It's January 6th and my boys are still off school; they finally go back on Monday. It's been an interesting Christmas break with my eldest having a party for 12 of his closest teen pals at our house (my sister who was staying with us cleared off to the pub). This was preceded by just minutes by my 12 year old slipping off his bedroom 'Balcony' (he doesn't have one) and me seeing him tumble past the kitchen window to the floor. He was mercifully unhurt, though I had to reach for the Christmas sherry at 4pm. No surprise that I was almost catatonic by Christmas Day. Still, Jamies' turkey was a hit, the gravy went down a storm and the brandy for the pudding ended up in my glass.
The teenage years bring their own set of issues and these are intensified by their Asperger's. They are both completely different in their needs and idiosyncrasies - as they say, if you've seen one child with Asperger's, you've seen one child with Asperger's. Finding new ways to parent in adolescence is challenging and exhausting. 2012 looks to be an interesting year for us!
It'll also be interesting to see how the SEN Green paper progresses though its pathfinder stages in the coming months. Our LEA, Surrey and that of neighbouring Hampshire are among those chosen to test run the proposals and Special Needs Jungle will be watching closely.
When the changes, in whatever form they come, are implemented, I'll have to update my SEN guide to Statementing book. The name will have to change for a start, though I'm quite certain all the advice to parents having to gather evidence to prove their child's needs will stay exactly the same. They may abolish the word 'statement' but if you want your child to get high level SEN support, you're still going to have to prove your case and my book can help. Nothing is going to change in the next few months anyway, so if you're thinking about applying for an assessment, don't delay - the process is long and often arduous so start gathering your evidence as soon as you can.
I'm soon to be hosting a Q&A on The School Run website about statementing - get your questions in now and I'll be answering them during the week beginning 16th January.
If you're interested in the book - and it's sold quite a few copies it seems, so there's a lot of people who are looking for advice - it's just £6.99 on Amazon or £5.18 for Kindle. If you fancy a free copy, I'm offering two for people taking part in The School Run Q&A, check out their site at the link in the para above.
Also, congrats to Pat Bolton Arkless who won the free copy in my Christmas giveaway. Youngest wafted down from his Technolair that he'd scented with cinnamon Glade, graciously leaving his 32" TV (thanks to fab pre-Christmas sales) Xbox experience to select a name from the hat. Pat, it turns out, runs Parent Power in Gateshead that helps families with special needs kids, so I popped an extra copy in there to help her very valuable work. And now I've found her, I also cheekily asked if she could find time to write a guest post about her work. Even though she's a busy woman, she's kindly agreed so we'll feature this in the coming weeks (No rush, Pat, if you're reading!).
So, Happy New Year to you all and if you have any ideas for great posts, or want to write one suitable for here, get in touch!
Tania is an experienced broadcast and print journalist & author. She also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
Tania is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
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