What a difference a year makes

This time last year Jade had only just started answering the register in class. She could read to her teacher, but apart from that did not speak to adults in the school apart from her TA. She had refused to take part in Sports Day. She would not respond to direct questions from anybody. Now, on her last day of primary school, these are her achievements over the past few months:

 - she has been talking well in class since the beginning of the school year;

- she has talked to a different class TA, as well as the teacher;

- she has taken part in Sports Day and come 2nd in her race;

 - she has been doing the Bus Register every morning all year, asking and checking who will be travelling on the school bus that evening;

- she went on the Year 6 residential trip, 2 nights and 3 days away at an outdoor activity centre. She had been adamant she wasn't going to stay overnight right up to the first day there, but towards the end of the afternoon of the 1st day she said she wanted to stay. She loved it!

- she has had a conversation with her riding instructor privately while untacking the pony in the stable at the end of a lesson. She did return to me a bit teary and has been unable to say why, but she semi-agreed it was due to the pressure of the situation, the instructor hadn't said anything difficult or unpleasant (I wouldn't have dreamed that she would have), and Jade had been able to answer the questions;

- she goes round to the shop at our local petrol station to buy sweets, and says she speaks while doing so;

- she went on the bus to her future Secondary School for two induction days, and told me she spoke to a few teachers while there;

- yesterday she spoke to the Headteacher for the first time ever, while explaining the design on her stone for the 'Spiritual Garden' being set up in the school;

 - this morning, she spoke in the school assembly, talking about a shield she and her friend had designed for one of the members of staff;

- this afternoon, she spoke in church at the Leavers' Service, in front of the whole school and many parents, along with all the other Year 6 pupils, describing their stone designs for the Spiritual Garden.

She has come so much further than I ever could have dreamed a year ago. The outlook for her future has changed drastically over the past 12 months. I can now foresee a normal future for her, instead of one where she couldn't function properly or get a job or enjoy social occasions with friends. I am more confident than I ever could have dreamed that she will flourish at secondary school. There is still room for things to go wrong, and for her to regress, but every single report I have ever heard about the school is that it is excellent, especially for those who need some extra support, and I've not heard a bad word about it.

She still has her areas of difficulty - at our first appointment with the psychologist for CBT yesterday she squashed herself into the same chair as me, studiously read a book while the psychologist was speaking to her and did her best to avoid any interaction, and was clearly quite uncomfortable. She still cannot speak to many people, for example my Mum, my brothers, and others. She is unlikely to initiate conversation even with people she can respond to. And she is quick to be moody, grumpy and stroppy even out in public, with people commenting on her angry or miserable appearance especially if she feels any attention is on her. But these are difficulties that I am now more confident can be ironed out in due course.

An amazing day, and one that for a very long time I thought I would never see.