It is a novelty to be able to put the TV on and not worry that the kids will be late or that they won’t eat breakfast.
I am delighted to not have to wash and iron uniforms (who am I kidding I stopped ironing them by the end of September!) and find matching socks before 8:15am.
These are all great things to get a break from and I do not miss carrying my screaming child out to his taxi daily.
But I would be lying if I said as a special needs mum that summer holidays were all wonderful. They are not.
I find so many things stressful about having my disabled children with me all the time. I am not alone either.
Here are the top ten summer stresses faced by so many special needs parents today:
1. Lack of changing facilities.
I want to take my children to soft play, parks, swimming, museums and day trips.
The problem is I have two children who still need nappies changed and both are well over the age of being able to access ‘baby change’ facilities.
I need changing places toilets and these are so hard to find.
For so many families this lack of toilets prevents them accessing places all year round but it is magnified during summer when children want to be out and about in lively weather and families want to go out together making memories.
None of my friends whose children have no special needs seem to even think about access to bathrooms and it upsets me that such a basic necessity for special needs families is so hard to find.
2. Lack of disabled trolleys in shops.
My son has profound autism and other complex needs. I can dream that one day he will walk around holding my hand helping me but it is a pipe dream.
In reality he will smash things, scream, run away from me or wander out the store completely. I need to shop even when my children are not in school.
Although online shopping is handy there are days I just need to be able to pick up a loaf of bread and milk but something so simple is so difficult and often impossible if a store does not have a suitable disabled trolley for my son.
I have lost count how many shops I have had to walk out before I bought anything because there are no basic facilities for my son.
In 2017 this really should not be the case.
3. Lack of playing facilities in parks.
My local park is wonderful. It has a swing seat my son can use and a wheelchair accessible roundabout.
Sadly this is NOT the norm and if my son is in his wheelchair I often find myself unable to even access parks due to cattle grids and tiny gates and that is before we even get to see if there is any equipment he is even able to use.
Parks should be inclusive not just for the mainstream elite.
The stress of not knowing your child can access something as simple as a swing in a play park is common for so many special needs families.
4. Access
Yes even in 2017 there are shops, play centres, public buildings and restaurants that I still can not enter as my son is unable to climb stairs.
Many shops also have displays so close together manoeuvring a wheelchair around the shop is impossible.
I am denied access to places my son should be able to visit and I should be able to enter due to inadequate disabled access.
The United Kingdom is far from disability friendly sadly.
5. Autism friendly hours that are not autism friendly times!
I am delighted that more and more places are putting on quiet hours and autism friendly times.
However as wonderful and inclusive as this sounds they are often at times that are so difficult for my family to access.
Early Sunday mornings for example are of no use to my family as we attend church and late at night is no use when I have young children who need routine.
Instead it would be better to have a quiet day or autism friendly day once a week that enabled many more to access and enjoy places that otherwise exclude so many.
6. Lack of respite
Being nurse, therapist, attending appointments and getting very little sleep is draining.
The majority of special needs families have no summer respite and little support through the long weeks of summer.
This causes resentment for siblings who fall to the wayside and can put pressure on relationships and cause many carers to struggle with their mental health.
For special needs families school offers necessary respite which they can not access all summer long.
It makes for a very long summer indeed.
7. Inability to use household items due to sensory issues
I dare you to use the hoover in my house over summer when the kids are home! Or the hairdryer or washing machine.
These are items I use daily when my kids are at school but using them in summer causes the kids to scream and lash out in real pain.
Parents of children with sensory processing disorder walk on egg shells all summer just trying to keep their house respectable without triggering continuous meltdowns.
8. Lack of sleep
I can cope when my son does an, ‘all nighter’, when he has school as I can rest or nap while he is out.
When your child/children need 24 hour care and you get very little sleep that has to take its toll eventually.
By week three of the holidays I have no idea of the day f the week or even my name as sleep deprivation kicks in big time.
9. Lack of support.
Therapists vanish in the summer, as do health professionals and social workers!
While I fully respect everyone needs a holiday it can be so disheartening and stressful as a parent to be left without any support all summer long.
It is also detrimental to the children who require continuity and routine.
Living with a non verbal frustrated 8 year old for seven weeks with no speech therapists is stressful!
10. Isolation
Places are noisy, busy, expensive (carers allowance is a pittance!), and the general public can be ‘challenging’ making trips out of the house so difficult.
Add to that the stress many families face trying to get their special needs child off of technology and even into a garden and you have some idea how stressful summer can be.
For thousands of families this leads them to be isolated in their own home, forgotten and abandoned due to having a disabled child.
With time, money and planning so many of these stresses could be overcome.
A little respite, businesses and community groups installing changing places toilets and more shops purchasing goto trolleys suitable for disabled children and life could be so much different.