HI its been a while

[mom on a mission]

hi all, its been a long time since ive visited you all, i havent been up to facing much recently ill explain briefly my son asd attends a special school where he is settled but very passive and uses no spoken language whilst there although he has fluent speach we have just had his statement review where it was suggested that he now enters a mainstream school we refused and for the time being he is to stay where he is with a review in six months however they are pushing extremely hard to get him into mainstream which we are totally against as we know that he wont cope we have asked him if hed like to try but he says no he has been before and couldnt cope with the amount of children there i dont know what to do iam sure they were suggesting that he isnt asd at all and its just us not controling him despite the fact that hes undergone sveral assessments and all diagnosed asd i really dont know what to do i have given them copies of the passive child pretending to be normal thread but it hasnt made any difference i feel defeated and lost and so tired i cant eat sleep i feel sick all of the time i know my baby wont cope with mainstream aand i know iam going to be left with no opptions at this rate i dont know how else to make them listen and understand iam weak and a failer to my son as ive nothing left to fight with

[oracle]

Two things - One have you been to IPSEA - if not please contact them they will hep you fight and maybe even give yo the will to fight back. Here is there link http://www.ipsea.org.uk/

 

Two if it all really does go pear shaped and they win would you, or could you, consider Home Educating? It is not nearly as scary as making a child attend a school that you know for a fact is going to damage them.

 

<'> Carole <'>

[mom on a mission]

hi carole and thank you for your reply ive just looked at the link and i will definatly give them a call tomorrow i have been considering home educating as i think it would suit my son better but the school have said if i do that it will hold him back and that i need permision to home educate and the the lea dont give it that easy i was also told that i would have to follow strict guide lines i would love to be able to have him at home i have looked into a program to follow but iam unable to afford the fees they charge i dont know what to do i am usually a strong person and always fight for what i believe is right but at the miniute ive lost that spirit i wish i could get it back but after nearly 3 years of battle ive had enough i just want my familys life back

[Suze]

Hi MOM welcome back <'> <'> , don,t stop fighting were all here to support you big hugs.. <'> <'>

[mossgrove]

Ipsea are a wondeful source of support, I have heard many good things about them. You may wish to consider joing a local support group as these things can be much less scary if you can link up with other parents who understand.

 

You might want to consider writing to your MP as well. It doesnt always do any good, but they can make people back down sometimes.

 

Who is suggesting that he goes to mainstream school? How you approach it will depend on who is pushing inclusion into mainstream in the first place.

 

Simon

[mom on a mission]

hi simon , thanxs for replying it was the educational psychologist who first started to push for mainstream and now she has my sons teacher on board and from there the head teacher we seem to have nobody fighting our corner and we are exhausted from it all just want a little normality back in our lives and if something aint broke why try and fix it I dont understand how proffessionals think

[hev]

i know it doesnt work for everyone but after months of fighting i wrote to and saw my mp and steven now has a place at a special school,im not saying it will work for you but it wont do any harm trying,i know its hard to keep fighting,i had many low times when steve was out of school but everyone on here encouraged me to keep going and im so glad i never gave into mainstream which is what the LEA wanted,steve wouldnt have coped at all,thinking of you love hev

[Jericho]

Welcome back to the forum. Sorry it isn't under better circumstances. <'>

 

There are a lot of parents on here who home-educate and will be able to tell you all about what rights you have. They will also be able to help you with the admin side of it too. Good luck. <'>

[jlp]

I don't home educate but I'm pretty sure that you don't need permission as such from the LEA - you write stating your intentions and I think they come out and see that you are providing an education for your child. It doesn't have to be that you follow the national curriculum or anything formal like that.

 

I found this link for you, I've heard other people speak well of them http://www.education-otherwise.org/

 

As I said I don't personally home educate, I don't know if I could cope with my son all day (I'd reconsider if things got bad at school however) but from your post it sounded like something you'd like to look into and it sounds like the LEA aren't giving you the correct impartial information.

 

Hope this helps.

 

xx

[Zemanski]

As your son has a statement and that is a legally binding document you do need to show that his statement will be met.

 

this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do it all as the lea are still responsible for the provision but they can be very awkward about it sometimes - using it as an excuse to stop you home educating.

 

however, that said, I have actually never heard of the lea doing that, they are usually glad to get rid of the hassle.

 

 

here's a useful bit on the rules from the code of practice

 

Education otherwise than at school

 

8:91 Children with statements may be educated otherwise than at school because:

(a) the LEA has made other arrangements

or

( parents have made suitable arrangements of their own.

 

8:92 Section 319 of the Education Act 1996 empowers the LEA to arrange for some or all

of a child?s special educational provision to be made otherwise than at school. Such

arrangements would include education in a pupil referral unit, home tuition or education

that reflected key stage 4 flexibilities.

 

8:94 The LEA should consider carefully any representations made by parents in favour of their

child attending an establishment outside England and Wales. If the LEA consider that

some or all of a child?s special educational provision should be made otherwise than at

school, including attending an institution outside England and Wales, they may specify

those arrangements in Part 4 of the statement.

 

8:95 Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 recognises parents? right to choose to educate their

child at home. Such arrangements are described as ?education otherwise than at school?.

In such cases, if the child has a statement of special educational needs, it remains the

LEA?s duty to ensure that the child?s needs are met. The statement must remain in force

and the LEA must ensure that parents can make suitable, provision, including provision

for the child?s special educational needs. If the parent?s arrangements are suitable the LEA

are relieved of their duty to arrange the provision specified in the statement. If, however,

the parents? attempt to educate the child at home results in provision which falls short of

meeting the child?s needs, then the parents are not making ?suitable arrangements? and

the LEA could not conclude that they were absolved of their responsibility to arrange the

provision in the statement. Even if the LEA is satisfied, the LEA remains under a duty to

maintain the child?s statement and to review it annually, following the procedures set out

in Chapter Nine.

 

8:96 In such situations section 324 (4A) of the Education Act 1996 does not require the name

of a school to be specified in part 4 of the statement. Part 4 should state the type of

school the LEA consider appropriate but go on to say that: �parents have made their own

arrangements under section 7 of the Education Act 1996.� The statement can also

specify any provision that the LEA have agreed to make under section 319 to help

parents provide suitable education for their child at home.

 

Zemanski

[alibaly]

they are trying to frighten you and how dare they suggest they can meet your childs needs better than you can. You are the best person for your child.