When one door closes, another one shuts

I always feel like I should start each post with a confession these days. Bless me, reader, for I have sinned. It has been nine months since my last post. But it's a sign of how far Cactus and I have come on this journey that there are fewer post-worthy events now. We have arrived at our new normal and I have nothing new or insightful to share. However, every now and then there's a bump in the road which jolts my inner Tiger Mother awake.

This week Cactus had an early GCSE exam - a proper one, not a mock. We spoke to the school about accommodations way back, and our preference was for her to sit all exams in isolation. Whilst the school couldn't guarantee that this would be possible, they agreed that she could have preferred seating at the very front of the exam hall so there would be no misokinesia triggers from other candidates, and that she could wear her silicone earplugs to block out any sound triggers. So far so good with that.

But on the afternoon of this week's exam I had a call from the head teacher. Apparently Cactus had finished the exam early and sat jiggling her leg and tapping her foot. She was told a couple of times to be quiet, initially didn't comply, but then did. After the exam a number of other students complained that they had been distracted and therefore disadvantaged. The upshot of which is that she has been written up for malpractice and may face a penalty, or even disqualification.

I feel desperately sorry for any students who may have lost marks because of the distraction, and if I was in THEIR parents' shoes I would no doubt be going full Tiger Mother on their behalf too. Their argument, that Cactus has concessions to avoid distracting noises but is free to make them herself, is compelling.

But here's the thing. I've been through all the awarding body guidance documents and can't find anything to differentiate involuntary distracting sounds (coughing, sniffing or sneezing for example) from deliberate ones. Cactus's leg jiggling was involuntary, nervous and stress related. Her anxiety levels were off the scale. She certainly wasn't doing it on purpose.

And here's the other thing. Because of her earplugs she couldn't hear the sound she was making, and she couldn't hear the invigilator quietly telling her to stop. In solving one problem, we have created another.

Thankfully the school have recognised this and written to all their invigilators to clarify. We'll just have to wait and see what, if any, action the awarding body will take. I am mentally composing our appeal already.

It seems there are a few more twists and turns in this journey yet.