Sometimes, when we need shopping mid-week, we tie it in with tea time and the children pick a meal in the supermarket café. For them, it is a dizzying experience, provoking jumps of joy and jubilant chanting. In the last six months, we have been three times. The first time, in the winter, they did… Read More
Over the course of our first year in school, many people have been charged with the care, education and welfare of my son. There are his classroom teachers, of course, and his permanent one-to-one TA, and other members of staff who deal with him frequently. These people know him well and the vast majority know… Read More
This time last year, we were frantically collecting evidence for an EHCP assessment. We were buying uniform, arranging visits, trying to liaise with school and nursery. We needed to arrange a transition that would make things as smooth as they could be. September was looming, a great immovable block – I could not see past… Read More
I usually read quite quickly. As a child, I devoured books. They were friends, an escape. One summer I read eighty-six books in the six-week Summer break. And I loved every minute of the time I spent with them. These days, I read much, much less. With a busy work schedule and two small children,… Read More
If I were to tell you that I was suffering from post-natal depression, you may feel a little awkward about what to say. Some subjects in our society are still taboo and another person’s suffering is always hard to navigate. When I lost a baby at 10 weeks, the people I told had mixed reactions.… Read More
Every morning, the boys and girls in your class write their names on the lunch lists. There are dozens of names, with mismatched letters, curling around the edges of the paper. The letters are uneven. Some are huge, some small. ‘D’s and ‘B’s are back to front. Lower case and capitals dance on the page,… Read More
Little boy, few weeks ago, your teachers suggested that we could do some extra things to help you develop your gross motor skills. Perhaps, we could try soft play, take you to more adventure parks. Even a little may help. PE, you see, is such a difficult part of your week. More often than not,… Read More
Little boy, when you flap, when you grimace, when you contort your body into strange shapes and trot on your toes, some people do not know how to react. Some people, my love, have not heard of stimming. When you twist your hands in front of your face and warp your mouth and scrunch up your… Read More
The internet makes it straightforward for us to believe certain things. It is easy to confirm our biases, to surround ourselves with people and information that correspond with our own views. It has never been so easy to judge others – from behind a keyboard we see a little snippet of the story, a mere… Read More
It is a grey, damp morning in 1993 and I am standing at a bus stop. Behind me, boys who are a few years older than me smoke cigarettes and jeer. I am covered in their saliva. I do mean covered – they have been spitting at me for over ten minutes. I have heard… Read More
Today, I have you all to myself. Your sister is at nursery and Daddy’s half-term is not until next week, so we caught the bus into town and went in search of hot chocolate and adventures. We used to do this often, when you were a baby – when you were all mine. On my… Read More
It’s not enough. It’s not enough to be a dedicated parent, to give your all, to never give up, to fight tooth and nail, to bleed for every scrap of help, every ounce of support. It’s not enough. Because the paediatrician says one thing and the LEA another and the OT knows nothing about the… Read More