To be pissed off with transport for my SEN child?

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Urgh. We live 2 miles from SEN autism school. DS14 has been there for 4 years and DH gave up work to look after him when mainstream failed him and he was at home for 2 years. He's doing really well at school now and really thriving. DH really wants to go back to work (and we REALLY need the money). He has been offered a job for September.

• School transport refused as we live too close. They feel it's appropriate to expect a parent to take him to school and that's not disability discrimination (most 14yos don't have a parent walk them to school). Appeal done and refused.
• can't pay for school taxi as it's not a guaranteed place and they don't accept applications until after October half term
• can't pay for a private taxi as all the DBS drivers are doing LEA runs.
• DS can't walk alone the 4 mile round trip as it's a main road, he's autistic, sensory averse, highly anxious and a flight risk
• DS can't get the bus alone as it's too cognitively complex (plus anxious / sensory) and involves crossing 2 major roads.

DS is ok in the house for an hour ish pre and post school. He's pretty good / safe in the house. Would be fine getting dressed and waiting for taxi / waiting for me to get home 30 mins after drop off.

But out the house alone - total disaster.

What do we do??

Your LA is lying. The guidance was only updated last January, there are no plans to change it again.

The law hasn't changed, no matter how much local authorities want to save money.

The council should pay because the law says they must.

Parents of 14 year olds are not normally having to fit their working hours around taking their children to and from school, because their children are able to take themselves. Therefore a council that expects the parents of disabled 14 year olds to lose their jobs or give up the prospect of working just to carry on transporting their child to school or college for, presumably, the rest of their time in education is clearly discriminating on the basis of disability. And what should happen if the parent can't take them? Does the disabled child just have to put up with it and do without the education that all their peers are entitled to?

Can he get on a bus? Even with an adult? Or would his sensory issues make that difficult? For my DS, this was the case, he also used to frequently run off so walking was also not safe.
Its loosely written into his ehcp too so I also have that to fight with.

Every other parent of A 14 YEAR OLD does not need to do that.

@Nursingadvice we don't take him on public transport really as the idea is overwhelming. He won't even walk past people. He's scared of dogs out and about. He refuses walks. Gets DLA.

I don't have proof though. I don't have a professional saying he can't get on a bus even with an adult as no is involved once you get an autism diagnosis - you get discharged from everywhere years ago.

I gave them everything I had and described everything I could.

And even if he could with an adult (be dragged on) there isn't an adult. If there was, we'd continue taking him in the car. I just don't understand why having a cult is the deciding factor. If I had an adult free, I wouldn't be applying....?

Every parent? Do you seriously believe that every parent of every 14 year old is dropping their child at school every day or arranging breakfast clubs and childminders?

The council doesn't have to pay for taxis. However, by law it must provide transport to children eligible for it - which includes children with disabilities who can't walk to school and who are attending their nearest suitable school. Transport will take various forms including shared taxis and minibuses.

If you get no joy from any appeals, consider looking into flexible working options, particularly the hospital job. They should have a flexible working policy…..all of this ‘set shift times with no deviation’ is nonsense. Some people working in hospitals do only nights, some do only days, some do term time only, some do school hours only. They just don’t like doing it because it can be a hassle but they should be offering a very good reason why there are NO flexible working options to suit your needs whilst still being able to work.

There are SO many reasons why I can't. I can't even be bothered to go to all of this on here. I've been a SEN parent for 14 years and my husband gave up work to support it all. I'm not stupid. I've already got a degree of flexible working in my role, it just isn't enough to do the school run twice a day.

And again, it's disability discrimination to say I should. If my 14 yo wasn't disabled, no one would expect me to.

No, if a pre-action letter does not succeed the next step is to take the case to court. You can get legal aid in the child's name to pursue it.

The business about parents being expected to accompany teenagers to school happened after a change in the guidance issued in January. Previously the guidance said LAs could only expect this if it would be normal to expect children of that age to be accompanied, which was a sensible compromise. There was no reason for changing the guidance other than trying to save money, because the statutory provisions on which the guidance is based didn't change. There are good reasons for believing the guidance to be unlawful, including the fact that it goes against some long-established case law, and some organisations like Cerebra, Ipsea and SOS SEN are looking for people prepared for their cases to be put forward as test cases. So, OP, if you're up for that, I suggest you contact one of those organisations.

Alright….I’m just trying to help. I didn’t say you were stupid. No need for the arsey reply. Good luck to you.

Boyes Turner, the solicitor you referred to, do not offer legal aid and therefore tend not to bring judicial review challenges to potentially unlawful criteria like this. You need to go to one of the charities referred to, or solicitors with legal aid contracts like Irwin Mitchell, Simpson Millar, Watkins, Rook Irwin Sweeney etc.

@Scruffily so there has been a change this year in regard to only looking of a child could travel with an adult, not independently?

That makes sense. Although totally illogical. Looks like we're screwed then as I can't easily prove otherwise.

You could try suggesting to the council that they do their own risk assessment, i.e. they get their own educational psychologist or travel trainer or road safety officer to try to take your son on the bus on the journey in question. If they can't get him on the bus, case proved.

It helps to have independent evidence, and you could try the route of suggesting to the LA that they try taking your son on the bus if they think it's that easy. In this sort of case, it is likely that a court would give a lot of weight to your evidence. It's illogical to contend that parents in your position would actually discourage their child to learn to use public transport. I strongly suspect that a judge would accept that, if you could possibly get your son go to on public transport on his own, you would be doing that already, both for your own sake and his.

You can create a profile on childcare co.uk and look for a person to do this as a paid job. Would suit a retired person possibly that want to earn some extra cash

Hi, I'm sure you know this (I've also been a SEN parent for 15 years - it doesn't get any easier, does it!) but the SEN Code of Practice says:

"Local authorities MUST ensure that suitable travel arrangements are made where necessary to facilitate an eligible child’s attendance at school. Section 508B of the Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to make such school travel arrangements as they consider necessary for children within their area. Such arrangements MUST be provided free of charge."

Is this what they're arguing is only guidance, not law?

I drive my son to school (9 miles) because he wouldn't cope on school transport. Can school offer evidence that he wouldn't be able to get to school by himself? I don't understand the logic of saying he would be able to if he had an adult with him. Sorry if you've already gone over this x

Does his school have an occupational therapist or ed psych attached to the school (not the LEA)? We were refused a Blue Badge and they wrote a letter about his issues with transport for us. They have taken him on a bus as part of his life skills so I don't know if that helped.

I'm so sorry. DH and I are HPC and we both work part time, have flexed everything we can and have an expensive after school nanny 2 days per week for our 13 year old. I couldn't work without school transport. I really feel for you and your husband. It's shit. Of course it's disability discrimination. Our local school is 500m from our door, he could be home alone after school if it wasn't for his SEN.

Another one saying you need a pre-action letter. The statutory walking distance is irrelevant when DC cannot reasonably be expected to walk to the school because of their disability or SEN.

The statutory guidance was amended earlier this year. The amendments included adding if accompanied by a parent, but where LAs are refusing on this basis, many find a pre-action makes the LA back down.

The accompanying element sounds irrelevant to your case, because DS doesn’t sound able to walk the route accompanied or not.

Does DS’s school ever take him off site? If so, you could ask to see their risk assessment. It may help your case.

could he stay home independently for the day?

i wonder if you could push your LA into resolving it quicker if he went into the school refusal category?

I have an autistic SEN son also 14, he has an EHCP at mainstream secondary.I applied for travel reimbursement and get £110 a month for doing school runs. We are 4 miles each way from school. My son can't do taxis or buses for SEN reasons so I take him and pick up. Maybe that is an option and your husband starts work later? Luckily my employer allows me flexible working and I WFH after school

In my LA, they can provide bus passes for the child plus one for someone else to travel with them; that could be a parent, other adult or even a peer.

@scruffily I meant when the PAP letter has resolved it. Which we all know it likely will. Highly unlikely to proceed to a full JR. Although you can never say never

Isitovernow23
Most parents do not have to walk their 14 year olds to school. Should parents of kids with send be prohibited from accessing full time work?

My son gets transport so I just looked at their policy and it’s been amended this year and it does indeed now say about a parent.

It also says they won’t take work circumstances into account.