Saved by the stars

Chapter twelve - education x

Tw- discussions about ptsd and autism, as well as alternative education methods x

Leah's PoV
We didn't have to leave for the zoo for another three hours as it was only 9am so I had left Beth and Mary with Sam in the sensory room while she made her poster as in their words 'I need to take care of myself as much as I do Sam'.
I took this time to have a nice long bath and watch a new movie, it was very relaxing however during the movie I had received an email back from the school. Sammy had leave granted for camp as long as she completed online work, however this email was in regard to the email I sent about sammys needs.
Their response was
'Dear miss Williamson,
We appreciate your concerns regarding Sammy but we have seen a significant decline in her behaviour as well as basic functions. For example her handwriting, speech and reading and we are wondering whether this has to do with her ptsd. Due to this case we would recommend an SEN school or homeschooling as a better option due to her complex needs.
Any problems, please contact us at treethorpetrust.london@school.com'
I knew that Sammy was going nonverbal more often but I hadn't noticed much age-regressive tendencies. Now I think about it, she has been very attached to her teddy, asking to be picked up more or even small things like sucking her thumb. I decided to text Halle and she agreed we could have a meeting about both sides of things without Sammy at first before bringing her in after. She also agreed to talk to me about the schooling aspect as she has been the staff member helping Sammy with her work.
As I entered halles office she passed me a sheet of paper with information about a local Sen school that takes on cases like sammys for free.
'Ok so, Leah, where do you want to start'
'Let's say conditions, the age thing and then schools'
'Ok so ptsd can leave the child 'frozen' at the age the trauma occurred. It can be helped through discussions about the trauma and coping mechanisms'
'So how do I help her'
'She can have heightened symptoms if she feels triggered or after a flashback so you just need to treat her like you would and let her know that you aren't going to hurt her. It's a long process and it's very different to parenting someone traditionally her age but it can be done'
'Ok so why is she struggling in school and not here'
'Because I've noticed some patterns and have managed to avoid stuff that makes her worse and found alternatives, like if I know something is going to regress her, I make her take deep breaths with me'
'And normal school would struggle with that? So would you recommend homeschool or Sen?'
'I think both are good, this local school allows students to go in when they feel ok to, they have timetables but the students can do them online so if Sammy has a bad morning she can still do her normal lessons on her laptop'
'That sounds perfect!'
'I can put a referral in with notes of what I've noticed and how I've helped if that's ok?'
'Yes please'
'Ok let's get Sammy in'

A/n - I know this is a short one but either tonight or tomorrow I will put out a big part so I needed to get this over with first x