This short message comes form a parent who sums up what such a significant amount of parents of SEN children have to go through in terms of trying to get schools and other professionals to recognise masking*. This is where the relationship between parent/carers and teachers can become strained with the school unwilling to accept anything they witness themselves and parents feeling ignored, all the while the child continues to struggle. In some cases this leads to accusations of parents fabricating the child's conditions with safeguarding concerns put in based solely on someone asking for help. Although this is a national concern there is little to nothing done about this within the East Riding and definitely no accountability for the schools.
"For 3.5 years been told my daughter is brilliant at school and professionals not taking me seriously about her masking her behaviour and me needing support beyond school life and left to struggle alone when I’m constantly asking for help and support"
*Masking is a process by which an individual changes or "masks" their natural personality to conform to social pressures, abuse or harassment. Masking can be strongly influenced by environmental factors such as authoritarian parents, rejection, and emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. An individual may not even know they are masking because it is a behavior that can take many forms.
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