I really have heard it all now!

[anonandlikeit]

A neighbour stopped me in the street today & our conversation went like this.
Her "Can I ask you a personal question"
Me "yes"
Her "Do SS provide a childminder for your ds or does he go to stay at a special centre or something"
Me "No"
Her "Oh I thought familys with disabled kids got help with that sort of thing"
Me "Well some do but I've never applied and it is hard to come by"
Her "Oh only i was thinking of asking for dd and thought you might know who to phone"
I guess I must of looked a bit puzzled... cos then she said...
" Oh no dd hasn't got a proper disablility but she is an only child and sometimes I think people overlook the impact having one child has on a couple as she demands alot of attention as she doesn't have a brother or sister to play with"

My jaw visibly dropped and I was left open mouthed, on never mind she said I'll look in the yellow pages.

As far as I know her dd is an NT average 5 year old.

LOL and bet at school all day!
some people have serious reality problems

Yes she is at school all day, maybe she is struggling, who knows but even so, the assumption that she can just get childcare provided & the comparison of an only child to a child with disability it did make me

Good Lord, she should think herself lucky.

I have two reactions to this:

If all is as she said to you then PMSL, she seriously needs a sense of perspective

but

Am wondering if maybe all isn't well but she didn't feel she could explain to you? Lots of things other than SN that can necessitate extra support- parental illness, carer repsonsibilties outside nuclear family, alcohol or drug abuse in a parent, DV, MH issues, impending homelessness.......

Oh all sorts.

So, from your perspective anon I'd say what a deluded woman; from the POV of someone who would have been assigned to find out if tehre was anything deeper in a previous life, then i'd be a bit hmm, I wonder.....

At teh very elast, it's an admission that either her aprenting or her marriage is struggling, no? So an SSD referrrral to homestart for example (where I used to work) may well be warranted.

Sanctimoaniarse, you are more perceptive than I! Good advice.