Households of autistic youngsters are refusing to ship them to high school over security issues.
Two households in West Sussex have instructed the native authority that the college setting is unsafe for his or her youngsters.
Charlotte Gover with daughter Emily. Gover says households throughout the nation face a battle to get the correct assist for his or her youngsters
Charlotte Gover says her autistic daughter Emily, 10, suffers from Crohn’s illness. College-related stress has made the situation worse, she says.
Wrestle with anxiousness
Gover says Emily’s Crohn’s is in a state of “fixed flare”, and he or she additionally struggles with anxiousness.
She mentioned Emily went by means of a profitable trial at a particular college, however the native authority refused to think about it.
Gover mentioned her schooling, well being and care plan (EHCP) entitles her to occupational remedy, small class sizes and sensory regulation.
However she mentioned provision at Emily’s present college has been “missed, inconsistent or absent”.
College versus security and fines
In a message, Gover wrote that she is pressured to decide on between sending Emily to high school, or protecting her “at house for her security” and thereby risking “fines or prosecution”.
She says households throughout the nation face an identical battle for the correct assist.
One other West Sussex mum, Rachel Hardy, instructed the BBC that her eight-year-old son Ellis, who has autism and ADHD, has not been to high school since November 2024.
She mentioned she was seeing a rise in incidents the place he was “hurting himself or hurting different youngsters”.
Hardy mentioned her son’s EHCP stipulates that he ought to get one-to-one assist, however he has not been receiving it.
Dramatic enhance in want for assist
A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council mentioned, as is the case elsewhere throughout the nation, it has seen a “dramatic enhance” in youngsters who want assist for particular academic wants and disabilities (SEND).
The spokesperson mentioned that in 2015, there have been simply over 3,400 youngsters with EHCPs in West Sussex, however now the determine is greater than 10,000.
The council mentioned it continues to foyer the federal government for funding for councils “to be distributed on a fairer foundation than it’s at present carried out to mirror want and demand,” added the assertion.
Autism Eye contacted the Division for Schooling, nevertheless it has but to reply.
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