The Final Straw

By Cross and Ginger Sometimes when we are so embroiled in something, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.  The journey through suspicion, diagnosis, school, EHCP and attempting to remove the barriers to learning have all taken their toll.  Some days I’ve felt a bit like when I had newborns at home - …

Disagreements over ‘diagnosis’: What should happen next?

This Situation The open secret that teaching staff can decide that the conclusions  of an 'expert' about a child's specific difficulties are wrong, without following any agreed process, became well publicised over the last week.  So what 'should' we expect from the professionals that we entrust our children to every day? Examples of the types of …

SEN Support in Schools – We’re Missing the Point

Every school-age child with a special educational need (SEN) should have a written plan of support.  Every single one.  That is my interpretation of the SEND Code of Practice (SEND COP) and I will explain why.  Published in June 2014, Chapter 6 of the SEND COP describes the provision of SEN Support in Schools.  It …

The Penny Dropping

A guest post by Rosie and Jo's Dad That sound you can hear, it’s a penny dropping. When Rosie was first diagnosed with Asperger’s, people kept explaining things she was finding difficult, how she saw the world in a different way, how she wasn’t picking up on “normal” clues and therefore communication was difficult and …