The school has really helped me. The school – I can’t praise the school enough - because it has settled Sam down and because the teachers have a real understanding of autism. I am not saying other schools don’t, but they do have an understanding, but the teachers who go to that school see such a huge spectrum of children with autism. There are children there who can’t speak and things and there are children like Sam who are on the autistic spectrum but they love people and it is very difficult for I think, for teachers in a normal school to understand autistic children, but in that school they have a real understanding of it and it helps.

 

And it helps educate me as to what he can do and why he does things and for me to see how Sam sees things, for me to understand how Sam sees the world, helps me…. Not to look after him but helps me, helps me with his needs. It helps me to … how can I explain it… because now I know more about autism and how Sam sees things I can help him access my world in a way. Now I now know that Sam sees everything the same. He doesn’t really understand the difference between a person and an animal and a book. He sees them all the same. He sees them as the same value really. It is quite strange. And he treats them … it is not that he doesn’t love people, he does love people. You know we talk about that sort of … that is what I am trying to do, another thing is to understand emotion. It is very difficult for Sam but the school really help that. They really they really open Sam’s emotional understanding more. They talk about things and they break down things into very, very small things. At the moment they have been talking about sex education and growing up and they are just breaking it down into very, very small components and so Sam can access them and try and understand them so that is good and in that way they educate me because they tell me what he is doing and how he is doing it and that is good.

 

And they have a community coordinator at the school. She isn’t a teacher but it is someone who helps the parents, is there for the parents and carers and the family and like if you have got a problem you go today and he will try to sort it out for you, like I have got a problem with getting Sam to school, and he is keeping…. He knows all about it and but he is not doing anything at the moment. We are waiting to hear from the LEA, but if I am not satisfied he will go in there and he will be my like advocacy for that. And he also acts as Sam’s advocacy as well with things so if there is anything you want to know he will help you with, so that is good.