How Specialist SEND Care Has Made All the Difference for Our Family: Hannah’s Story

Meet Hannah, mother and member of our fantastic Parent Panel*; a diverse community of Bright Horizons parents sharing their experiences of raising happy, thriving and confident children. In this blog, Hannah shares how specialist SEND care at Bright Horizons helped her family.

It can be really tough being the parent of a child with special educational needs; there’s a lot of worry and grief for what could have been attached to it. Mostly you are worried about your child’s ability to communicate and vouch for themselves in a group environment. My son has a speech delay with suspected autism. This was really daunting for us as parents, and we wanted to do what we could to support his needs.

When my son started in nursery, we were anxious about how he would cope and whether he would be able to get his needs addressed. Firstly, the nursery has been amazing at listening to me and noting all of his small gestures, words and methods that he uses to communicate. They took a lot of time to build relationships with him by using his interests to engage him in activities - this made him more confident, and he began to speak a little more. 

The nursery team made a development plan for my son whilst taking his sensory needs into account. They purchased a special seat with a wicker back, which blocks some of the sounds and allows him to look at books in a quiet area.

When settling my little one into the routine of the room, the nursery team used photos of the different steps to help prepare him for the changes in routine. His key workers have been instrumental in building his confidence and encouraging his independence. The child-led nature of the nursery allows him to participate or play as he feels comfortable. There are times when he looks from the outside but the next time, he is happier to participate. 

The nursery administration team has been a huge support to us as parents and I’ve cried about it all more than once. They have always treated me with kindness and understanding. The team has also supported us through our interactions with various medical professionals (such as speech and language therapists) and assisted us with the administrative side of support provision for our little boy. 

All of these measures have helped my son thrive, he is confident, happy and most importantly his speech is growing daily. It has brought so much reassurance to our family and made us feel confident that we are doing everything we can to support our son in his development. 

They say it takes a village to raise a child and the team at Bright Horizons are definitely a part of ours.