Another week of rain and economic gloom. Note to self, stop listening to the Radio 4 Today programme, it’s starting your day off ALL wrong.

Still there is some good news for me, anyway: I’ve been asked to take part in a Dragon’s Den/Apprentice type thingy for young people. Apparently, I’m an inspirational business expert. When I told Son1, he snorted with derision. Now I’m going to spend the next few weeks feeling like a total fraud. I said yes, of course, because my message to those young people will be to embrace opportunities when they come-  both to help yourself and to help others.

Anyway, happy weekend and here’s my pick of the posts and special needs news from the last week.

• Special Needs Jungle: If ‘child centred’ help is a no-brainer, why isn’t it happening?
• Ambitious About Autism: Ambitious about Autism helps create leaflet about mental capacity issues 
• Mumsnet: Q&A with Sharon Hodgson, Shadow Minister for Children and Families on Mumsnet
• Bury Free Press: Autistic teen was ‘failed by system’ > another tragic story and lack of provision
• Kat’s Cafe:   ‘I Wish I Didn’t Have Aspergers’:#AutismPositivity2012
• Carers UK: new figures show cost of families forced to give up work to care reaches £1.3bn
•  The Voice: Voice comments on scholarship scheme for SEN support staff :: Voice The Union
•  The Guardian: Imagine the hell faced by our most vulnerable children, prime minister by Camila Batmanghelidjh
• Special Needs Jungle: Advocates For Children – a FREE SEN legal advocacy charity. If you missed this yesterday, here’s the link again 
• DSE International: Landmark research study shows targeted intervention improves reading & language skills of children with Down syndrome 
• Informa Healthcare: Where to with treatment for ADHD?, Current Medical Research and Opinion, Informa Healthcare
• Autism and Empathy: Theory of War
• Thirty Days of Autism: ‘I Wish I Didn’t Have Aspergers’: a letter to my son for AutismPositivity2012  
• Funding Announced For Autism in Waleshttp://ow.ly/aB3dP
• Aspie n the Family: Autism and sleeping from Aspie in the familyow.ly/aAvcY @MumForAutism
• Sky Badger: Free cash for disabled students inc. dyslexics! dld.bz/avmmF Disabled student’s allowance.
• FooDee: Autism and restaurants – my first experience with discrimination – FooDee
• Sky Badger: Autism holidays in France.no need to apologise
• BBC News – Bullied ‘more prone to self harm’