desperate Report post Posted May 21, 2005 Hi all, we have neil's exclusion appeal on Thursday and I desperately need advice on how I can convince them that they had made a lot of progress with Neil. For the first time in his entire school life he has been recieving the therapy that he so desperately needed. He has made friends for the first time ever and he so badly wants to go back there. He spent ten months working hard to make the placement a success and then when the sat's came about he feel off the cliff. All the old anxieties and memories came back and he resorted to verbal abuse and acted like the caged animal of old. "quotes from his speech therapy report:- Neil's inability to interpret social material at the rapid pace of daily life will have direct consequences on the way he responds to others and how he presents himself. His inability to infer meaning is significantly weak and this will be evident in his daily life. Neil does not understand many aspects of non verbal communication. He uses a limited range of facial expressions he needs to be able to improve this so that his intentions will not be misunderstood. He has a tendancy to avoid social interaction rather than seeking it and this is a result of previous unsuccessful experiences. His use of eye contact is poor and his tone of voice monotonous he does not always reply immediately when spoken to and this delay can give the message that he is not interested. He has difficulty in interpreting the intentions of others and to predict the possible outcomes of situations and this will continue to be a challenge for him. She said that when Neil is calm he is one of the nicest boys in the school and she enjoys working with him. Surely this can't all be lost because of one day of melt down. Neil will not be found another placement if this one fails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted May 21, 2005 hi desperate, there are several ports of call for advice and help that might be of interest. http://www.ipsea.org.uk http://www.ace-ed.org.uk http://www.nas.org.uk (excellent education advocacy service, but sometimes it does take a while for someone to get back to you.) Disability Rights Commission http://www.drc-gb.org Disability Law Service 020 7791 9800 Parent Partnership might be able to help as well, doe Neil have a Statement of SEN, this is meant to act as a protection as well, The DRC have a really useful book Code of Practice for Schools, Disability Discrimination Act 1995:Part 4. In this the DDA is clearly explained, and there is a section on exclusions which is really useful. The school have to be able to justify the exclusion, they have to prove that reasonable steps were taken to prevent an incident happening in the first place. If this hasn't been done, then it may not be possible for the school to justify exclusion. Also the ACE handbook on SEN quotes from legislation that statemented pupils should only be excluded in exceptonal circumstances. Hope this helps, HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted May 22, 2005 Hi desperate, You have very good evidence from the professionals working with Neil, you also have clear evidence that the school didn't report any problems before this incident. Have a look at the Code of Practice Chapter 3, it gives lots of information on Pupil Participation. It also states - Children, who are capable of forming views, have a right to receive and make known information, to express an opinion, and to have that opinion taken into account in any matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given due weight according to the age, maturity and capability of the child. See Articles 12 and 13, The United Nations Vonvention on the Rights of the Child. I suggest that Neil gives evidence of his own to the exclusion appeal along with his wishes for the future. It is probably not appropriate for Neil to attend this appeal and it would be far too stressful to give his views in person, but he could put is views in writing or possibly using a dictaphone. Is there a teacher or professional that he has worked with previously who would help him do this. It would also carry more weight if this was carried out by someone who understood Neil and understood his language and communication difficulties. Neil will not be found another placement if this one fails. If you think that Neil would benefit from another placement then I would push the LEA to provide this. They obviously thought that a residential school was right when they placed him there. The evidence shows he was making progress. You could argue for an ASD specific school on the grounds that he needs full understanding of his AS. You could also argue that they sent him to an inappropriate school, a school with full understanding of AS would not have excluded him for those reasons. They have a legal duty to meet the provision on his statement. You also have the evidence the professionals have provided at his present school. Wish I could be more helpful. The very best of luck with the appeal on Thursday. Please keep us posted. Nellie <'> <'> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
