I absolutely hate half terms. Out of all the school holidays, this has got to be the worst. One week is just not long enough. Charlie only just gets through his transition period when he is hit by going back to school and transitioning back into school life.

In true Charlie fashion, I am really not sure why this happens. But, the first day back is almost always positive and he thrives off the excitement of going back. However, that excitement soon changes to anxiety and then the struggles begin. Tuesday was difficult and Charlie struggles to go in, and ended up running off and trying to find me at the fence. It was heartbreaking, like something you see in a movie, horrific. Watching him with great big tears falling down his eyes.

Yesterday was even more traumatic and after over half an hour of trying to coax Charlie through the gates of school, he continued to run off. As we drove away, he actually opened the car door while it was still moving and jumped out and ran off. It was terrifying. Not only that, but I thought these days were over I honestly thought we wouldn’t go through this again as I thought it was behind us. It is devastating to know Charlie still struggles so bad that he feels it necessary to run away and does not sense the danger.

We took yesterday off school, and Charlie went out with his dad for a couple of hours so I could do some work. He was so dysregulated and he really needed to be out the house. I also had a meeting to attend, virtually which of course is difficult when Charlie is in the house. I always end up with dread thinking that Charlie will revert back to his original school attendance and he will drop out completely. And this is my worst fear.

Today has been super positive. We have now changed Charlie’s start time and Charlie’s end time from his school day and going in an hour later has helped massively. It lessened the anxiety this morning and he went in just fine. I was there earlier to pick him up and he came out happy doing a full day at school. Education and anxiety will always be his biggest challenges and I will have to advocate for him for many many years. 6 weeks to go until the next holidays.

Georgina x