“When March [2020] came along, obviously the first thing we heard was that all the schools were closing. Although Jack could have stayed at college, we decided to keep him at home. It took a long time but we eventually got a letter from the NHS, probably about six or seven weeks into the first lockdown, to say that Jack was considered extremely clinically vulnerable so had to be shielded.

Special needs education brings along with it not just learning but physio, occupational therapy, swimming and art therapy. Overnight, all of those services just stopped. We felt incredibly vulnerable as a family because then we had to see to all his needs.

He suffers from anxiety, which then leads to seizures. With all the daily briefings on the television, he would be impacted emotionally by what was going on. And, of course, we couldn’t leave the house.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.