Background
A mother of a six-year-old boy, diagnosed with autism, contacted our service for support in August.
During consultation, the mother reported that her son had been admitted to a local mainstream school of her choice, close to where she lived and where her older two children attended.
She stated that her son started off really well with all the school staff onboard supporting and supervising him.
The boy has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and was allocated a Learning Support Assistant for 20 hours a week, along with other professionals who visited him in school. She has a good relationship with school staff, and throughout the reception year, her son was happy and his needs were met.
The Challenge
However, this year (2016), the school advised the boy’s parents to consider a specialist school on the grounds that they did not have enough funding for the child’s increasing educational needs.
As with any caring parents, the mum and dad felt let down, disappointed and very upset about the news. As a result, they began planning to appeal and go to tribunal in order to keep their child in the school.
Fortunately, a close friend advised them to seek an independent opinion, and they contacted us at Sosalin.
Our Approach
On assessment with one of our consultants, we found that the child’s educational needs had changed since he was first assessed at the age of four, when his EHCP was written. For example, at the age of four, his literacy difficulties were not yet apparent. However, by the age of six, it had become apparent that he was struggling with literacy, was not yet toilet trained, and was still non-verbal. On the basis of our findings, we recommended that the child’s needs would be best met in a specialist school environment.
Working collaboratively with the family, joint goals were set. The family expressed their wish for their child to achieve functional skills such as communication, basic reading skills, and being able to bathe, brush his teeth and use the toilet independently.
The Outcome
Our team here at Sosalin identified suitable specialist schools and supported the family through the process of choosing the right one. The boy is now happily placed in a specialist school that provides tailored support for children with a range of learning and physical difficulties. The school is fully funded to provide a safe, supportive, and structured environment, with opportunities for children to build functional and social skills and self-confidence.
The family is now happy that their child is making progress in all aspects of his life.
To them, their child being asked to leave his previous school turned out to be a blessing in disguise — had the school not done so, they might never have considered other options for their child’s education.