My name is Jennifer Norman and I am an American citizen. Five years ago, my husband and I had our first date at Betty's Tea Room, in York. As if the charm of being in such a lovely, historic city with my future husband, 4,000 miles from home wasn't enough, a man even played the piano next to our table while we had tea. I'll always remember the feeling of butterflies in my stomach from the excitement of visiting a new country and finding the one person I wanted to explore it with. Although it was almost unbearable, I returned to the US after my visit and we continued our relationship long-distance.

My husband is a British citizen who was born and resides in Leicestershire. He has a fifteen year old son with special needs from a previous relationship whom he raised entirely on his own since birth. I was really moved by this and could see he had poured his heart and soul into his son. I was inspired by his strength and very much wanted to become a family and to be the mother my stepson had missed out on. 

In 2011 UK law changed which allowed us to be married without the need to apply for a special visa. We were so excited to finally have the chance to start a life together that I returned to the UK and we married in 2012. Shortly after, we were blessed with the arrival of our son, William. Bringing a child into the world was the single most incredible experience of my life and I was dedicated from that moment to give him the best life I possibly could. In 2013 we welcomed a beautiful daughter into our lives and our little family was complete. We felt our dream had been realised!

Last year, it became apparent that our son, William, was struggling to meet the developmental milestones that other children his age were reaching and he was having profound sensory-related problems. At two years old the only word he spoke was "Mama" and he was completely dependent on us for 24/7 support. He didn't even know how to play. We thought perhaps he could learn from the example of other children his age and so we enrolled him in a local nursery school for extra support. It was after three sessions that his program manager pulled me aside and said they didn't have the staff to support him. She said she felt she couldn't even put coloured pencils out for arts and crafts because my son would bite on them and it wasn't fair to the other students. I broke down in tears and and I cancelled his registration that day. My heart broke that afternoon and I felt like I was already failing my son and he was just two years old. I felt sad for my little boy who needed to be treated like the individual he was, not excluded because he was different. He needed me and I wasn’t going to let him down.

This September, both of our young children have started pre-school and are thriving. My stepson has accepted me into his life as his mother and is deciding which college courses he wants to take. William is receiving 1:1 support throughout the day from a member of staff and he is settling very well into his new surrounding. In addition to being on the pathway for diagnosis of Autism, he has been diagnosed with PICA and found to have Sensory Integration Disorder, with severely impaired vestibular and proprioceptive senses. Now that we have this information we are able to find new ways of teaching him and we have found some approaches are working with great success! It has helped explain why William cannot walk down stairs on his own, potty train successfully and has poor awareness of where his bod is in relation to other things. William turned three this August and still only says “Mama” and can only effectively communicate by taking my hand and leading me to things he wants. He has no danger awareness and his love for cars means he will happily walk into moving traffic to see them closer. He makes very limited eye contact with others, including my husband and has taken preference to my parenting in his daily routine. And yet, he has come a long way from the problems he was facing a year ago. I work closely with his Early Years support team, speech and language therapist, educational psychologist, paediatrician, occupational therapist and pre-school staff on a regular basis. There are weekly appointments for both my son and daughter, as well as home-based teaching sessions and speech and language lessons for each of them.

Although as a term of my visa I have not been allowed to work or claim benefits during my time in the UK, I have been supporting other parents with children who have autism and sensory issues by volunteering in my local community. I feel empowered by my own experience and am eager to help other families who are desperate for support. I have created a regular sensory newsletter for parents with ideas of exercises and activities for them to try at home with their children. I am actively involved in the start of a sensory workshop for parents to attend and have been working with other volunteers on the establishment of a permanent sensory room for children to come and enjoy. I am proud to be part of my community and to be able to give back in some small way after all of the support my children have received through local services.

I am applying for a Leave to Remain visa for the UK so that I may become more established here. Everything I love is now in the UK and I am hoping my application for Leave to Remain will be successful. This petition was created as a means of support from a Human Rights (Article 8) standpoint, should I require it, and is strictly for the purpose of demonstrating that my community supports my application to remain in the UK.

Your consideration means the world to me and my family and I thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to continuing to be a part of your community!