I met with the primary-school SENCO this morning. She said it is too late to apply for a statement with her, as there are only four weeks until the end of term, but that she will work with the secondary school to apply next term. I realise this will probably be a long battle.
I have asked her to convey the importance of my son having a quiet place to go to when he is feeling stressed. He may be in a small class of special needs' pupils, but the SENCO wasn't sure if he would be eligible. How many special needs labels do they need to be eligible, FFS?!
magic - it's good to hear that your son is now settled at school and doing well, although I'm sorry that it was such a battle for you to get him there. I can see why you didn't pursue the TS diagnosis, when you clearly had enough to get him a statement already (with the usual fight required, of course).
unpa1d - you are right about having a sense of humour. We try to ignore the tics mostly, but some of them are so funny that it actually helps DS if we all laugh about them. He had one where he used to whoop like a cowboy. He found it really embarrassing and would try to hold it in until there was an appropriate moment to whoop. There was another that was just like a Hitler salute - most unfortunate. Luckily, it didn't last long. No spitting, thank god - that's a tough one to deal with. And no swearing either - well, there is, but it's deliberate! Am hoping we don't have spitting/swearing tics to come...
wendi - I'm not surprised your son's learning ground to a halt when he was suffering anxiety and tics. I took my son out of school because he was utterly exhausted and miserable, thanks to his various issues, and he clearly couldn't learn in that state of mind. Since being educated at home, his tics have vanished, but his OCD is still very bad. From what I've read, the OCD can be harder to deal with than the Tourettes. Certainly, in my son's case, the OCD wears him out and makes doing anything out of the ordinary especially difficult. I hope that the Prozac and CBT (he's on a waiting list for the latter) will help with that. I'm really sorry to hear that you are so isolated and that your son's friends fell by the wayside. Does he mind? My son is actually very happy to be on his own or just with us for most of the time. He finds being with other children very stressful, but the psychiatrist said he needs to practise in social situations, which is one reason I feel he needs to go back to school.
wendi - are there any other mums in the same boat as you in your area? There may be a local NAS group or other support group. Even if your son doesn't miss company, it sounds terribly hard on you. I know how hard it is to settle into a new area and it must be even harder if you don't make any new acquaintances.
It's really good to hear from other people in similar situations.