I'm absolutely delighted to be part of R J Scott's autism awareness blog hop again this year. The cast list of authors taking part is enormous, so have fun hopping. There are loads of prizes on offer and some facts about autism to learn along the way.

Autism Fact: Children born to older parents are at a higher risk for having autism.

We are all writing posts about childhood toys and it was fun thinking back to those I most enjoyed. I know my mum has photographic evidence of my forays into the dressing-up box and my attempts at finger painting (we only had orange and purple paint, but it was the seventies). But my favourite, from when I first started school, was a set of plastic barrels that fitted inside each other like Russian dolls.

I have no idea why, though even now I adore Japanese puzzle boxes and anything with a secret compartment. I know I was terribly disappointed if someone got to the barrels before me and I had to make do with stacking cups. I'm sure in this day and age, this so sounds so dull, but I amused myself for ages with those barrels! It just goes to show how you can get attached to the simplest things and helps me understand how obsessive kids can get about their favourite toys.

Here's a link to R J's master post, so do take a look for the list of everyone taking part.

If you would like to hear about all things L M Somerton, check out my social links or sign up to my infrequent newsletter (a little box thingy pops up when you visit the website).

As part of the fun, I'm giving away an ebook from my backlist - there will be a draw for anyone who comments on this post.

And finally, if you are interested in supporting Lindengate - a mental health charity that works with autistic children, you can donate here: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/lindengate.

#RJScott #AutismAwareness #LMSomerton #NestingKegs #Nestingbarrels #autism #Autismbloghop