To be so angry that people like this are in charge of SEND budgets

[Dalmatron]

Has anyone seen the thread on twitter/X about the Warwickshire Councillors at the scrutiny panel for SEND spending?

I am so angry!

Some quotes:
(Talking about institutions) "They had better ways of dealing with them at that time. Let's go back to those ways"
"I don't know what the fix is, I just look back at years gone by those people by whatever means, it was right at the time".
"Is it something in the water?"
"Families are swapping tips to get diagnosed"
"Why are there so many people jumping out with these needs? Where were they when I was at school?"
"Why do so many people have this badge of SEND and special needs?"
"To stop this spend fix the problem at source"
"the plea of a Mother saying Little Willy has ADHD when Little Willy is just really badly behaved & needs some form of strict correction"

How can people like this be in these positions? Why has nothing been done to remove them or apologise? I felt sick watching these clips.

Warwickshire Council thread

I don’t think that’s right @SpudleyLass

Please tell me what you think is actually right about my daughter's confirmed autism

Just be aware that I'm low on patience as she has been denied the right of a full time education since December 2022.

I’m utterly uninterested in your “patience levels” @SpudleyLass
Am I supposed to be scared of you? Don’t be ridiculous.

I’m not ‘parent blaming’. We were posting about whether modern parenting (because there has been a change) contributes to excessive anxiety.

Well first we'd have to investigate the sources of anxiety and how it works. I've had panic attacks despite being raised in a fairly secure environment.

Riddle me that one.

I'm saying that people frothing at the mouth to blame parents have Jo idea how shirty rhe system r3ally is.

Personally, my daughter despite being compulsory school age, hasn't received the full time education. That non disabled children receive, for over a year now.

This means that arguing for even less provision for SEN children is likely to upset a lot of people.

And I don’t have anxiety despite having had an incredibly stressful (addiction, social services) type of upbringing. I didn’t say ‘bad parenting equals anxiety, no exceptions’. Nothing in society is ever that straightforward.

So therefore poor parenting =/= autism.diagnosis.

To make it clear, my daughter has bee out of full time education since December 2022.

Two KA's have done their level best to avoid paying for/meeting need.

I have no interest in people once again telling me there is no money to meet my child's needs. I can see that equally being true of a non disabled child.

Why should my daughter, through no fault of her own, lose out when able children who could probably learn from home, benefit?

I hope all 3 councillors get fired.

Who the hell clicked YABU on this thread?

To say its not genetic,imo, is to say "some" autism is environmental

Given that ASD, is a neurodifferencez that cant be true.

I think your ideas of what is “environmental” are limited. Did you miss all the autistic children who were damaged in utero by valproate? I think it was a huge proportion of cases at one point.

nb my son was without school for many many years, don’t assume you are the only one with understanding.

Same thing really and that's what these threads always come back to.

Every fucking time.

Hardly controversial to say early life experience/upbringing can shape an individual and possibly cause symptoms of x,y,z later in life.

We all understand how shocking the system is I think. It’s appalling that we are already spending so much money that LAs don’t have and yet there is so little adequate provision. It’s even scarier that the provision needs to increase by even larger numbers to keep up with spiralling EHCPs (which is different from diagnosis btw). There is literally no more money in many LAs, so what are we going to do ?

If early life/upbringing affects likelihood of neurodivergence, then its co formation past generations actively suppressed their children from having diagnoses.

I do think know what valproate is. Mt daughter was born disabled is.

NapTrappedMummy here believes it's my parenting though.

Once again,MN failing to tackle ableism

If you read the whole thread you’ll see what has been discussed and said and it’s not what you’re implying.

I recognise minimising when I see it.

If early life / upbringing causes it why can you have siblings where one isn't affected? Even though they all had the same parents and upbringing.

Have you pursued JR?

No. I can't afford it.

Largely due to being at home to look after my daughter.

I literally have no money to pursue legal action.

I appreciate the help though, thank you.

Oh good lord, the point is about aspirations. Back then those who failed 11+ learned they couldn't have the same aspirations as those who passed it. Among those who failed, there were a huge amount of ND kids who were seen as naughty or stupid because nobody knew any better. Back then. So all these people saying "we didn't have this in my day" are missing the point that it was around in their day, but nobody knew about it!

My dad ended up as a skilled labourer too, incidentally, and has likewise earned well from it. He'd be the first to admit though that if he had today's opportunities, it probably wouldn't have been the path he would have chosen. Of course there's nothing wrong with it, and of course there are lots who actually were perfectly happy with their lot. But there were also very many others who were not, and many more who were completely invisible due to their hidden disabilities, about which nobody knew anything.

And of course ND kids can do well in education. But this thread is about how those in positions of power view those who need extra support to achieve their aspirations. I really couldn't care less what your autistic neighbour managed to achieve. I'm too busy fighting for the right support to be put in place to support my actual own flesh and blood - a very clever, ND little girl who sometimes struggles but who currently has aspirations of becoming a vet, or a doctor. Those are perfectly valid aspirations too.

If you haven’t already, it is worth emailing the Director of Children’s Services threatening JR. Sometimes the threat is enough.

Have you checked whether you are eligible for legal aid for a pre-action letter? Then JR proceedings themself would be in DD’s name so she can be eligible for legal aid in her own name.

Also, have you applied for an EHCNA?

Are you receiving all the benefits you are entitled to and applied for any grants you may be eligible for?

Daughter sailed through for having an EHCP, as her needs are so substantial.
Have tried multiple times to contact the Director of CS. She shrugs us off every time. So I CC on the head of the council, lol. He doesn't like me very much.

I admit I do needd to look into legal aid.

Definitely look into legal aid. If you have a low income and no/little disposable capital you will be eligible.

Have you appealed the EHCP? If you are eligible for legal aid, legal help in your name is also available for appeals and can fund independent assessments. And you can request an expedited hearing based on DD being out of school.