Tonight I was at soft play. It was meant to be a Sen session, but because it was quiet it was opened to the public.

A group of parents with screaming loud children may I add, these parents were discussing disabilities.

It kind of went like this.

Parent 1 “All these parents want these days is a label for their child”.

Parent 2 ” yea, when I was a kid it was none of this adhd or autism stuff”.

Parent 1 2 or 3, ” yea but they just want the money too, oh and a free taxi to school, there are some genuine ones though you can see those are the ones who’s flapping in the supermarket”.

I was fuming! Now if Z had already had his chips maybe just maybe I’d have open my big mouth, secondly did I want to spoil something that could potentially be a great thing for Sen children?

I did very loudly ask was it a Sen session, explained that maybe opening it up to the public isn’t a good idea and once a month you must be prepared for a loss for word of mouth to get about.

So parents, if Z didn’t have a ‘label’, he wouldn’t have access to the school he is in now. He would be failing in school instead of thriving, he wouldn’t have access to swimming, soft play and a small size classroom and a teacher who really gets to know his needs and not just his name and what grade he’s going to get.

If Z didn’t have his ‘label’ he wouldn’t have a social worker, that means he wouldn’t get respite, which not only is a time I can put the hoover over without stressing him out during the holidays, but he’s tried so many new things that after a day of meltdowns I may not be emotionally stable that day to attempt McDonald’s to sit and eat food and wait for Z to have a meltdown and drop and flop or even run. Respite teaches him how to do these things on a clear head. Week in week out.

If Z didn’t have his label, I’d still take him to school, he may not be happy to go and I maybe dragging him kicking and screaming, which in turn I’d spend all day stressing. Now I know he’s happy in school I’m happy leaving him there.

If Z didn’t have his label he’d be stuck attending soft play and possibly struggling with screaming children like yours, now he has his label he can attend Sen sessions where no one judges the flapping kid.

Z having a label and being the genuine one doesn’t mean he’s flapping walking around the supermarket. Z is 6, he still sits in a trolley. He can’t walk around the supermarket. Way to many sensory objects that will get in his way.

Z’s label makes him do stuff I don’t like, refer to my smearing posts. His label kinda makes him not talk, his label may make him flap, his label is helping him Day in day out.

Maybe one day you need to come to a Sen session minus your screaming kids to see what it’s really like. Some of those kids don’t have labels, some of those kids really struggle every day, and there’s people like you making this much harder than it is.

Z doesn’t have a label of autism, autism is part of who he is. Without autism he wouldn’t be Z, if he didn’t have a label of autism it wouldn’t mean he’s not autistic . A label won’t make it go away.