Back to School

At this time of year, social media is full of proud parents posting about their offspring heading back to school to start the new academic year. As an academic working in Higher Education, this time of year is a manic period of preparing for the arrival of new students, updating materials and managing home life with a medically exciting young adult who doesn’t necessarily cope all that well with the change in routine.

One thought that keeps me (relatively) sane is that we are not alone.

If you peel back the veneer of social media and the positive posts you’ll find a different world. One of children and young people woefully failed by an education system that simply does not meet their needs. Individuals who are not stupid, or a problem but who are made to FEEL that they are by a system that just isn’t fit for purpose. One size absolutely does not fit all.

The Dude is one of the lucky ones. His SN school is excellent, however his medically issues pose their own problems. He requires nursing support daily and while his wonderful teaching staff do their best they are not nurses. As a result, he misses an enormous amount of school when he doesn’t need to, but that is a different battle for another time/blog.

Many however can’t even access schools due to a lack of understanding of how neurodiverse individuals process information, or how to engage individuals who learn in a non-standardised manner.

Too many find themselves and their families vilified by the educational establishment for no reason other than they are Different.

Recently, news articles highlighting the massive issues facing special education have been published but while these show some of the worst cases, there are so many more going under the radar. This ‘othering’ is as dangerous and damaging as any other form of discrimination; how many would love nothing more than to be able to post back to school pictures yet are unable to do so?

To those who are starting back in education after a break, to those going back into an environment which isn’t supporting needs but there is no alternative, to those doing their best despite enormous challenges; I see you and I applaud you. It takes enormous courage. To those who are changing schools or moving up a year and to everyone at the start of the new academic year, here’s to a joyful and successful year. However that might look.