Why do so many parents of Autistic children, experience so much stress with regards to their education?

Question

been doing some 'ferreting' online & some families have to fight the LEA (Local Education Authority) tooth & nail for over 13 years!!!

i've been fighting for only 2 years & they even 'underhandedly' altered the severity of his 'banding' (from D to E) just so the local special needs school would accept him....which they won't as on meeting him have said 'he's too able' for this school.

Why can't a legit system be put in place so future generations of parents of autistic children don't have to go through the 'c**p' that SO many of us have already gone through

Answer 1

I myelf have Aspergers, a form of Autism and I went through Mainstream highschool system for England

The school i was at in Burnley had some of the best S.E.N (special education needs) in lancashire, so in a way I was lucky.

They provided me with someone to talk to to help me with homework, anger, bullying, relationship problems, anything! Plus my tutor was the head of the S.E.N dept.

I think parents just worry a lot because they know bullying occurs a lot in school and that their child, particulary one with a disability of sort, like Autism, will be a bigger, more obvious Target. I was bullied for all my school life up till 3rd year in Highschool and I started to fight back. I put one of the bullies in hospital, got excluded for 3 days for standing up for myself and believing in fighting back against bullying (the headmaster at the time was a complete psycho nutjob and was already sacked from one school as head because he was a nutter and didn't know what he was doing because he was power mad).

Who is to say the LEA have a right to put kids in a specific band and say if they have rights to S.E.N? They shouldn't. I am fortunate enough to have been given the diagnosis at 11 years old. They should decide on what is best for each child with the doctor, teacher, parents and most importantly the child itself, not just band them in and send them off to the school.

Answer 2

In the US, students are in these programs through an IEP (Individual Education Plan).  Most parents don't know that they are just as important in the input of the IEP as the teachers.  

If you are not in the US I don't know how to work the system, but the US parents have power they don't usually use.   Schools don't want the parents "interfering" because parents sometimes get emotional and don't listen to the professional educators.  On the other hand, professional educators are paid to keep these students in their system so don't encourage outside programs that are available because the schools have to pay for them if they can't provide the same services.

Hope this helps, just not enough info to go further.

Answer 3

If you have a brand new Final Amended (it must be a Final Amended) that's less then sixty days old, you can appeal to SENDIST regarding you child's school place.  Find a school you think would suit your child, make an argument to say that this is suitable for him, convince the chair of the Tribunal that he needs to go this school.  Alternatively, you might like to find a solicitor to help you,

http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/Cont...

You don't have to confine your choices to the state maintained schools within Essex, you can also nominate independent schools like Radlett Lodge in Herts or Woodcroft School in Epping Forest.  You can use this to find the schools that closest to you both state and independent:

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports

I also use this one

http://www.schoolsearch.co.uk/browse_jce...

There is a system in place, some know how to use it, some don't - you'd be surprised at the number of people fighting their Local Authorities tooth & nail who don't actually need to fight but do it because they can.

Answer 4

I hear ya. It's the same here in USA. Even though the 'system'  *IS*  legit,   the reason schools do all this is becuase there is no one to enforce them to do right and follow FEDERAL LAWS.

Here in USA, the laws that mandate special ed in schools are FEDERAL.

And here in USA, everyone EXCEPT everyone in the education field, gets fines and/or prison time for violating FEDERAL LAWS.

People in education field are EXEMPT from FEDERAL law.

ANd the schools are hurting our CHILDREN, the FUTURE of our country!  And everyone is just sitting back and letting it happen.

I get so many thumbs down here when I try to tell people how bad schools are.

Yes I *KNOW* that not *ALL* schools are bad, but I have  *NEVER* heard of one that is  *GOOD*.

The people who think schools are good are --

1. people that do not have children in special ed

2. people who think the school is correct in everything when in fact they are not because the people don't know the laws themselves, so they don't know how wrong the school is.

This mainly counts for teachers. They unknowingly think the school is right and just go along with whatever they say and do.

OR, they DO know the laws and do what the administrators tell them so they wont' lose their jobs, even if this means to hurt the child and NOT do the job they were hired to do!

This is not just autism, this is going on for EVERY disability in schools. I don't know how bad it is in UK, but it is horrible here in USA.

I fought for 8 yrs for 2 children and one grandchild in 3 different school districts and 6 different schools and the state dept of education,   dealing with about 40 people who all DID and SAID the same ILLEGAL THINGS!!

One was even a BLIND SCHOOL!!

And NOTHING, I mean NOTHING got done.

Answer 5

It's all about the money. Parents don't always know all the laws, and schools are used to making whatever choice saves them time and/or money. Once a parent comes in and decides to fight for what is legally correct, the school doesn't hardly know what to do (like follow the law!)

There are laws, a 'system' in place to help every child, in the US and in Britain. Just few parents know it.

Answer 6

I was a behavioural therapist for autistic children in Hong Kong. There, parents of autistic children  have to fork out 16000 pounds a year for therapy per child (nothing is funded by the government). I only met those children who had wealthy parents, goodness knows how the others survived. By comparison British parents have it lucky. But I agree with you that facilities for autistic children are woefully underfunded and inadequate.