Hello I'm a working mother to two young daughters Abigail (aged 9) & Ellen (aged 5)...

Things have been difficult for us with ongoing educational/cognitive tests & interventions for Ellen...she has had speech/ language difficulties since she was a baby & various specialists have also now identified she has learning difficulties (Cognitive/long term memory) & possible autism. On top of this my father, their grandfather was diagnosed with Hyper Tropic Cardio Myopathy (thickening of the heart walls), as this can be genetic the girls and myself underwent ECG's and Echocardiograms, fortunately we were given the all clear. However they identified that Ellen had a hole in her heart between the top two chambers, this normally closes at birth, but had not with Ellen, the specialist is hoping this will close by adolescence, but if not she will require surgery. In the meantime she will need monitoring on a regular basis.

The NHS speech therapist says there's nothing more they can do, the school are stretched to breaking point & currently Ellen gets 5 minutes a day one to one support despite being told she can not learn in a group environment...she loves school & is making friends but we are afraid she is going to fall further behind, she is already a good year or more behind her classmates and the gap is widening, despite our best efforts to support her in school and at home. A private speech therapist has also assessed her (we were given a free session) & says she can help but at £40-50 for a half hour session we just can't afford it. We are also looking to the future & wondering how we can set her up as an adult...she is creative, imaginative and outgoing...love acting, singing & crafts, so maybe this is the route we support and encourage, whilst also working on her basic needs such as social skills, reading, numeracy & literacy.

Abigail has been somewhat overlooked, but recently it has been identified that she too may need additional help.