This mummy really needs your help. It’s our Little Lion Cub’s birthday next weekend and we’ve been let down by a company who do Alpaca meet and greets. I’m wracking my brains for something Ashton could do that’s wheelchair accessible for him and his best friends. Does anyone know any mobile petting zoos that have availability on Saturday in the Paisley area? Any ideas welcome! 🙏 Thank you ❤️

This amazing bib was gifted by Tate Rose Bibs - stylish bibs for older kids, adults & babies.