Well they told me there would be bumps in the road, but I could not, did not, imagine this. There has been no school for Charlie for one week now and I really don’t know how I’m going to manage to get him back in again. What do I do? How can I make this better? I am at a total loss.

The attendance started to dip before half term really, there were changes in the classroom that rocked him and that meant that keeping to a routine was hard work. Obviously 9 days off is always going to give me some challenges, but surprisingly after half term Charlie just smashed his first day back. I really am not sure how that happened. It gave me new hopes and I started to dream. But then that hope was short lived as Charlie struggled to maintain that enthusiasm for school.

Then there was an incident at school involving another child and Charlie has completely reverted back to non attendance and school refusal. What always worries me the most, is not just the education that he misses out on, but the social interaction, the social development and thinking sessions he has with his speech and language therapist. His sessions with his occupational therapist, his swimming lessons and his horse riding lessons. He honestly has such a great opportunity for school but the dreaded anxiety just won’t let him be him. Anxiety won’t give my boy a chance. And I don’t know what to do.

Should we refer back to the community paeds for anxiety meds? Do talking therapies (even though he doesn’t engage with strangers) or maybe just ride it out until the anxiety settled. It’s hard to know what the right move is when you are not medically trained and don’t feel equipped to look after your child. It is a horrid place to have these feelings.

I hope it gets better and Charlie feels secure enough to go back to school soon.

Georgina x