This week I’m taking what feels like a self-indulgent break. I’m in France, skiing with a fabulous group of people from all walks of life. And I’ve left the family at home.

So here we are again, at the start of a new academic year. For many a source of much excitement, and, for others, a source of much anxiety.

I often think the experience of being a parent of a child with differences is like being on an emotional roller coaster.

School summer holidays are long. And no matter how much your child struggles at school, you may find that they appear to equally dislike the holidays.

In many ways, to the child with SPD, it feels like being caught in the crossfire in a war zone.

When you have a suspicion your child may have a specific difficulty, it can be difficult to know whether to go through the hoops to get a diagnosis and if you do, whether to share that diagnosis with your child.

In some ways, our children who are struggling and withdraw in order to deal with it, are at most risk. Their behaviour is often overlooked, and withdrawing from the world prevents them from accessing learning.

Rebelling’ behaviour comes from a child where there is a fundamental unmet need, and the child is unable to communicate their need, other than through their behaviour.

Does your child explode when they get home from school, and yet at school they appear to be fine? It could be they are masking…

Many parents, somehow manage to get their highly anxious children into school on a daily basis. Despite the refusal, the tears and whatever else is thrown at them, somehow they manage to talk their child into school.

The best barometer of a child's happiness is the presence of a smile.