Beneficiary Spotlight - James' Story

James was diagnosed with Autism in 2015. Family life was extremely difficult for James and his family due to his additional needs. His mum struggled before they found therapy for James. They managed to afford the therapy until their circumstances suddenly changed. That’s when they reached out. In October 2017 we funded £6,000 for James to receive Behavioural Therapy. This has been life changing for James and his family. James’s mum told us their story:

It’s always hard for me to try and describe our life before we started therapy for James. The words are hard to find. Basically, life was a complete struggle for the whole family, but especially for me, his mum. I had no idea of his potential and could not imagine his future. Screaming was a big part of it, constant non-stop screaming. He was unable to speak, his frustration levels were so high, he didn’t understand the world around him and we had no idea how to get through to him

Once we started behavioural therapy for James everything changed.

It gave him a way to communicate, first by sign, then by slowly using some words. Life is still extremely hard getting through each day, but we have help now, we have some understanding of him and we don’t feel so lost. We could see that the therapy was working for him and we were learning how to help him. With everything from going in and out of shops, walking down the street safely, toileting, eating, brushing his teeth etc. However, my husband was diagnosed with leukaemia and had to stop working for a year. We realised we couldn’t afford to keep paying for the therapy, but how could we stop it when we were starting to see a change in James.

We were thinking what will happen to him. Luckily, Cash for Kids gave us the support to keep going.

When we contacted places for support a lot of them were closing their doors to new applications because they were overwhelmed. There didn’t seem to be any help out there. Taylor Ed could have given us some free therapy, but they are closing their doors because of lack of funding. We had contact with professionals like Additional Support for Learning, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist etc. But these professionals are in contact with us about twice a year on the phone to give us advice, and really that’s just no use.

For James to progress he needs daily one-to-one therapy. I was amazed when we applied to Cash for Kids and were successful. It really was the last place for us to turn.

A trained therapist is quite expensive and this money from Cash for Kids has seen him through the year until he starts school. It is only 3 days a week, for 2hrs at a time, but its £500 a month and so it’s the best we can do just now. We hope that one day there will be schools for autistic children in Edinburgh.

The therapy James has ensures he catches up with his peers and will be able to be in a mainstream school. Without the therapy he would definitely have had to go to a special school.

Life is still extremely hard getting through each day, but we have help now, we have some understanding of him and we don’t feel so lost, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

We have been able to unlock our child, see him achieve things and be proud of himself. See him opening up to the world and understanding how smart he is, that he has a lot to give if he has the right support.

All I can say now is thank you!! You can’t ever know how much this funding means to our family, and to James and his future.

We are delighted to be able to support James and his family. As you can see we really were the last place for this family to turn.

Thanks to your support and fundraising you are changing the lives of children and families living right here in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife.

They desperately need our help and together, we are making a difference.