Battle – Tues 27th Sept 2016
By Jeannette | September 27, 2016
You would think that, once your child has a “label” – that diagnosis which will define further how others perceive them – that dealings bureaucracy would get a bit easier?
Nope.
Everything feels like a battle at the moment and it shouldn’t.
What’s occurring then? And I don’t wish to moan but sometimes, it’s useful to offload and in a way that my children can’t hear, which would worry them and goodness knows they have enough anxieties already.
Well, home-school transport for D is nowhere near sorted and my op is two weeks tomorrow.
When I’ve quoted the following to council transport officials, the answer is still an immediate “no”:
“The Education Act 1996 (s.508 (B) and Schedule 35) contains the definition of an “eligible” child for the purposes of receiving home to school transport. If a child falls within the definition, the law states that the Local Authority (LA) responsible for them must make the necessary suitable travel arrangements so that he or she can travel between home and school. Importantly, these must be provided free of charge.
The law requires the LA to arrange free, suitable, home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who are “eligible” to their nearest suitable school.
Having SEN and or a disability is one of the criteria for being an eligible child.”
Sounds pretty straight-forward doesn’t it? D is unable to walk to school on her own, her lack of road sense, anxieties around strangers and her lower emotional intelligence mean that it’s just not an option.
I don’t want her to travel solely in a taxi where I have no idea if the driver has been DBS cleared, I want her to feel safe and secure and be around fellow pupils – just until I’m mobile again, so it’s not for ever – just an exceptional circumstance for a period of two months. We see the school buses going into school with empty seats, what difference does it make if one picks up another child en route?
For years, school were pushing the transport option at me, I felt in the minority because I chose to walk her to school, it’s sometimes been angst-filled (going past other schools) but we found a route to suit D and it was beneficial to have that extra bit of time together.
But now we need assistance and it’s just not there. The SEN children’s team seem guided by “computer says no” and have suggested that, because I’m choosing to temporarily “disable” myself (believe me, if I could I wouldn’t be), then adult social services should get involved – how that helps I don’t know, if anything it will disrupt our household more.
It just doesn’t seem fair. At a time when I’m already running (ha!) around like a blue-bottomed fly trying to get everything sorted for two weeks time, my mind is in overdrive because, fundamentally, my daughter is being let down by the authorities, over someone that shouldn’t be an issue because, as she has a “label” – according to both IPSEA and gov.uk – there shouldn’t be any question of her entitlement.
Stress, much?
Leave Your Comment