Hello Readers
Completely not frugal related so feel free to pass over this post but I need a good rant and maybe there's some of you out there who can sympathize with what I am going through. If you have ever had any dealings with Autism and ADHD then I am sure you will be able to relate.
Here's the back story.....
I removed youngest son from school when he was not getting the help and support he needed (in fact they completely refused to acknowledge the fact he has Autism and ADHD) and home educated him for 2 years. At the beginning of this year I decided I had taken him as far as I could and that he needed to be in a more specialist educational setting. I set about getting him into a specialist school or at least a mainstream school with a specialist setting. The local education authority however had other ideas. Youngest son was put into a mainstream school with no special needs provision in June of this year and it has been a struggle ever since. It all started OK and he was doing full days for the first 5 weeks until he had a meltdown. He was excluded and when he was allowed to return they reduced his school day to 12pm. This worked for a little while until 6 weeks ago he had another meltdown and was excluded a second time. He was allowed to return but only doing 9am-10.45am and was told if there were any further incidents he would be excluded permanently. Since he started school in June I have been screaming and shouting to anyone that will listen that this is not the right setting for him and that he needs to be in a school where they know and are trained to deal with his very specific complex needs. He has been repeatedly restrained in spite of the fact no one has been taught to do this correctly or safely and as a result he is often left with bruises. Finally the education authority decided to do something but only after the school spoke up and said they can not cope with him or his needs (it appears a parents opinion is worth nothing). A my plan has been started which will outline all his needs, the type of provision he needs, and name a special needs setting if that's what they deem necessary. However a my plan takes 6 months to put together and in the meantime he has to stay at the mainstream school he is at and just get on with it.
Fast forward to this morning.....
I arrived at the school at 10.45am to collect youngest son to find him pinned down by 3 adults. He was crying, kicking out, and very frightened (wouldn't you be with 3 adults pinning you down so you cant move). When I entered the room he tried to come to me but they would not let him go so I just snatched him away from them, sat on the floor with him, and soothed him until he had calmed down enough that I could talk to the teacher and find out what had happened. It appears that there were several changes to his morning timetable that caused him to go into meltdown (anyone who knows about Autism knows they do not do well with change). He has been excluded for a 3rd time and I have to go in with him Wednesday morning where I fully expect to be told he is permanently excluded as he was on his last warning. Youngest son is devastated as am I. He enjoys school and has really been making some progress since his medication was changed 6 weeks ago. My heart aches for him and I just want to make everything OK for him. I told them this would happen, that he needed a specialist setting but they would not listen to me. As a result of budgeting and trying to save money wherever they can they have put my son and the staff of this school (which is a very nice school just not equipped to deal with special needs) through hell and now it looks like we will be back where we started with him being at home all day with me until they get there thumb out of their arse and put him in a suitable setting which could take months.
OK so rant over. Have any of you lovely readers gone through similar or do you have any advice for me ? I would love to hear from you.
Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx
I wish I could give you some advice Maria but this is something I can't really comment on , I don't really know much about it. I do hope that it is sorted out sooner than later for you, xx
ReplyDeleteThank you and me too. The whole thing is causing a lot of unneeded stress to all involved. Hey ho chin up and plod on I feel a little better for having a good rant about it anyway lol xxx
DeleteHi Maria,
ReplyDeleteI have gotten quite angry reading this - hope your little guy is okay.
As much as it angered me reading of what your son has been out through (and you) no doubt his confidence and self esteem affected, sadly its a very common story :(
Personally, I would see it as a bit of a blessing if he gets excluded, I know he will be down about that but at least you know he won't be pinned down again (illegal practice by the way) and now you should have some more weight to get him into a more appropriate setting.
Keep on at building his self esteem as I would be worried that its been knocked by the school.
I find both IPSEA & Contact a Family to give great free legal advice on education matters.
Let me know how you get on xx
Hi Amanda and welcome. They have decided to give him another chance despite me asking the head to officially exclude him so that the LEA would be forced to find him a more suitable setting. A my plan has been started and on Friday we will be having a meeting at the school with all the people involved with youngest son to see where we are with getting the right help in place for him. I was unaware that it is illegal to restrain pupils now, this is something I will raise at the meeting thank you. I will definitely look into the 2 contacts you have mentioned if I don't get the answers I want on Friday. I had never heard of either of them so thank you for that.
DeleteMuch Love
Maria xxx