Well, that's a relief!

So today at 10am we finally got to have our meeting with Ana's class teacher over a few issues including the recent biting.

It only took the school a month to get back to us to arrange the meeting. Ana's social worker called me yesterday to check everything was still going ahead, she then also told me that her line manager would be attending the meeting due to the seriousness of the issues being discussed.

I hadn't actually met the line manager until today, but he was the person I spoke to when Ana was bitten for the second time and also the time the school lost her for 15 minutes.

I'm not a big fan of meeting, so this wasn't something I was really looking forward too. I usually become overwhelmed and end up just sitting there nodding occasionally.

Well, I went and I survived!

I did feel like the big bad wolf however as the class teacher turned up on her own and there were three of us. The poor woman was shaking while talking to us.

Anyway it was a very positive meeting, we got to put our points across and Miss S was able to tell us what actions they had already put in place or were going to to prevent the issues we discussed arising again.

Apparently the school is in the process of trying to get funding so that the child that bit Ana can have one to one supervision at all times. Social Services are now going to push that forward for them. At the moment one of the class's teaching assistants is giving the one to one supervision.

Other points that were raised at the meeting was changing Ana's Statement to suit her current needs (her statement has remained the same since she started school) and the fact that she is displaying signs of Dyslexia which the school is now looking into. By the end of the meeting we were all relaxed and felt that we had discussed everything we needed to.

Now I feel I can draw a line under this all and start looking forwards towards Ana's annual review in March. Hopefully we'll be able to set some wheels in motion and get her the help she so badly needs in class

The Signs Are There!

Sick to death of going into the bathroom to find that Ana either hasn't bothered to turn the light off or flush the toilet after herself I have decided to place a few gentle reminders around.

It's the same for all of us!

Last night as I put Ana to be she said something to me.

"Mummy, when I get up in the morning I am very tired and I don't want to get out of bed. But in the night I am wake awake and I don't want to go to be."

It's the same for all of us sweetie!

I don't think there are many people that enjoy having to get out of bed in the morning, especially when it is still pitch black.

Back to school!

Today Ana went back to school after the Christmas holidays. New term, new start. However Ana wasn't entirely chuffed at the idea of having to go back and to be honest I'm not either. Somehow I know that it is just a matter of time before someone becomes distracted and Ana is again through no fault of her own injured.

Our children annoy us sometimes and we have all been guilty of looking forward to the break that school gives us, but even so, you do not send your child to school so they can be attacked by their classmates.

Bitten again!

We had just returned from watching Ana perform in her school play when I received a message on my mobile. Ana has been bitten again by the same class mate! After social services expressed it's concerns about the lack of supervision in the class room you would have though that the teachers and classroom assistants would be on high alert.

I can only thing that I can think of is with the disruption and the excitement of the school play that they weren't as attentive as they should have been.

Allowing a child to be bitten in such a way once is unfortunate, twice is down right careless!

Again I had to get Social Services involved before the school would even speak to me let alone address my concerns. which went along the lines of, 'We're keeping a very close eye on the children and it won't happen again.' Now, do correct me if I am wrong here, no really, speak up, don't be shy. But weren't you supposed to be keeping a very close eye on them the last time Ana was bitten and wasn't it not going to happen again? So what changed? Did the mulled wine and mince pies come out and distract you?

Unfortunately due to the school holidays starting on Friday there is little myself or Social Services can do until the start of next term. Other then sending Ana in wearing a chain mail tunic!

The Christmas Fairy

Today Ana performed the lead role as The Christmas Fairy in the school Christmas production, The Important Guest. She did really well and only had trouble with one line. This was due to her being too busy prompting the Reindeer with a well placed jab in the ribs.

Amen!

Today I received a link to a Daily Mail article detailing Autism from a sibling's point of view. I makes for very interesting reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/you/article-1089568/8216-My-brother-I-worlds-apart-8217.html

The paragraphs that I can relate to most are;

A high-functioning autistic like Rupert is, in some ways, harder to accept than someone more severely disabled, as at times they seem so tantalisingly close to normal. My mother says she always felt that if she tried hard enough, she'd find the key to 'unlock' my brother and everything would be fine.

Unlike Down's syndrome, which is easily recognisable in sufferers, autism has few physical signs.

There have been many times in the past that I have wished that Ana had some outward sign of a disability. After all no one questions why a Down's Syndrome person is not 'normal.'

I fear that throughout her life too much may be expected of Ana simply because she doesn't look any different from anyone else.