AIBU disabled DC and school trip

[Manic20201]

My DC class is going on a school trip at the end of term. They school are refusing to take them due to disability ( tube fed )
We have had medical clearance from health team and she has a trained 1–1.
AIBU to believe ( this is now nearly 4 years of never attending a school trip ) that it’s getting ridiculous. She is so sad about it and waited a long time to go.

Oh ffs, it's like speaking to a sea cucumber.

The reasonable adjustment isn't asking the parent to go.

Even if it was, the parent cannot fucking go. Now what?

Imagine if a workplace tried to sack an employee because they couldn't access their desk in a wheelchair.
They would be expected to make a reasonable adjustment.
Now, imagine the first suggestion made is that the employee just learns not to use the wheelchair.
"Sorry boss, can't do that."
"Oh well, we tried. We offered that solution, you're not working with us. You're sacked."

Do you think the employment tribunal would ask why the employee could learn to not need the wheelchair in order to meet them in the middle?

The duty to make reasonable adjustments in education is 'anticipatory'. This means schools must consider in advance what they need to do to make sure all disabled pupils can access and participate in the education and other benefits, facilities and services they provide for their pupils.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/education/discrimination-in-education/disability-discrimination-in-schools/

They shouldn’t be planning a trip that excludes OP’s DC. They should be able to anticipate her needs and plan around them from the get-go.

It's disability discrimination and we've suffered it too, very different reasons (lea/statement refused 1:1 but she couldn't be trusted not to bolt) I went on every trip until she was 8 and she changed schools, new school found a ta to be with her plus she stopped bolting/more reliable.

The only reason I can imagine to refuse would be due to hygiene/infection etc making the trip unsuitable but that would apply even if you came. I'm sure they could recruit an additional parent to come, ifs it's a sen school it's even more ridiculous.

"The school have to show they have made reasonable adjustments - and they have."

Saying a parent has to go to enable their child to go is NEVER a reasonable adjustment.
You are arguing with experts on here who have many years experience and knowledge of special needs and disability education law.

In terms of daughters level of needs. The LA will not list a SEN school at all even if I wanted to. She is full able to attend main stream school. The school
Accepted her ehcp and agree they could meet her needs.

They have adjusted. The asked the parent to go. Just like parents who are asked to go on trip when their children may need insulin injections.

Ah, you've now stumbled onto an area where I am, unfortunately, the world's expert .

You're conflating 2 subtly separate issues here. You are correct that the school has no responsibility to supply medical expertise, so in the case of an insulin-dependent diabetic either the child itself has to be able to check their blood sugars and administer injections, or a parent or other adult has to be prepared to attend in order to do so.

However, that cannot legally be made a condition of the child undertaking the trip, so if a parent cannot attend, the school has to make other arrangements. If they can't or are unwilling to do so, the trip has to be cancelled.

To answer a few more questions.
The trip is a day trip no residential, local ( they have a school bus and it’s around 15 minute drive )
The trio it self is outdoors probably equal to that of going to the park but without the climbing frames.

@thing47

The equality act doesn't over rule health and safety regulations.

It absolutely does in a case like this. It is exactly what the 2010 Equality Act was designed to do, to place disability discrimination above such issues as as health and safety regulations.

There aren't any exemptions or exceptions, it's not a grey area which organisations can disregard. Take it from someone who has personally fought this battle with an ignorant school.

Your wrong.

Although the Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination because of the protected characteristic of sex, para.2 of sch.22 to the Act in effect provides that any action taken to comply with health and safety legislation that concerns the protection of women in relation to pregnancy or maternity, or any other circumstances that give rise to risks that specifically affect women, will not amount to unlawful discrimination. Similarly, para.1 of sch.22 to the Equality Act 2010 in effect provides that any action taken to comply with health and safety legislation will not amount to discrimination because of the following protected characteristics: age, disability, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation

And this is why the school have now said its 'health and safety' because they know the legalities of it.

She is not due any meds / feeds / medical treatment at the time of the trip.

I know this article is around women but it still stands for children too.

No member of staff is obliged to take responsibility for an individual with a condition they are not comfortable with

But the 1 to 1 is there precisely to take responsibility for the OP's child. That's what she's employed and paid for.

It sounds as though the school are using the 1 to 1 as a general dogsbody/ extra pair of hands in situations where they may be understaffed; and don't want to risk situations where she might have to concentrate solely on the OP's child and be unavailable for other purposes. But this is not the 1 to 1's job, and a disabled child should not be deprived of educational activities because the school wants the 1 to 1 to be constantly on call when an additional staff member is required.

@NoSquirrels

No parent of a disabled child thinks schools can never plan trips which aren't 100% accessible particularlyif you choose mainstream school - it's not fair on the rest of the kids if they can't swim, go rock climbing or whatever. It's about reasonable adjustments and trying your best to be inclusive as possible, and sometimes arranging alternative provision eg my dd and 2 others from her school were taken to lunch and a movie when the rest of the year went to a theme park type place, they got a treat appropriate for them. The problem here is the ops dc is being excluded and no alternative offered, and the paid for support is being appropriated fit another purpose (general class support).

Ive fought for reasonable adjustments for my dc for 21 years and have a meeting next week we university, never ends unfortunately

The only thing my daughter can’t do is swim.

"And this is why the school have now said its 'health and safety' because they know the legalities of it."

Wrong. If the OP attending makes the trip safe then the attendance of any trained adult would make the trip safe. Providing the trained adult is the reasonable adjustment and fortunately the child already has one so problem solved.

Another reason they gave which is why our medical team got involved was that they said there was no medical help in the vincitiy of the area- just isn’t true it’s in the middle of a city with 2 trauma hospitals locally.

My argument also is that the 1-1 is trained in emergency care. If they are unable to this then surely she isn’t safe in school either ?

Expecting the OP to go whilst simultaneously removing her daughter's 1-1 TA is not making a reasonable adjustment, since the school have stated that she requires 2-1 for the trip but will be using the 1-1 for general staff- pupil ratio she still won't have the 2-1 that the school are insisting she requires.

Quite apart from that as pp have said there legislation that specifically states that parents should not be expected to do that.

Discrimination. You need one of these www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-send4a-disability-discrimination-claim-by-a-parent or they will carry on doing it every trip.

@Manic20201

Would you mind saying what the activity is? I understand if you'd rather not, but it'd give scrambledcustard a heads up to work on more disablist reasons for why her opinion overrules the law

I should also add have recently had issues with her not having a 1-2 when she is ratio of 1-1 in her ehcp for certain school activities because school think that she didn’t need the ratio of 1-1 and needed independence but then won’t take her on trip with a 1-1 it’s all very conflicting.

@DumplingsAndStew it’s like erm map reading / walking and sen building.

You need to ask them specifically who will be looking after your DC in school on the day of the trip. Because if her trained 1-1 is not there then how will they manage her needs in school?

The asked the parent to go. Just like parents who are asked to go on trip when their children may need insulin injections.

In the case of children who need insulin injections, a staff member would also be expected to be trained to give them, rather than rely on a parent. Sometimes an older child might be trained to give themselves their own injections; but if that's not possible, then a staff member would definitely need to do it. A parent might be permitted to accompany the child, but definitely not required to.

What if the parent had full time responsibility for looking after a baby and a toddler, or for another disabled child?

From the description, the OP's child has few or no learning difficulties, and the 1 to 1 is there for the purpose of assisting with her medical needs.

@scrambledcustard you have no idea what you are talking about.

God, this thread just shows the level of ignorance, stupidity and disability discrimination that disabled people and parents of disabled people face all the time.

@ddl1 no diagnoses learning difficulties etc
She struggles with reading and writing. She has no behaviour problems. She is very protective of her tubes.
She does not pull etc