What a week! This week saw us deliver our first employers course to a local nursery. It had me reminiscing about when Reilly started nursery and all the problems we faced. Just an hour into a visit to our local mainstream nursery was enough to show it wasn’t the right place for Reilly. There was absolutely no way Reilly was going to sit cross-legged on the carpet waiting for his milk and a story or pass the toilet training requirements. Less said the better, moving on.
Reilly ended up in a nursery a short bus ride away in Wideopen. It was hell on earth every day to get him there and back. I’ve talked about this before so I’ll spare you the details again. I do remember fondly though the posts and conversations I’d heard about how there weren’t enough parking spaces at our local mainstream, the not for Reilly school, the school of their choice, the school their child would attend without intervention from pediatricians, speech and language therapists, educational psychologists. Without an Individual Education Plan or Education Health Care Plan. First world problem I must say must keep you awake at night, must be hell for you! Try having to sit on the ground to do a jigsaw halfway down the line on the walk home to keep your child from melting down turning a 5 minute walk into a 45 minute trek now that’s a transport issue! or keeping a filing system to keep track of where you’re at, people you’ve tried to get help from and failed, people who offer help but never deliver. Do I sound bitter? I AM!
It’s so hard for us SEN parents.
This employers course was for a nursery and what we tried to do was write a session that gives a good perspective from a parent’s point of view and how the child may feel and act with the reasoning why. The feedback has been tremendous and I feel really proud that we’ve played a part in making people feel more confident to look after autistic children and that a child maybe has a better day because we’ve ingrained some solid understanding. We aren’t experts but by god we have some experience between us. I was so lucky when Reilly started his nursery in Wideopen that the staff there were tremendous and had experience working with special needs children. They were absolute lifesavers to me at an extremely stressful time.
I was the nightmare parent that couldn’t leave when they were trying their best to establish routine. I ended up going and sitting in the cafe round the corner day after day for 2.5 hours til he came out just so I was close by, incase they needed me (they never did).
I love that we can make a difference.
Like I always say I made a nice cake once but I ain’t no Mary Berry but I will promise to tell the truth about my experiences in hopes of making someone else’s life a little easier. Practical not perfect.
Exciting times ahead for Alphabetically Autistic.
The Life of Reilly 