This short film appeared in my recommends, and it might not hit you in the same way it did for me, but if do you have similar inclinations as myself, and for some reason feel a need to have a good cry for the entire 15 minute length, then I can also highly recommend it. The tldr is it's a dramatization of a single mother with a neurodivergent kid trying to navigate basic life needs while dealing with some heinously counterproductive government (in this case, in the UK) regulations. I had no idea that quickly applied fines for prevalent tardiness and absences, as well as multi-year long waiting lists for evaluations for neurodivergent conditions, were prevalent in the UK, but based on the numerous comments on this video of "this is/was me/us" it appears to be very real.
As someone that has an amazing slightly neurodivergent kiddo, for whom getting where we are now on some steady ground of educational success and great behavior, was indeed a multi-year journey, that we got through because there were a ton of resources, both public and private, made available to us - seeing this just made me even more grateful that we weren't subjected to torments on top of the difficulties we already had, and super grateful for the access to those resources. Across elementary school (which started at 7:30am here) we likely were averaging about 15 minutes late every day. Now in middle school (which blessedly starts at the more reasonable for us time of 9:00am) we are on time nearly every day. But I still can't see how fines would have ever made this better - rather it took the "journey" to get there.
Also, as the hubby of a professional musician that occasionally tours, I also have had some tiny doses over the years, of a small simulation of what it feels like to be a single parent - enough to know that shiznit is NOT easy. So here's some more gratitude that I have an amazing partner - and huge props to all you are dealing with raising kids solo, and from the ones I know, also are doing amazing jobs at it.
Finally here's hoping that the situation in the UK (and anywhere else where parents and kids are being tormented by similarly bad regulations) can make needed changes in this.
https://youtu.be/dn8C7WuGv8g?si=LjvKENA8HL_okH_J
#neurodivergence #autism #adhd #kids #parenting #parents #singleparents #UK #government #politcs #resources #regulations #tardiness #schools #education #thestuggle #dailylife