Our work is driven by the children, teens, adults and families we serve – those navigating life with neurodiversity. This is a grandparent’s story - one of the real-life experiences that inspired us to create our school and family centre. Grandparents share the stress and heartbreak felt by their own child and need suppport too!
“Watching your grandchild suffer, while also seeing your own child overwhelmed and struggling is incredibly hard.”
In moments like these, many grandparents are left asking themselves: what can I do to help?
A Grandparent’s Story
Our granddaughter is neurodiverse - she’s bright and intelligent, but at just six years old, she’s become so traumatised by her school environment that she can’t attend any longer. She’s been missing from school for almost two years - at home all the time now - lonely and shut off from the world.
It’s heartbreaking to see - watching the grandchild we love suffer, and feeling powerless to help. It’s even harder seeing our daughter and husband trying to hold everything together - working to pay the bills, frantically trying to arrange daily childcare, alongside managing meltdowns, sleepless nights, and battling with their own mental health… all while navigating a system that offers more barriers than support.
We’ve tried everything - legal advice, private assessments, countless phone calls - but still no solution. The local authority is stretched beyond capacity, with little understanding and even less empathy. Instead of support, we’ve faced missed deadlines, poor communication, and even threats of fines for her non-attendance at school! But where else can a bright, neurodivergent child go when mainstream school is impossible? There are no special schools nearby that meet her needs - no other provision; no safe place for her.
We’ve waited years for a medication assessment - two and a half years and still counting. We’re told there’s a shortage of NHS professionals. In the meantime, we hear our granddaughter say she wishes she wasn’t here, so she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
No child should ever feel that way.
We try our best - we teach her at home, though we don’t always know how to reach her. We take her to soft play, hoping she’ll connect with another child, even for a short while, so that she has a friend. We remind her that she’s valuable just as she is, that she’s not “wrong” or “too different.” But how can she believe it when she’s so isolated?
So, what can a grandparent do?
We feel the impact too — the stress, the exhaustion, the fear for the future. Our family life has changed... and we know we’re not alone. There are so many families like ours - struggling behind closed doors.
We don’t want pity. We just want help — real, meaningful help for our children and grandchildren. A place where they can learn, grow, and belong.
Is there anyone who can help?
This grandparent’s story is not unusual. Resources stretched to breaking point. No one to help. Families battered and broken. Relationships under unbearable stress. Children distressed and mentally scarred.
We Must Do Better! Join us as we help to build a place where neurodivergent children can belong and families (including grandparents :)) can be properly supported.
DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO FUNDRAISE, CONTACT US IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HELP