darling, you don't need those. i am our darling, you don't need those. i am your mirror- — darling, you don't need those. i am your mirror. how _ darling, you don't need those. i am your mirror. how do _ darling, you don't need those. i am your mirror. how do i _ darling, you don't need those. i am your mirror. how do i look? absolutely fabulous for joanna lumley who is made a dame, whilst the outgoing james bond, daniel craig, is made a cmg. further covid restrictions in england must be an "absolute last resort", according to health secretary, sajid javid. official celebrations were either muted or cancelled, but there were still fireworks to welcome in 2022, on the warmest new year's eve on record. more now on one of those main stories, and the medical chiefs leading the uk's battle against coronavirus, professors chris whitty and jonathan van—tam, have been recognised in the new year honours list. actors, a spice girl, and an 11—year—old boy are also among those who have been honoured, as lizo mzimba reports. their faces have become familiar to the public throughout the pandemic. now the chief medical officers for england, chris whitty. .. if lots of people are vaccinated, that reduces risk of transmission in the community. ..for scotland, gregor smith, and for wales, frank atherton, have all been knighted. a knighthood too for england's deputy chief medical officer, jonathan van—tam. # wheels on fire... in the entertainment world, joanna lumley says she is stunned to be made a dame... patsy stone — a7. ..both for her acting career... i'll sue! ..and for her campaigning work. when i saw that sentence saying dbe, i burst into tears. it was the most extraordinary shock. it was such a shock, i put my head in my hands and sobbed like a baby. then i thought, "how has this happened?" "is it a mistake?" i truly was completely thrown by it. i'm thrilled to bits. award—winning actress vanessa redgrave says she is surprised and grateful to also become a dame for services to drama. broadcaster trevor phillips has been knighted in recognition of his decades—long work on equality and human rights. james bond actor daniel craig has been made a cmg, the same honour held by the fictional spy. consumer champion martin lewis becomes a cbe for his work on consumer rights, particularly during the pandemic. i never thought they'd give a cbe to somebody like me, so it's very gratifying to get it. and especially after the couple of years that we've had, when myself and my team have put so much work into trying to help people get through the pandemic financially. goodbye, old friend. two of our best—known soap stars, william roache and june brown, have both become obes for services to drama and charity. hello,jim. it's me, dorothy. spice girl mel b, a patron of women's aid, has been made an mbe for her work highlighting abusive behaviour. as the world watched on, another black life gone. and diversity star ashley banjo says he is humbled and proud to become an mbe for services to dance. black lives matter. lizo mzimba, bbc news. now on bbc news, it's the travel show. child crying i'm amber and my husband is frank. we live outside of birmingham, alabama. we have four beautiful boys — frankie who is 17, stephen who is m, and then we have a set of boy twins who are four years old, and they are non—verbal autistic — their names are alex and will. we are the ellis family. my husband and i have known each other since grade school. we were friends the whole time. we dated in high school and married in college and this is our 20th wedding anniversary. because we have some issues with the boys, we have not been on a trip in a really long time. they are not very effective at communication, so it takes a lot of intuition to figure out what they need. we have a lot of meltdowns. 0h, did he throw it? child cries did he drop it or did he throw it? he dropped it. it's ok. when there are two autistic non—verbal children, the behaviours can be exponential. sometimes they play off of each other. it's alright, it's alright, it's ok. before the twins were born, we were just a family of four. and we had the two older brothers who kind of sort of got along, but not really. after the twins came, the dynamic changed to this really sweet, caretaking dynamic. and especially as the twins got older and they stopped developing, or their development was very slow, we all kind of began to understand that the twins were going to need a lot more. # twinkle twinkle little star...# fora longtime, we didn't have any support. we didn't really talk about the twins, pretty much only my closest friends knew that the twins were special needs. and for a long time, i thought i could fix them, that it was just a developmental delay, that i could give them the right supplement or the right food or the right therapy and they would catch up. but over the course of maybe the last year or so, i began to realise, and i think my husband and i began to realise that this is who they are. and it's not something that you can fix, it's how they're wired. we began to come to terms with their special needs, their autism. they're so precious, even though they may be different — different, not less. they're just different, that's all. and people need to see the story, people need to know that you can make it work. we can make it work. we started talking about taking a trip, how should we do it, this is our 20th anniversary. we have come through so much as a family that we wanted to go as a family, and just enjoy each other. so, we felt like it was time to go on a trip! it's taken us a longtime to come to the point where we were ready. we've never flown with the twins before so we are kind of nervous and excited about getting on a plane. ok, so let's do each... because they're autistic non—verbal, they function on about the level of an 18—month—old. so they are a lot of work. the way our schedules, our work schedules and the school schedules for the kids work together, there's not a whole lot of days every month where we're all together at the same time. we have little bits, an hour or two here at the end of the day, if they've not fallen asleep already, but whole days don't happen very often for us. a few years ago, we went to the beach for a couple of days together, but they were very small. to break routine for an autistic child is...can be disastrous. so this gives us an opportunity to break routine only for a little while and try it, and see how the boys cope in a different environment, and still have some of their comfortable surroundings — they will have us and the older boys and some of their familiar objects, but be in a different place, and see if we can start taking longer trips. 0k, how are we going to do an aeroplane? somebody has always got to take care of one of the twins, another person has to take care of the other one, and then who is going to take care of all of the things we take with us? what do we need to take, what snacks are going to have? do we take the blankies, do we take toys, do we take the ipad, things to keep them entertained? we actually got in touch with the airline that we were going to use and talked to a co—ordinator who let us have a trial run through the airport, which was phenomenal. it was the most fabulous idea anyone has ever come up with. i had been pretty fearful, but after that day, ifelt much better and i thought, i think we can do this. we can make it work, we can get on a plane and go on a trip. it's gonna be stressful and there's going to be meltdowns... cries hey, hey! it's ok! if they melt down, how do we deal with the people around us, how do we let them know that it's really 0k, and that we're actually ok with meltdowns, we just have to keep them calm and soothe them as much as possible. because you worry about the people around you, that you're offending people or...and you worry about being judged. look how handsome you are! just to know that somebody understands is so helpful, and you all of a sudden don't feel so crazy. they're autistic, so they come with their own needs, you know? so we're going to take the whole family, for the first time, to a special park called wonderland in san antonio, texas. it's a special needs park and they have lots of fun things for specifically special needs children, very wheelchair accessible. there's a lot of different ways it could go, you know, with their very strict routines that they happen to have, going outside of that a little bit will stress them a little bit, and you just kind of have to roll with it, so... i'm looking forward to it primarily because it's i a new thing that - we haven't done before, so it's kind of like, _ challenge accepted, let's do it. it is the fun for him is "let's do this, let's see if we can accomplish it." so it'sjust his personality, but...it is a lot of fun! i've played too many strategy games. everything is pretty ready, we'lljust have a nice, quiet evening, finishing up any last details, and then we will be ready for tomorrow. cries 0k...let�*s get your hair all pretty. all handsome. cries we are going to go on our trip! and you're gonna be so handsome. can you sit up for me? you are going to be so handsome. he is so upset because he wants to go get in the car. where are we going? are we going on a trip? are you ready? 0k. all ready! i have the food, the boys' clothes, our clothes, ipads, the blankies, we have the wagon. i think that's everything. i think that's everything! ok, let's go. so we went outside to load the car and pull up to the main porch, and i couldn't crank the car, it wouldn't crank. told the husband, can you come and look at the car and try to fix it? and of course he worked his magic and got the car running again. i was so nervous up until this point, but we've prepared so much, and we've already seen a little bit of meltdown because he's actually wanting to go, so i think it's gonna be really good. so, we are going to fly out of birmingham and fly to houston. the flight from birmingham to houston is a relatively short flight, it's only two hours. from there, we will rent a truck or some kind of vehicle, and drive the rest of the way to san antonio. ok, i might be getting a little nervous now. we are at the airport and we're pulling into the parking deck, so it's really real, we're going to do it. 0k! frank sr, frankjr, stephen, alex, you and will. yay! look at that lens. got it? one more time, look at the lens. ready? it's kind of a healing time for ourfamily. we can go on this trip together. the older boys have such a sweet dynamic with the little boys. 0k, 0k, thank you. instead of patting them down, they put this little solution on them. cries. i am so sorry, i am so sorry! but two toddlers is difficult. when you add non—verbal autistic, itjust makes it exponential. i always feel this sense to rush and get everything packed. we have plenty of time. i kind of have to emotionally prepare myself. i'm so relieved that part is over! now let's just get to the gate. you kind of carry that anxiety in the back of your mind of, how is it going to go? just kind of be ready to roll with the punches, whatever happens, just be ready for anything. travelling for toddlers is difficult. and two toddlers can be really difficult. when you add non—verbal autistic, itjust makes it exponential. so it has taken us a longtime to come to the point where we were ready. will has noise—cancelling headphones, he has strong sensory issues with hearing. you can tell it's painful. we're probably going to have a meltdown or two. we might have some vomit, we know it might happen. but the flight from birmingham to houston is a relatively short flight, it's only two hours. and the boys do like car travel. ok, now we're on the fast part. we're about to go fast. up into the air. are you ready? let's do it. whatever happens, just be ready for anything, and just kind of be ready to roll with the punches. ok, it's going to be a little bumpy. you're doing so good. things are going really well. one boy is asleep and the other is almost asleep. naptime is a good time to fly. we like the idea of getting into a truck and driving the rest of the way to san antonio. it's about another two and a half hours' drive, and then we'll go to the park. did you sleep with big brother? you did? what did you think? is it time to go play? it is. time to get some clothes on. he's going to grab my hand and try to walk us out the front door. it's time to go, alex is ready. the worst part is over. the anxiety i was experiencing was mostly about the flight. woke up this morning, ready to prepare for the park. then we'll hop in the car and go. he knows we're going somewhere fun. we're headed to morgan's wonderland, which is a theme park in san antonio, texas, for special needs children. lots of fun things for children of all cognitive levels to experience. morgan's wonderland came about when the founder, gordon hartman, sold his construction company and was able to devote all of his time to building this park for his daughter. she was developmentally delayed. and he made this wonderful playground in her honour and for her, and opened it up to the world. this beautiful park with a carousel, a ferris wheel, train, with sensory fun things and everything that small children and big kids alike would love to come and have fun. it was almost as if it was built for us. so where do you all recommend we go first? do you like it? oh, my goodness. what do you think? alex is in his happy place because he loves trains so much. we will probably ride the train at least five times today. so tell us more about the park and how you came to build morgan's wonderland. well, actually, it occurred many years ago when maggie, my wife, morgan and i were on a trip. and morgan wanted to go swimming. morgan and ijumped in and we were having fun, just splashing around in the water. there were three other kids at the other end of the pool, two of them were throwing a ball back and forth. she wasn't able to verbally communicate and say, hey, i want to play, can ijoin in with you guys? so she hit the ball. so they quickly grabbed the ball and got out of the pool because it wasn't a normal way of saying, hey, i want to play. and the look on morgan's face was, dad, i don't understand, ijust wanted to play. and it saddened me because ijust wanted my daughter to be able to play. so where could we go? we couldn't take her to a lot of parks because of certain circumstances of hers, and talking to others, we found the same situation. so how do we develop a place where those who have special needs and those who don't can all come together and play in a fully inclusive environment? and it was those discussions, those chit—chats, those meetings, they turned into what we now have here today at morgan's wonderland. that is so amazing. and since then, people from all over the united states, and literally all over the world, make special trips to come here. in an environment that isjust different than any other environment in the world. right. whoa, alex, look! what do you think? this is amazing. alex really likes, you know, ipads and things like that that he can manipulate. so when he came into this room, there's not a lot of extra noise but there's a lot of things he can touch. you did it! i'm so proud of you. we started travelling l with him when he was six months old. before we really knew he was autistic. - so he's very used to it. so by the time we did . have a diagnosis he was so used to travelling. so you just acclimatised him to it. ijust met danielle who has a five—year—old boy who is also non—verbal autistic. we had a really fun time catching up. my new friend — we just friended each other on facebook. it was lovely to talk to her, so many similarities, how do you do this? it is better if you try to align the flights with his normal. sleeping times. we found that out. yes. other people on the i plane, sometimes, to get people who are . less understanding... yeah, i was pretty worried about that. but it is pretty rare, i would say. it's great to find a community, in this setting, where we can talk and make new friends. so, we ran into a mother here, we got to talking and we kind of both had autistic children, she said there was another place really close by that we ought to check out. so i think we're going to head on over now and check that out and see how our kids like it. hold on! i had a lot of fears going into this trip. when you have a special needs child, you can't predict their behaviour, and you especially can't predicted in public around other people. and it didn't happen. that park was made for children like them. so we felt safe. that's one thing we really have trouble with sometimes, we don't really feel safe taking them to the normal places where regular children are. to be honest, they are having a lot more fun than i would've thought. i normally to get them to have this much fun is kind of rare, - we have to do the little things, make weird noises, that's the only time they'll be laughing _ and smiling this much. but this whole place has that effect. - i was literally terrified that we would get into a situation where they'd be melting down, lots of tears, really loud, a complete emotional breakdown for the world to see. but it didn't happen, everything was much more calm than i thought it would be. they slept on the plane, they had a lot of fun on the theme parks, theme parks were built for them. they welcomed them with open arms and let them enjoy themselves. this is well. hello, we had some record warmth to end 2021. it has been a very mild start so far to 2022. the record for new year's day was set back in 1916 and it could be that we pipped that 15.6 degrees today because of the wind direction. they're coming up from the tropics, a strong south—westerly wind, it is a deep area of low pressure settled to the north—west of us and that has prompted the met office to issue a warning for wind strengths of 70—75 mph for western parts of scotland. it will be a windy day for all of us, gale—force if not severe gale—force winds up towards the north and west. blowing some showers eastwards, some sharp showers, the odd rumble of thunder, dragging their heels to clear across east anglia and the southeast, but plenty of sunny spells following behind. closer to that low pressure in the north west, more showers coming in on that brisk wind. despite the strength of the wind, it will be mild, and milder today 1a, possibly 15 or 16 degrees in some spots which will pip that record. more showers or longer spells of rain coming in tonight, the winds continue to blow from the south—west. it is going to be a very mild night. temperatures not dipping much lower than 7—12 and a bit of a wet start first thing, but that rain and those showers clear away quite quickly, a drier spell of weather, but more showery rain on the way for sunday. not a wash—out, there will be drier weather, brighter weather. it will not be quite as windy as today and it will not be quite as mild. 10—13 c, a subtle change in our wind directions around to a more westerly wind. it will carry in more rain through the course of monday and, in fact, during the second half of monday, we start to see this weatherfront slipping southwards, and it is behind this weatherfront that we see a change to colder air coming in across the north. and some wintry showers. before that arrives, in southern areas, we could have another spell of quite wet weather for a time. on monday, temperatures are just creeping down, closer to normal. it is really by tuesday that we get that snap of cold air spinning right the way southwards, that weather front clears away from southern areas, that icy north wind, at least for a day, perhaps a day or two in some areas, but it will not last, that cold snap, because it looks like we're back to the milder atlantic, more unsettled weather from midweek on. bye— bye. this is bbc news — i'm ben boulos. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. south africa bids a final farewell to archbishop desmond tutu. among those to pay tribute at his funeral in cape town was his daughter, the reverend nontombi naomi tutu: we say thank you, daddy. for the many ways you showed us love, for the many times you challenged us, for the many times you comforted us. leading uk figures in the battle against covid receive new year honours. professors chris whitty and jonathan van tam are knighted. drjenny harries and drjune raine are both made dames.

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