Special educational needs... What a way to put it hey! Yes my child is special, special to me and he's also a little terror sometimes (maybe alot of the times) but I love him nonetheless, so this school year has been hard, It was ollis first school year and I've always kind of suspected somthing of him on the spectrum but it's always a wobbly one with younger children and toddlers.

We were told when he started school that he was having issues, Olli gets very violent and very aggressive some days and others he's absolutely fine and wouldn't hurt a fly. Fast forward about 8 months and he was starting to get excluded for a day or a few days at a time ans coping with this was really hard for me.. Like he was 4 at the time!

I was told he may possibly have ADHD or ADD and that's when all my worries set in! What should I do?, what can I do?, who do I speak to? How can I help him? School have put Olli on a reduced timetable so he now only goes to school from 12-3 every day because a full day is alot for him to deal with, but it's also really hard on me too with work and childcare ect.

So I phoned my doctors got an emailed response (thanks covid) and got the ball rolling for him to be assessed, now Olli can't be assessed til he's 6 and that's still just under a year away but the waiting list is very long so it was best to start now. Along with this giant form for the school to fill in I got a DLA form to see if he's entitled to any help from those as he's not in full time education yet so I'm still waiting on that but any help would be greatfully received!

The next step is to get a ECHP (educational healthcare plan) to help set some rules and boundaries at school, I can also use this if he needs to move to an SEN school, hopefully this won't take as long as the application for his assessment and can help us on our path for the help he needs.

Overall I'm worried some days are really bad and I'm so nervous about sending him to school or he'll throw such a paddy about it that no one knows how to deal with him in that situation. Other days it's better but it's such a struggle for me with my mental health and having him at home I feel like I can't get anthing done.

Hopefully soon it will get better and we can have the support we need but for today I just worry.