caci

If you opt for home education, there is little, if any financial support available. . This could mean problems if you intend to follow exam courses, as although the resources for study are relatively cheap, finding an exam centre and paying for sitting the exams can be time consuming and costly. Sorry, this sounds all negative. We home educate, and we love it. Home education gives you amazing freedom if your child doesn't fit into the standard education system, however if you are trying to re-create school at home, it may require a bit of forward planning. If you intend to study for exams, it may be a good idea to join a group like http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HE-Exams-GCSE-A_AS_Levels-OU-Others/ Good luck with whatever you decide.

I don't have any personal experience of appealing for a place for a NT child, but I know someone who has tried. The NT child had a disabled sibling, and the family situation was a bit like yours (someone needed at home to meet taxi for disabled child, parents could be needed at short notice for appointments with disabled child etc) and the appeal commitee ruled that NONE of those issues were relevant to the appeal. What they want is proof that this is the right choice for the child you are applying for the place for. If it is not too late, can you re-word things a bit ? Things like ...leaving your son long hours with a childminder is distressing for such a young child, and point out how much better it would be for HIM to be taken to and from school by his parents Basically you need to be seen to put this child's interests first (which I know you are)

Congratulations

Cathcart - could you give us any more details on this please ?

Have you considered those taps like you find in public toilets ? The ones where they only run for a minute or so, unless you re-push the top.

With hindsight, I wish I had insisted on more accuarate information about the peers our son would be with at special secondary school (he went through M/S primary, and was the only one from his school NOT to go to the local M/S secondary) We struggled to make things work for over a year, but our son never quite fitted in at the special school.

For a child, getting a diagnosis is often the gateway to other services, (especially from the education system) but that is unlikely for an adult. Can you explain (to the GP, not us) WHY you think you would benefit from getting a diagnosis ?

No specific advise, but in our area, kids are not routinely offered BGC. Those considered high risk, can have the BCG at their GP, but none given at schools. It might be worth finding out if your son is considered high risk for TB, and base your decission around that.

How old are the children ? With younger ones, it is easy to create a "best smile of the week", type of award.

Much as I hate smoking, I guess the truth is, from what you have said, your son would be smoking if he was still at school. At least he is taking about this with you, and he appears to be fully aware of the consequencies. My suggestion is, you agree to the herbal cigarettes, but the cost of them has to come from his pocket money. You could also insist he goes into the garden to smoke them.

I belong to another forum, where, if a topic is becoming heated, and a moderator has been posting, a different moderator is asked to step in and moderate.

OOPs, my post wasn't very clear. I meant possible communication problems of having AS and needing to deal with officialdom, not the actual language issues - sorry

There has been a lot of very sensible advise already on here, but I have something else to throw into the debate.... How confident are you at dealing with the authorities abroad, if you need to seek emergency help on your friend's behalf ?

If you are happy to read online, then BBC news will give you a general overview of news headlines. You can then select world news, UK news, sport, politics, health, education, or various other topics, for more indepth stories. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

When my neice (NT) was in 6th form, the timetable for both upper and lower 6th was "Rec" for one afternoon a week. This was officially recreation/sport/PE and all students were allowed off site, after getting their afternoon mark, to pursue which ever activity they chose. Some chose golf, swimming etc, but others decided to go to the park and throw a frisbie around. As far as I know, only those claiming EMA (?) had to "prove" they did a physical activity.