If everything had gone to plan this blog would not exist. In fact, if everything had worked out the way I had imagined in my head, the last two years would have looked very very different.
To start with, Noah would have stayed at home with me until he turned 3, and then every morning I would have dutifully walked him down to the nursery at the end of our road, where we had been attending a toddlers group once a week, leaving him to enjoy his government funded hours. He would have had a year of nursery, before moving next door into the primary school attached to it. Simple, easy, and local.
It’s funny how many forks in the road lead us to where we are now. For a start, we bought a house in a different area, which meant the morning walk to the nice little nursery down the road went out of the window before his nursery journey even began.
Then there was Noah’s additional needs, his speech delay and engagement issues quickly made us realise that Noah needed to go into a setting sooner than his government funding would come in, which financially for us was going to be a challenge. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of family we were able to make that happen sooner than we’d planned, and Noah started a preschool in the October after he was 2.
We chose to send him to a preschool nearby that one of our good friends worked at, so we were comfortable in the knowledge that he would be understood and cared for in his own quirky ways. I trusted them.
They helped us at every step, copying things we were trying at home, chasing the council for his funding and building on his engagement with therapies every day. I valued the support endlessly.
If it wasn’t for the house move, getting him into preschool earlier than anticipated, the kindness of family and the choice of preschool, we would not have achieved any of the things we have today. Over the last two years, and with lots of support from our little network, we have now achieved his ASD diagnosis, his Educational Health Care Plan, Speech Therapy support, and most importantly, his place at a Special Needs Primary school before his education journey begins. He will now start as we mean to go on, with all the correct support he needs to achieve as much as he can, rather than be left behind in mainstream. I call him the unicorn, because his situation is rare. Not many children have the support network to get this far this early, and I am eternally grateful.
I dread to think how things would have turned out if I had stuck to my original plan.
Instead, Noah achieved his preschool diploma on Friday. To say I am proud is an understatement. It may be cheesy and a very American tradition, but this picture is a small glimpse into the possibilities ahead for Noah, and that gives me so much hope. He has the tools and support to do or to be anything he wants to in life, and I can’t wait to see what he does with them.
It took a village to get us here, and there aren’t enough words in the dictionary to describe how grateful we are to all of you. Thank you. ❤️
Here’s to the next chapter - SEN School!
But first…. Summer!
😍😍😍