School lateness punishments, neurodiversity and the law

And waits depend on the ICB. Some have paused referrals.

From one provider’s website:

‘Waiting times for NHS Right to Choose assessments vary depending on where you live. Each area is managed by an NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), which sets how many assessments providers can deliver each year.
For 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027, some ICBs have set reduced activity levels, meaning fewer assessments can be offered during this period. As a result, waiting times may be longer than usual and, in some cases, may extend beyond March 2027.’

She really won't need to learn how to cope with busy corridors for her work - she can make choices that fit with her needs - the only time she'll have to learn to deal with a busy corridor is at school - let's not pretend, the school environment is not "normal" thankfully!

What would help?

Leaving 1 min early would not - as pp said, that isnt enough to avoid the rush.

Loop ear plugs are banned. Are smaller earplugs banned? Would they even notice the foam ones?

Does she have any friends who would be moving to the same class that she could walk with? Even if not every time, this may reduce some absence.

Could she set an alarm on her watch so that if she is finding peace outside it reminds her to start moving so she isnt late.

Could she recite something in her head or under her breath - song lyrics, a poem, something she remembers - to give her some meditative calm/focus as she moves through the crowded corridors.

Similar to above with fidget toys?

Does she have a locker and where? Could this be moved to a low traffic area to reduce overwhelm when changing supplies.

Put everything in a large backpack so she has her hands free and isnt trying to hold onto books/a coat as she navigates the corridor.

Taking on an unsupportive to ND school is a big and long term battle. You may choose to fight it. Although challenging since you dont actually have a diagnosis. In the meantime, I think you need to come up with some strategies that fit the current situation, otherwise shes going to keep missing lessons while you work on the bigger picture.

It IS different.

A person in a wheelchair can't walk and can't learn to walk. A person with ADHD can learn coping strategies but I bet rarely hear of anyone advised to do that before asking employers and schools for adjustments.

So my daughter has a 5 min pass. She doesn't use it often but did use it to leave CDT 1 minute early to avoid the rush out of school (she was being bullied for her religion by a group of boys who would wait for her at the school exit) and used it a few times to get between French and Maths (down 4 flights of stairs, across a parking lot and up 4 flights of stairs - totally doable now she's used to it but she got so anxious about being late she fell down the stairs a couple times). She doesn't like a fuss so wouldn't stand up in the middle of teaching to leave, she waits for the packing up time and leaves a little bit early quietly.

Many children find that difficult, my DD certainly did, small, shy girl struggling through crowds of much bigger boys going in all directions it's not easy, but she managed to get there on time, linking up with others going to the same class certainly helped with the overwhelm.

Well as a senior healthcare professional in London, I can assure you that people are not always being seen in four months or less.

You do not need a diagnosis to be able to seek reasonable adjustments and you can tell the school that by focusing on diagnosis rather than impact they are in breach of The Equality Act.

With regards to lateness, it's unlikely that they will consider being more than 5 minutes late to a lesson "reasonable." I know, my time blindness has got me into enough trouble. She's going to have to find other strategies. Can she walk between lessons with a friend to avoid her getting distracted? Keep a laminated timetable (and map, if, like me, she also has dyspraxia and gets lost a lot) in her pocket that she can quickly check so she knows where she's going next? A reasonable adjustment could be permission to start packing up a couple of minutes early or even to leave lessons just before the bell so she has a moment to orient herself before the corridors fill up.

Try reading OP's posts which answer these questions?

The suggestion people are getting PIP for “mild” cases is ridiculous. You have to be practically totally unable to interact with anyone or leave the house to get it.

Not true, sorry. I know of ND people with full time professional jobs who are getting it.

With that attitude, I do hope you're not an employer, or indeed someone who deals with the general public.

Can you imagine saying to someone in a wheelchair, for instance, "I appreciate that you have this disability which means you can't get on public transport/ up stairs/ into rooms with narrow doorways/ access our toilets, but it's up to you to get on top of it." This is no different.

No need to be arse about it - not everyone can access OUT OF AREA RTC ASSESSMENTS if they are without transport, family support, don’t have a car, have other family commitments, have a disabled parent, or simply don’t have the funds to pay for a taxi to get there - have I said that clearly enough?

Oh come on, kids get put in isolation for having the wrong socks on, or taking a blazer off because they haven't got permission (and in the next breath someone will be moaning about how gen whatever can't make basic decisions for themselves, I wonder why). And why would a child who doesn't care about disrupting others or messing up their education care about being put in isolation? They don't, it doesn't work, yet schools are busy doing anyway to prove what point? The children AND staff are miserable, staff are leaving in droves and children are increasingly unhappy in school.

it doesnt work for send children either, you can't punish adhd or any other send out of someone.

Why is your daughter late to lessons ?
What happens when one lesson ends and she has to move to the next lesson that makes her late?

She's not forgetting when lessons start, she is simply struggling massively to cope with the process of getting there through noisy, crowded corridors.

What else do you expect them to do? Without some kind of hard and fast rule with clear consequences that are actually painful to the offender, kids would just be wandering in and out as they pleased. I appreciate that your daughter has this disability, but it's to her to get top of it, so that she is ready to move forwards into the responsibilities of adult life. You are not helping her by making excuses for her.

But the teacher still has to wind up early the child leaving has to know what the homework is, what the next lesson is, and has to pack up themselves. Having one lesson in the week where you leave early for a music class or something is one thing, leaving every class early must be disruptive to the whole class.

The point is that she is getting zero support in learning to cope. We don't expect children to learn other stuff at school on their own.

It's actually easy enough to someone with sensory issues to cope with your list, they simply avoid them or time their use of them for when they are less crowded.

Then, as per my earlier post, you can request an OUT OF AREA RTC ASSESSMENT.
I can't explain it any more clearly.

In the big wide world that attitude would be classed as disability discrimination under the equality act

There is so much misinformation on this thread.

ADHD and autism are disabilities. They aren’t bad behaviour or something you can force out of you.

Can’t speak for ADHD but it’s possible someone with autism might be able to “mask” and cope in certain situations but this can have a knock on effect somewhere - anxiety or exhaustion later.

The suggestion people are getting PIP for “mild” cases is ridiculous. You have to be practically totally unable to interact with anyone or leave the house to get it.

I am going through the process because I am autistic (missed for decades) and successful masking through stressful situations has lead to me developing FND so I am now physically disabled as well. I likely won’t qualify even though I can’t live independently- as I can have a conversation and occasionally cook a meal - but I am trying as I now have to pay for medication and therapy that is not available on the NHS due to it and PIP would help with this.

Then the idea that “the world of work” is totally inflexible and employers don’t offer accommodations.

My current employer lets me work entirely from home as I am not capable of going to the office at the moment. I have flexible start and finish times.

Some large employers have specific neurodiversity policies. They offer accommodations at interview.

Many employers will me more flexible than it sounds the school are being.

A busy corridor is not a particularly pleasant environment, but it only has to be endured for a short time. Your daughter needs to learn to cope with it for that short time. How else will she be able to deal with public transport, supermarkets, car parks, entertainment venues........?

Am also in England - waitlist is 3 years for autism and ADHD assessment in my area, so everyone ends up going private. It is dependent on your LA and the NHS waiting lists in your area.

Could she find someone to go to lessons with so she isn't late if her buddy isn't? It is just too disruptive to the class if pupils roll in late all the time. An alarm that reminds her 5 mins before each lesson starts?

@blueneopre the job of schools and parents is to set reasonable behavioural expectations, then hand out consequences for falling short.

I remember the whole class being scorched by my geography teacher for poor presentation - the reason was that we had a major coursework component in our GCSEs so she prepared us for that by making sure we set our our books well.

It was a great habit to get into, and stood me in brilliant stead for my studies later on.

Its MUCH easier to revise from notes that are laid out carefully.