Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone our beautiful 7 year old Autistic Grandaughter Willow has a Father who has a court order to see her every fortnight for two hours, I was made " Mediator " and no follow up hearing was ordered basically leaving us to " get along " the court was`nt even informed that Willow was Autistic, not giving our Daughter the chance to say so and the Father has no understanding of Autism or seems to have any desire to learn to understand . He cannot understand why she does not call him " Daddy " keeps asking why she " behaves " in certain ways ( meltdowns etc ) can`t understand why he cannot take her to his house for the Weekend !! ( she is non - verbal having just a few words etc ) and still in nappies . If anyone else has or knows of a similar situation and has any advice it would be gratefully accepted and appreciated. Also Willow does not have or has ever had a Social Worker ( being assessed some 4 years ago now ) , has she an entitlement to one please if anyone knows as if she did there is a Child Services contact centre near us where she could go for these visits and perhaps they could see what is going on with him !!. Many thanks for listening and we look forward to any help and advice given and gratefully recieved or if we could offer any in return or maybe just some old fashioned supporting conversation. Stay safe and well Sue & Dave ( Grandparents ) Hayley ( Mum ) and Willow
Hi Sue and Dave,Sorry to hear that you're having a difficult time with your granddaughter's family. I would suggest that you have a look at the page here on the NAS site about social care - https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/social-care - (scroll down to the section 'Social care for children in England/Scotland' etc based on where you are). Your granddaughter should be entitled to a social care assessment, care plan and social worker.
For general information which might help her father understand her autism diagnosis better, our main page for advice and guidance is here - https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance If you would like to speak to someone from NAS directly who maybe able to give you some more detailed advice and support, please contact our helpline, which you can find here - https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/helplineHope this is of some help, Ross - mod