Tania’s 13 top tips for surviving the EHCP process
I started this blog back in 2008 to record the method I used to apply and gain a statement of SEN for one and then both of my sons. Now, …
Category: Top Picks
The #specialneeds week in review – SNJ’s top story picks
The stories you need to read from the past week about SEN, mental health, disability & rare conditions. You can get overwhelmed by the number of news stories, research, blogs …
Research backs Emma’s FACS battle
One of my fellow special needs mums, whom I met over Twitter, Emma Murphy, is spearheading a campaign highlighting the emerging dangers of taking the Epilepsy drug Sodium Valproate (Epilim) …
A morning with Monty, a very special boy.
My good friend Angela, who is my ‘co’ in co-chair at Family Voice Surrey, always has an air of unflappability. I’m not quite sure how she does it. As well …
My pick of parents’ guest posts on Special Needs Jungle this year
In the last year I’ve been lucky enough to have had many parents write about their families and the issues they face raising children with special needs. These woman have …
Charlotte’s amazing brain – a heartfelt story about childhood stroke
I happened upon a new blog via Twitter the other day, which told a powerful and emotional story about a young girl who suffered childhood stroke, was close to death, …
10 Tips for Developing Your Child’s Language Skills
I recently met Vanessa King, when she joined our Women in Business Network group in Farnham. Vanessa is a qualified teacher, parent, toastmaster and an expert in teaching confident speaking …
Does child protection protect children?
This is a reblog of a great post from Debs at ChaosinKent. Debs is one of my personal heroines. She has three kids with special needs and is just an …
Advice for SENCos – the parents’ perspective from Hayley Goleniowski
This post originally appeared on the DownSideUp blog of Hayley Goleniowski, who writes about life with her beautiful daughter, natty, who has Down’s Syndrome. I thought it was such a great …
Volunteering: The best way to spend your summer
Tania says: We’re heading off for Italy this weekend and because both boys have special needs, we’ve always rented a villa with a pool and taken their Grandma and Nonno …
Special Free Schools – is it worth it?
A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a conference about the formation of special free schools. I couldn’t make it myself as I had other meetings, but Claire …
Home educating a child with special needs
Many parents who have children with special needs seriously consider home educating their child. It throws us lots of issues – especially if they are statemented. Today. home education expert, Fiona Nicholson, …
Helping your special needs child – a mother’s story
A mum called Tanya contacted me the other day and asked to share her story about her journey to support her disabled son with everyone, which I am only too …
Addressing the special needs post-19 provision problem
Provision for young people with special needs after they leave school is a big issue for many parents. Although technically adults, many young people with learning disabilities are far from …
Empowering parents is the goal for Pat
I’m delighted today to introduce a guest blog post from Pat Bolton, who works with a small team of Participation Practitioners at Parents In Power, Gateshead, www.parentsinpower.btck.co.uk Pat works at the …
Resilient Parenting – A Guest post by Lesley McCall, NLP & Hypnotherapy Practitioner
Happy New Year! At this time of the year, we’re often thinking about how we can change our lives, and those of our children, for the better. I’m delighted to …
One Mum’s Statementing Views
Here is a parent’s view of the statementing battle for her son and her advice about the process. I wish I could say this mother’s story was unusual, but other …
NICE Publishes Guidelines on Autism
New recommendations have been published aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of children and young people with autism. NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence says that local autism …
The Misunderstood Child – by Kathy Winters
This wonderful poem has been around for a while but I thought it might strike a chord with some of you so I’m sharing it here. The Misunderstood Child A poem …