Primary

I’m on my own with Rory as his father and I split up when he was quite small. It’s been hard bringing up a child with a disability on my own especially since Rory started school.

He was formally diagnosed as having autism in his second year of primary school although I had known for some time that it was a strong possibility as I have Asperger’s myself. He’s currently in mainstream with 1:1 support but the school agrees with me that it cannot meet his needs. It was fine when the class was small in Years 1 and 2 but now the class is bigger than average and he’s not coping.

He finds it hard to make friends so he’s isolated in the playground and is depressed. He hides away every morning when it’s time to go to school. The local authority won’t move him to a special school because they say that Rory is too able. They’ve increased his support but not amended his statement so I haven’t been able to appeal for a different school.

We’re just having to stick it out until secondary transfer when I will appeal for a special school.

This case study was provided by a member of the Talk about Autism community.