Email #12

Dear Harriet

Where do I start today? It has been one of those days where I have been through the mill.  Meetings for my son can be challenging.  Ive become so used to fighting for my son and his needs that most days it doesnt feel like a fight, it just feels "bog standard".  Fighting is a way of life.

It shouldnt have to be a fight though should it? I fight to access services or a fight to access support. Constantly explaining to people what my sons needs are and asking for support that he isnt getting. And I shouldnt have to be asking why support is being taken away.

The support he had been receiving through Art therapy was wonderful and very important to him. My son doesnt like to admit he needs support- he has his pride.  But he had a great rapport with his therapist-something that isnt easy for him.

And then when the meeting was over it was time to tackle the forms.  You would think explaining about my son would be easy.  But when the forms ask for "sometimes, often or never" its not so easy. Aspie kids dont fit into neat little boxes and most of the answers would require a box next to them to explain how he is different depending on the day of the week, the mood he is in, how tired he is, whether he has had an easy day or a hard day....there are often so many variables that it is hard to explain.

And that is what makes the provision of services so difficult.  So when the funding is taken away it makes it even more difficult for professionals-the therapists and the people who work for CAMHS to do their jobs.

That is how children slip through the net.  That is how children end up in police custody simply because there are not enough people or beds in facilities that cater for under 18s in crisis.

This needs to change.  The incumbent government is failing my child and every other child in the country that needs access to or support from CAMHS and the other support services that help stop children ending up in crisis.

Labour MUST speak up and speak out for these children and their families.

Labour MUST listen to their families tell their stories and speak up and speak out for them,
Because who else will speak up in parliament for them?
Who else can stand up for these people when the incumbent government says it want to make more cuts to these services?

Listen to your members who are saying enough: no more cuts.

Constituent, Labour Party member, Union member, sleep deprived carer, concerned citizen, self employed mother, mother of a teenager with ASD, socialist, environmentalist, Disabled Rights supporter, Jeremy Corbyn supporter, mother feeding her children with nectar points, defender of the vulnerable, advocate.