My son is a bright, bubbly and imaginative child with a smile that cannot fail to light up even the dullest of days. The kind and caring way he plays with his younger sister makes me so proud. She looks up to him and learns so much from her 'Big Ben'. Knowing she is younger than him and he has to set an example he will often give up his favourite toys to her, if she's upset he will do a silly dance and pull faces to see her smile again. The capacity for empathy in one so young amazes me sometimes...... And his imagination, wow! An imaginary friend? No, not for him, he has a whole host of?imaginary?superheros, sometimes they come out and play with us and other times they stay at home and tidy his room or read his books! Every night after the bedtime story, he tell a story 'out of his head'. The?protagonists?are usually whoever he has been playing with in school that day and they have all sorts of adventures from visiting outer space, riding in a fire engine or flying in an aeroplane!
He is a?truly?wonderful little boy, however he does have developmental issues. He had a speech delay, and at the age of two only had a few words. Now at five, his language has developed?fantastically?and he often surprises me with the sophisticated?sentences?he comes out with, but he still has speech and communication problems, finding it difficult to get his words out when excited or under pressure. He also has difficulty concentrating and can be easily distracted. Non of this worries me too much and I know given time he will overcome these difficulties.?Unfortunately these are not his only issues. He is?hyper-mobile?and??has very poor fine and gross motor skills to the point that he has great?difficulty?holding a pencil., In fact Elizabeth who is not yet two has better pen control than he does. He struggles with some?physical?activity?and cannot yet pedal ?on a bike.
Last month he started Year 1, and it was a big step for him, away from he 'playroom' like reception class and into a real learning environment. I was excited for him , but also nervous... how would he cope? How would he get on with a new teacher?
During last year we were?often?told of his?difficulties?and how he was developing 'behind' his peers and it was implied that he wasn't really 'trying'. This was sometimes blamed on his age (yes he's an August baby...), but instead of being offered advice and support to help him, I felt that they had almost given up on him and would just let him play with bricks in the corner, while they taught the 'smarter' children..
Yesterday was his first parents evening in Year One and although his new teacher did talk about the areas that he was struggling in, instead of sounding disappointed in him she highlighted the things that he excelled in, his kindness, his imagination and creativeness and how hard he tried at everything he did. We were also told about the extra support he was getting, met the SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) and given tips on how we could encourage his development at home, so instead of that familiar feeling of dread, I left feeling so proud of my gorgeous son and knowing that although he was a child with Special Educational Needs he was going to get the support he needed to overcome his difficulties.
So why am I writing this? It may sound like it, but I am not trying to to highlight my sons weaknesses, simply trying to convince myself that he does need help and support and that by accepting this I am not branding him as 'different' or dare I even say it... 'stupid'.
Having constantly fought the label of special needs (being Dyspraxic myself) throughout my own education, it's not easy for me to accept that Ben needs help, however I want my?beautiful,?bright son to be able to reach his full potential and I need to come to terms with the fact that to do that he will need a little more support than his friends.
This is my first encounter with SEN as a parent and I don't know what is in store over the coming?months?and years but I do know that I will making sure that my son has the full support he needs to?fulfill?his potential. Do you have experience with SEN? Please do share and let me know what to expect....
Source: http://mymummyspennies.blogspot.com/2012/10/entering-world-of-special-educational.html
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