Empowered by Difference

  Today marks three years since I made the call that changed everything. On the 19th of November 2022, I phoned Jenson’s school and said the words I never imagined I’d have to say: “I won’t be bringing him back until there is a plan in place to support him.” That plan never came. What followed were the hardest, most defining years of our lives. Three Years of Fighting for Support In these three years, Jenson was diagnosed autistic. He entered a deep burnout that took months - realistically, years - to slowly come out of. We applied for an EHC needs assessment, only to be refused, despite him clearly meeting every criteria. I changed jobs because my line manager didn’t understand the reality of parenting a child in trauma… … and eventually I had to take a career break altogether, because Jenson needed 24/7 support, and nothing was moving quickly enough for him to get the help he required. We appealed the EHCNA refusal - and we won. The LA agreed to assess and accepted h...