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I am sure you will have a brilliant time Just a word of advise. Caravans (especially the budget variety) do not have much heating. You will get a gas fire in the living area and some sort of cooker, but no heating in the bedroom or bathroom. You could sleep in the living area, or maybe take an electric fan heater with you to warm the bedroom. Obviously be VERY careful if you use the fan heater to warm to bathroom. In fact it is probably best to leave it outside the bathroom door. Have fun

Well done I passed my test long before the theory test (and even before paralell parking came in) It still took 3 tests before I could reverse around a corner correctly.

Not quite the same, but my husband's passion is cinema organs. He is the editor of a members newsletter and we often get phone calls asking if he could pick up someone's collection of memorabila after they have died. Is there some sort of collectors group you could become part of ? Maybe some sort of online forum would be better for you then going to any sort of meeting. Once you have found like minded people, I am sure you will have many volunteers to inheirit your collection when the time comes - although I hope that won't be for many many years yet.

Our son had a scribe and extra time for yr 6 SATS. He had a statement giving him 1:1 support for about 12 hours a week, and the school had to apply somewhere beforehand and prove he had been getting support at school for at least a year prior to the SATS.

They can be SO quick to log on can't they ? When I worked in an ASD dept, one of the parents said under NO circumstances was her 9 yr old, non-verbal and very autistic, daughter be allowed access to a PC without 1:1 supervision. This seemed a bit extreme, until the mum explained in the time it had taken her to go to the loo at home, the daughter had logged on, and booked a 10 day holiday to the Caribean for herself and 8 friends. She had confirmed the booking and paid the deposit using mum's credit card (having memorised the whole card number from seeing it briefly a few weeks earlier). It took a lot of phone calls to convince the travel company to cancel the booking and refund the deposit. We were extra careful at school after that

Our medical was REALLY basic. Just a few questions. Checked M's tummy (not sure why as no medical problems there ). The Dr asked me lots of questions as she had no notes at all to work from. The whole thing took less than 20 mins. If you ring the centre where the medical is being carried out they should be able to tell you exactly what happens as they do a medical like this for every child who is undergoing the statutory assesssment process.

I have no experience of this, but there is a really helpful lady called Silvana who runs a cat rescue near us. If you google Romney house cat rescue you will find the details. Maybe if you ring her, she will be able to give you honest (not sentimental) advise. Her home is full of cats with various problems who can not be rehomed, so she is definately not going to suggest having the cat put down. (I know you didn't mention that either) I think you are probably right, and your cat will be happier in another environment, and you are being very brave to put her needs before your own (and your son's)

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Sunflower, I am fairly sure I read about these schools in a book called something like "How to become a Velvet bulldozer" The book is the true story of how a family fought the system (several times) to get their adopted children the right support. I read it from cover to cover several times whilst trying to sort out our sons assessments and statemnet about 3 years ago, but didn't actually buy a copy. I had it on VERY extended loan from the library. It might be worth trying to track down a copy.

If going on the trip is really not going to be posible, will the school authorise a day's absence? That way you can take him out for a special day (maybe somewhere more suitable than the trip ?) We did this yesterday, as my nearly 12yr old could not cope with the school trip to Southend. He and I had a fantastic day at Chessington instead.

Personally I think you can only plan for the immediate future. In school terms that is maybe for 2 - 3 years at a time. Our children change so much depending on the situation they are in, and the people they are with. This means what seems hopeless now can get better, and something which seems great, may fail your child later. Sorry, not much help. But do rememeber, nothing is forever, and you can change your mind later.

Our son is coming up for 12yrs (YR 7) and has been on half days for a least a year. The most he has been of as a block is 2 lots of 4 weeks, but both times that was 2 weeks school hols, followed by 2 weeks of "problems" His currect school (special secondary) are much more helpful than primary, who didn;t even record his absence (every afternoon for a term,) hence no EWO involement (no one knew he wasn't at school !!)

I am really sorry your day out did not go as you had planned. I think maybe, as someone else has said, it was a bit too ambitious. Unfortunately everything has to be tiny, tiny steps. When she comes to you, do you usually stay at home, or do you go out ? If you normally stay home, then maybe first 2 or 3 trips could just be going out of the house. The next stage might be a couple of visits to the station to see trains. It is a painfully slow process, with many steps backwards, but one day you may be able to just up and go out (like SO many people with children take for granted)

We have at least 50 children's videos mainly aimed at under 5's. Thomas the Tank Engine, Meg and Mog, Maisy Mouse, Casper the friendly Ghost, some Disney ones, Gummi bears, etc etc If anyone wants them (or any of them) please let me know. If someone can collect they are welcome to take the lot, but if you would like a couple of favourites, I will figure out how to post them cheaply MODS - If this is in the wrong place, or not allowed on this forum, please move or delete this message. Thanks. Carol

I have no experience to offer you, but you could try ringing Parentlineplus for advise. I doubt they are as experienced as IPSEA, but they do have a 24/7 phone line and online chat thingy on their web site so you can at least get through to someone.

I like the idea of Kew gardens, especially if that is somewhere her parents probably wouldn't take her. Also if her parents go everywhere by car, she is probably still young enough to be interested in going upstairs on a bus and looking out the windows.

Our son will be 12 next birthday, and is the same - he doesn't actually WANT anything. If there is something advertised on TV that he passes a comment about (like an Xbox game) I make a note and then ask him a few days later if it is something he would like for his next birthday (even if it is still weeks away). Occcasionally we have managed to get a couple of ideas that I can offer to my brother and sister so they can actually give him something he wants. Even when he was much younger we didn't really get "I want"from him. We could walk around somewhere like Toys R Us and if he didn't see anything he wanted we could happily leave empty handed, whereas friend's children would make a hugh fuss if they didn't get something. I am so glad Santa doesn't come here anymore as he was forever bringing things that our son would look at it and then say "Why have I got this, I didn't ask for it ?"

Well done

Check VERY carefully before agreeing to this as home schooling usually means the parents do the teaching. I have heard of cases where children are approaching GCSE exams who get 5 hours a week from a tutor who comes to their home, but the rest is down to parents. I really hope this is not what they expect you to do. For some families it does work really well, but definately not for everyone. Also, if you agree to keep your child at home, you need a very clear WRITTEN agreement stating when and where he/she will return to school. CAMHS seem to have great ideas, but they deal with "health" not "education" and what is ideal healthwise isn't always available from "education".

My advise is you know your child best, and if you feels CAMHS isn't helping then stop going. Maybe leave it open that you may return at some point in the future, as you never know when you might want to go back. My son's school recently referred us to CAMHS , for some sort of councelling about his high levels of anxiety. When I had the initial assessment, they suggested a course of six to eight 1:1 sessions for our son,involving me taking him to their offices each time. I pointed out he takes a long time to be comfortable with people, and doesn't not cope well with official appointments, so I felt CAMHS visiting him at school 3 times a week for 6 months to a year, was a more realistic approach, and time scale. CAMHS have decided they can't help us on that basis, so that is the end of that. At the end of the day, this is your child, and you can say what you think might help, and you can turn down any unhelpful help.

Hello sarni - it sounds like you are having a horrendous time. I definately know how you feel - banging your head against a brick wall comes to mind. I wish I had some answers for you, but sadly I don't. I wish you the strength to keep going, and hope you get some answers soon Carol XX

We got ours on Friday, and have until end of July to send the information in.

That is fantastic news. Well done to bluefish's son

Thanks everyone. I have found the "missing link" on another web site.

When our son did his Yr 6 SATS, he had his ISA as his scribe. Having a scibe who can not write English is a definate disadvantage in my opinion. I thought having a scribe was suppose to help.