SEND Round-up: Special school, parties & pushy parents

Last month included a huge variety of posts, with topics ranging from school and parties to pushy parents and changing places. School issues continue to be key for several of us, and It’s a Tink Thing found herself in a situation which many SEND parents have been in, when mainstream school just doesn’t seem to be the best place and tough decisions about special school need to be made. Wristbands and Roadsigns asks for a little empathy from others as she explains how much it has helped her son who is already at special school. In a post on Special Needs Jungle, EHCP Draft Plans and Working Documents are considered – lots of great advice for parents here, particularly if you are facing a Tribunal. In a post packed with great infographics and many top links for information, Life with ASD and the Rest looks at the process of getting an EHCP and shares other parents’ stories. Truly comprehensive, thanks Helen for all the work you put into this.

In ‘What’s in a word?‘ Brody, Me and GDD asks what to do about language which ridicules disability, and over on Coffee and Chromosomes there is a letter to a missing Kindness. Tina thanks all those who have sent party invites to Joseph and his Amazing Spectrum Coat, and is thankful that he is finally being included in school trips. Ann from Rainbows are too Beautiful hosted an anonymous guest post on the topic of inclusion, specifically at a party. I’m guessing many SEND parents have experienced times like this and we know how heartbreaking the thoughtlessness can be.

Stimming is a word that not many non-SEND parents would understand the meaning of. This month you could point anyone unsure in the direction of two great posts on this topic; A Blog about Raising My Autistic Son explains clearly what a stim is and James from Stories About Autism explains why he has learnt to embrace the stim. I think some words of support would be much appreciated for Myrtle, who has written a poem about The Meltdown Express. There was a huge #phantomloos campaign this month – the Long Chain wrote ‘It Could Be You‘ and The World of Gorgeous Grace wrote an ode to Changing Places. There were so many great posts on this topic and you can read many of them over on The Inclusive Home‘s round up.

Following a recent article about how super parenting improves children’s autism (discussed in a great post by Ann), there was an article in TES about how to handle pushy parents. Whilst not specifically talking about parents of children with SEND, it did obviously hit a nerve and there were a few responses. I recalled my Early Support training about ‘Parents are Experts‘ whilst another post looked at the Fall and Rise of the Parent Expert. Starlight McKenzie poses the question ‘Why take the barriers down?‘ and in Diary of a Not So Ordinary Boy, Nancy Gedge, discusses whether we should allow ourselves to feel silenced.

This month I’m signing off with the wow! post over on Maflingo’s blog. Chris Baker does photorealistic drawings and you have to see them to understand how amazing they are. Please do link up any blogs you write over the coming month… not long til Christmas folks, hang on to your hats!