A REDRUTH mum has written a book to share her experience of parenting a neurodiverse child. Nicki Isaacs has had to give up work as an events organiser to be at home for her 12-year-old daughter, who has not attended mainstream school since September last year.

No Filter – Raising a Neurodivergent Child When the World Won’t Bend is based on Nicki’s journals and was launched at The Alverton in Truro at the end of June, in the presence of councillors including Connor Donnithorne and Steven Webb, and representatives from charities including Kernow Home Start and Dyslexia Cornwall.

Nicki offers an unflinching insight into her life, from striving daily to get daughter Moo – a childhood nickname – to attend school, to the complicated process of applying for special educational needs (SEND) support from Cornwall Council.

“I’ve been keeping a journal for years, but it took a lot of soul-searching to turn them into a book, because it exposes us and I worried what people would think,” she says.

“But I know I would have given anything to read someone’s first-hand account, because this is the loneliest path to walk. I wanted to help people in a similar situation, while raising awareness for others.

“I sent the book to close friends and family first. One, a teacher, said: “You must publish this now!” Another said: ‘It’s a powerful book because it’s the truth.’”

Of the SEND system in Cornwall, Nicki says: “If it was a car, I’d be taking it back to the dealer and saying ‘it doesn’t work, it’s not safe’. I’m not sure what the problem is – perhaps that it’s understaffed, or that too many people involved in decision making but do not talk to each other.”

Moo, she claims, “falls through the cracks – she is not severe enough for some, but too much for others”. She exhibits “fight or flight” behaviour around going to school, including vomiting, agarophobia and “meltdowns”, which Nicki describes as “overwhelm” and require hours of rest to come round.

The problem was evident from Moo’s primary school years, and escalated with the move to secondary education. “Her primary school was amazing; I would drive Moo in, a teacher would come out to meet us in the car park and Moo would go in,” says Nicki.

“They did this once at secondary school, then called me and said I had to pick her up early. That was Moo’s last day at mainstream school.

“At primary, you have one teacher and one room – it’s consistent. In secondary, everything changes, and it becomes much more difficult for children who are neurodiverse.

“But when it came to her Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, the school said it couldn’t meet her needs. I think it can’t be bothered to meet them. It’s left us in the lurch.”

More recently, Moo has benefited from one-to-one tuition. Meanwhile, Nicki has sold her book via Amazon and direct to customers at agricultural fairs including Stithians and Camborne. “It’s as much about talking to people and raising awareness,” she says. “It keeps me sane.”