The SEND Jungle 2018: The year parents roared
It’s been an incredible year in the SEND world, but not because the system has started to work better, or because families are routinely at the centre of decision-making. It’s …
Category: Personal Posts
Happy 10th birthday SNJ! SEND then and now…
Happy birthday to us! 10 years ago today, I started writing down some information about how I had successfully got a statement of special educational needs for my younger son, …
How did my Goals for 2015 go?
Last January, I wrote about my six goals for families in the Jungle in 2015. They were quite straight forward and I was hopeful that I could reach those goals …
Happy Mothers’ Day.. to my husband
It’s Mothers’ Day, at least it is here in the UK. For me, this will be the first year that Son1 hasn’t spent Mothers’ Day on the football pitch. That …
Do you ever just feel tired of it all?
Like many of us, I have children who believe that sleeping through the night is just an urban myth. Oh the joy of having to cope with a full day …
Talking SEND with Just Women
I appeared on “Just Women” the other day, a community radio show aimed at, well, women. I was invited to talk about Special Needs Jungle and special needs education and …
What three beneficial qualities should you encourage in children?
I was wondering what to write the other day when I got my weekly digest email from one of my favourite sites, the fascinating question and answer site, Quora. It’s …
Did you really just say that? The ignorant words SEND parents hear far too often
As a mum of children with special needs, I know I have walked out of meetings and thought, “Seriously? did I hear that correctly?” But I know that you often …
No sleep, no school, need suggestions!
As you know, SNJ is a parent-driven site and we share your challenges of raising children and young people with SEN or disabilities. We know from experience the frustrations, anxieties and …
SEN Reform: Resistance is Futile. It’s time to Boldly Go and Make it So
Are we there yet? Well, yes, all bar the shouting, all systems are go for September 1st and SEN reform implementation. What that system will be like depends on the …
Autism in Pink: Helping to identify undiagnosed girls with ASD
Autism used to be thought to be mainly a male preserve – “the extreme male brain” as described by Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen. Figures from a recent Prevalence Study by the …
Fightin’ talk so my ski-loving son can beat Ehlers Danlos pain
Son2 has just returned from a week’s skiing to Italy with school. He went for the first time last year and loved it. Son1 also went but did not love …
Our best personal posts of 2013
Storify by Tania Tirraoro Mon, Dec 30 2013 13:58:04 Our best personal posts of 2013 We have a lot of guest posts and of course our brilliant columnists on SNJ. …
Christmas is coming and my son is getting stressed…
Christmas is coming and my son is getting stressed He’s looking at his budget And feeling quite depressed His wish is quite expensive But nothing else will do So he’s …
Two big days in one – one global, one personal, both huge news!
Today is the International Day for People with Disabilities. The theme this year is “Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all” Over one billion people, or …
Fun in the SEN world
As any parent knows, all children are individuals with their own personalities and I have spent hours wondering how I can have three children, all raised in exactly the same …
When Tania went to #BlogFest and other stories
First came the bad news. Debs, who was due to be my ‘carer’ for the day, wheeling me around the venue, had been felled by the lurgy. Not just any old …
Warrior to worrier: When an SEN mum drops the ball
I was supposed to write a post today about an aspect of the SEN reforms, but as I haven’t managed to read the document published about it yet, that would …
Is This It Mum? Forever?
Have you, as a parent, ever sat down and thought “is this it?” Have you ever sat in despair wondering if it would ever get better? It’s heart breaking and …
