The support group, [name of support group], it basically started out as a parent support group, and quite a smallish number of parents just meeting once a month of an evening in a church hall. And just kind of like a social group and we would all share experiences, you know, “this has happened at school” and “what should I do?” and there is always somebody who has been through it who is able to help you. The group has really grown over the last couple of years and it is amazing. Every month there is a new family and they came with the same old story, we all come with. Everybody still seems to go through the same hell basically and again primarily school related; lack of understanding in schools.
We have recently just registered the group as a charity and we are really trying to take the group forward. We have lots of big ideas about education and awareness, getting some training in the school, support for the over 16s of which there is none at the moment, things like respite care, social work teams, just everything and anything really. We just want to basically raise awareness and help our children and future generations and particularly our children for when they are older, when they leave school or become leaving school age. So yes, lots of work to be done.
But yes that was a really good source of local support, to exchange ideas with families, you know have you tried the diet, have you tried this and just people you can phone, and people who know what it is like, people who know, if they come round your house and your kid kicks off that is okay and we can just leave and you don’t have to excuse any behaviours or you don’t have to say “oh sorry, he won’t do this”, but … that is lovely you know. There is nothing better then not having to explain it all away. That is really nice and from that Callum has found his own friends who are like him so he doesn’t feel strange and he just has fun like other kids have fun with their friends you know that is lovely that he has actually had a bit of happiness for the first time in years I actually saw him laugh you know, and it was just lovely. Why shouldn’t he have a friend, you know? Brilliant.
