Any other SEN children in year 11 and struggling?

[Lindy2]

DD is year 11. She's been in autistic burnout and has missed a lot of school. She is bright but not at all academic. Her brain simply works in a very complex and non conventional way.

It's her GCSE year and really it just feels like we are counting the days to get through to the end of the school year. The reality is that any GCSE passes are very unlikely. They'd be a bloody miracle in fact. We're just hoping a level 1 college course in September will help her re-engage with life and education. Who knows though.

There's no real point to this post. I'm just feeling very low and lonely and looking for some solidarity.

Any positive stories of children who bombed Secondary school and GCSEs but ended up doing ok would be very welcome right now!

My DD missed all y11 in covid due to mh issues. Ended up with 4 gcses at grade 3, teacher assessed.
Did 2 years at college on a level 1 course. Now having a 'gap year' doing work experience, therapy and English.
The world didn't end and she is so much better than she was.
Helped by having a strong area of interest so motivated for college to overcome anxiety.

That's great @TeenDivided .

I'm glad your DD is doing ok.

Because my DD has struggled with so many things she doesn't really have any particular areas of special interest that can be converted to a college course or job.

I'm really hoping she finds her "thing" in the next few years because when she's interested and motivated, there's no stopping her. Sadly the current school system has knocked all the spark out of her.

We were lucky, DD has been keen on animals since tiny, so was always headed for an animal care course. She just ended up at a lower level than we previously expected.
It is hard when there isn't anything obvious though.