Term 6

The last term of the school year is difficult for the kids, teachers and parents. Its not just everyone being tired and being ready for the holidays.

There are sports days, trips, events and transitions. Visiting new classrooms, preparing for the next step up, which may be a new school. Routines are changing, faces are changing and there is uncertainty. 

It is especially difficult for our SEND children. An increase in sensory stimulus, changes to routines, days are longer, warmer, familiar spaces are starting to look different. All the effort it takes our kids to get through the school year has built up and mixed with all the above, resulting in overstimulation and in some cases burn out.

Our Term 6

We reached that point few weeks into the last term, even though we tried as well as school to limit the disruption, it was hard to avoid completely. To add to the mix Alice also had a minor medical issue turn into a psychological one which threw her senses off. It resulted in more accidents through not being aware of her body in space and caused disruption to her day.  Add in those pesky heatwaves and Alice struggling to regulate her temperature, plus the ipad breaking, my poor little sausage (term of endearment in our house) was really struggling at school and home.

Play at home has been very chilled. Usually Alice would run, jump and spin and all the toys that support her with that would be out and accessible. However, her behaviour changed at home, she's been quieter and choosing activities that are more visually pleasing or tactile. A lot of Lego, lining up and books. Bedtime has been a completely different story of hyperactivity and finding it so hard to switch off. Long days and longer nights. Less sleep also gives her less time to reset and recover from the previous day and we end up in a spiral. Needless to say a very tired Mummy too. 

Small Adaptations

Myself and school put things in place to support Alice. She loves school, so taking her out doesn't help the situation. School took Alice's lead. no expectations and went with the flow. They encouraged her to keep cool and made sure she is safe, but unless she wanted to there was no pressure on structured learning. Everyone's main concern to support Alice's wellbeing. 

I made the decision for her not to do sports day. While I love that her school includes her in everything, she didn't have the capacity to contend with sports day. She'd enjoy running, but wouldn't enjoy waiting for her turn, the heat or the sitting around while other races happen. 

School suggested she could take in a few of her favourite things to school. So each day she choose a different "Don't tickle the..." book and took Quiggly the Octopus with her. I sprayed my perfume on one of his tentacles as I know she likes to sniff me when I wear that one. Some minor changes to help her feel more secure. 

Those small adaptations meant Alice could attend school and was happier doing so. It wasn't a magic wand that suddenly meant she was herself, it doesn't work that way, but they helped a lot.

End of Term

Those last few days are the most confusing and busy, mostly being off curriculum and out of routine. I didn't think it would go as well as it did. It was not perfect, I did have a phone call home to say she'd fallen asleep. She'd fallen asleep in the hall during a performance. She was enjoying it but was tired from being up so late. I arrived to find her snuggled on cushions with her school teddy (pic). 

Her pica was still in overdrive and she was being over enthusiastic with some questionable sensory seeking of trying to bury her head in sand. She was stopped at every attempt but its something we will be extra vigilant of when we go to the seaside.

But, she's much happier in herself. Seeing more typical Alice behaviour and less meltdowns. She got a Head Teacher's award for doing a music performance with her class in her final week. She loves music so was a really nice touch for her to be rewarded for doing something she enjoys. 

Bedtimes are still challenging but its nothing we need to worry about during the holidays. She can get up when she wants, but lets face it, when we go to Butlins things will change anyway. 

It is hard to know whether Alice fully understands the end of the school year as she can't verbally tell me. But, we all enjoyed a lay in this morning and Alice knew "no school" today!

Hope you enjoy your summer.