Polly’s story

A child who was born very early and has a range of sensory processing and co-ordination challenges

The newly in post SENCO at the school that Polly was attending contacted Emma with a request for help. Polly, at the time, was a Year 3 pupil who was demonstrating significant sensory needs in addition to complex medical needs. She had been shielding because of the pandemic, but school were keen to set up an assessment for as soon as it was safe for her (and all her peers) to return to school in September. The school advised Emma that an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) had been awarded but that none of Polly’s Occupational Therapy needs had been adequately identified or therefore addressed in the statutory document.

An assessment was requested to fully ‘quantify and qualify’ the support needed. When September came, Emma visited Polly in school on two occasions and carried out a thorough assessment of her functional difficulties. It was immediately apparent that as so much focus had been channelled towards Polly’s medical needs, many of her developmental and sensory processing challenges had been totally missed. As a result, her parents had been ‘fire fighting’ behaviours that made little sense, were impossible to predict and were adding another layer of stress and distress to an already challenging situation. Moreover, Polly who is a bright, articulate and friendly girl, was caught in a world that sometimes made sense and at other times felt totally overwhelming. Emma met Polly’s parents ‘on zoom’ to provide feedback and to start the process of explaining all that was going on. The report that was subsequently written was submitted to the Local Authority and significant alterations were made to the EHCP.

Emma now visits Polly in school as part of the statutory Occupational Therapy provision to monitor and steer her progress. More than that, Emma has been able to give Polly’s parents and school staff a full range of practical ideas to implement in the classroom, tools for her to use and sensory strategies to embed with the purpose of making daily life more successful.

• Polly’s Parents •

“We met Emma at a point of total bewilderment, we felt so lost and disempowered as parents. Here was our daughter who we knew so well and loved so much, but increasingly didn’t understand. She was falling behind at school despite being bright and we were all out of ideas about how to manage her increasingly challenging behaviour at home. Quirks were becoming problems and weaknesses barriers to meeting developmental norms. Within 90 minutes of meeting our daughter, Emma clearly ‘understood’ our daughter better than we did. She shared insights and understandings into our girl’s behaviours, strengths and weaknesses that made years of the little things we had spotted or juggled, make sense. Emma’s subsequent thorough report, continued advocacy, easy to apply strategies, training and utter devotion to helping us ‘get it right’ for our daughter, has transformed not only her life but ours too. We now understand why our girl does the things she does and how to support her best. Her quirks are understood, her challenges identified and her needs supported with rational strategies that we and school have been able to take a hold of. Emma was also instrumental in our campaign and success at getting the right EHCP for our daughter. The young woman our daughter grows up to be, will be in no insignificant way as a result of the input and value Emma has brought to her education and all of our lives.”

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