I actually can’t believe what I am writing! It does not seem real. Last Friday we were given 2 lots of good news. The first was our award from short breaks was reawarded. This is fantastic news and I genuinely feel its the first time is so long that we have not had to fight and plead our case to get this support. What a relief.

Short breaks is a provision that can be accessed in many different ways to provide support for your disabled child. It may be in the form of a payment so you can fund a personal assistant to support. It could be a recognised centre for 1:1 and group support. It can be towards equipment and services which will support. Every local authority is different and so I won’t know what is available in your areas. You can read up on short breaks below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/short-breaks-for-carers-of-disabled-children

https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/social-care/short-breaks/

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/protecting-children/short-break-care

This is a welcome positive support for us. And will be used for Charlie to access community activities without me. It is a grant within our local authority and I do not need to provide receipts altho they can be asked for at any time. It does not need to be paid back.

Our second bit of good news was the personal budget attached to Charlie's EHCP has finally been paid after waiting months. Hooray! And although the package of education will not be anywhere near the price of what Charlie will have when he was in his independent specialist school. It is still a massive step forward for us. It means that there is a pot of money to support Charlie to learn at home. I have already bought a laptop, membership to English Heritage, National Trust membership, drumming lessons and swimming lessons. Wow! All this already and we still have more left to organise.

We also have speech and language therapy starting in September, an assessment for occupational therapy soon, and a tutor starting in September also. Unfortunately what this means is that there will be lots of changes in September and we will go through a very difficult transition and it will be difficult and I will get challenging behaviour while he settles into this new routine and change.

But its good!! We're prepared and we're ready for the challenge and i’ve learnt some amazing coping strategies and of course some calming strategies for Charlie so he can regulate his emotions and we can get through this difficult transition period.

Here are some links on personal budgets.

https://www.senexpertsolicitors.co.uk/site/news/What-do-I-need-to-know-personal-budgets-direct-payments

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/personal-budgets-and-direct-payments

https://www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/education-and-learning/getting-additional-support/getting-additional-support-england/education-health-and-care-ehc-plans-and-personal-budgets/

https://www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/extra-SEN-help

I will update you as we go. Let’s do this.

Georgina