So yesterday saw us arrive at Surrey County Council, armed with print-outs of every bit of legislation, every code of practice and every communication we have had pertaining to Special Educational Needs.

After 40 minutes with the area SEN coordinator, and a productive discussion, Surrey County Council have agreed to assess Alice for her statement immediately. Furthermore, in the interim, they have committed to fund Alice’s TA (Sam) for the next 12 months (by which time, we are assured, Alice will have her full statement which will deal with funding from thereon in).

This has always been about what is best for Alice. We genuinely believe we are on the right road and this decision, easy as it was for them to make, will make a huge difference. I hope that in time, we can consign Alice’s statement to the bin, as she progresses and her hearing ability improves. In the mean time, we are delighted.

Why we had to go through all this pain and heartache to get there is beyond me, but it seems to be par for the course. Be aware anyone going through the same thing, stick to your guns and over-prepare. Mummy did a fantastic job, spending hours making sure we knew everything there was to know before we went in.

AV were fantastic in their advice as were the NDCS.

For now at least, we are smiling.