Hi everyone,

I spoke to the Student Welfare Coordinator at the school my son will attend next year and am feeling a bit better about the situation. She explained that she already was working with 4 SR students and one was not attending at all at the moment. She works with the student and parents. They are only in Secondary Schools.
It doesn't sound like you have someone like this in the UK? They are trained in child psychology and the students can go and see them at any time if they have a problem and also teachers can refer students to them.
It is to try and catch problems before they escalate. She said there is also a Chaplain and a visiting psychologist who can talk to my son if needed. She said they are happy for me to continue to work privately or they can refer me to CAMHS. As long as they notify the education department regarding the situation - then the law doesn't come after us. I am feeling very relieved. I really feel for all your situations even more. I can't believe that your schools do not have the welfare support that is so obviously required.
I am not saying things might go smoothly here! You know what it is like in reality - but at least I have been reassured that they will support my son. She suggested that I go to the school and she introduce herself to my son. She has made suggestions for transition etc.

My son on the other hand has stated just yesterday that he does not want to go to high school and he doesn't think he will be able to do it. he does not want to meet the Welfare coordinator as he does not want anyone to know he has a problem. Mmm....this could be the tricky part.

Anyway - just sharing - and glad that you have the parenting support group that we don't have and your CAMHS is a lot stronger than ours - I didn't know we even had CAMHS until last year! WE certainly go through an enormous amount of stress on this rocky road.
Take care
Linda

Hi Linda, there were a lot of positives coming out of your meeting with the student welfare coordinator.It is amazing the difference our children are treated the world over! Would your son consider meeting the welfare coordinator somewhere other than school for a chat so that he would feel more in control ? Or is this not a possibility? She could reassure him of what information she'd be keeping private and what she would need to be informing teachers of. Quite big positive steps so far!! Lindy x

Thanks for the good idea, Lindy. I'll look into this as he doesn't want to be seen at the high school at the moment meeting with her as he knows a couple of kids at the high school and he thinks they might wonder what he is doing and then find out he has an issue before he has even started.

How are you and your son going? Is he gaining small steps? Is the medication still helping? Hoping all is well at your end.
Linda

Hi Linda - like Lindys idea about a meeting away from school. It does seem that your schools are better educated on SR than ours and seem to do far more to help.

Keep up the good work.

Sarah xx