Could my parents have sued my primary school for outing disabilities?

[lilacbreeze]

Edit: I do not plan on suing them lol! I am just curious if this was normal.

Somewhat lighthearted. I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was about 3. I was on and off medication but I never had a fit at school. When I went to primary school, I was clearly the only one who had epilepsy as my photo was stuck up in the staffroom (with my name written below it in capital letters) and a photo of me on a lanyard hanging up in the classroom along with a boy in the class below who was known to have loads of allergies. I didn’t know this was going to be a thing.

kids were very occasionally in the staffroom (we made pancakes there once) and obviously when we were in people did ask me but I played dumb. The boy who had allergies didn’t have his photo up there afai recall.

The school cook also told her daughter ( who was in my class) I was epileptic as she naturally asked why my photo was on the lanyard in class and the daughter told several people I had epilepsy/epileptic fits (not in front of me). My friend was one of these people and she asked if it was true but I was embarassed so I said no.

i also remember a younger boy about 4 years below me was diagnosed with autism and the teachers came round the classes telling us to mind ourselves around him because he’s autistic. And explained what that meant. They never did this about my epilepsy (to my knowledge) or the boy with allergies.

not sure I found out how the boy had allergies presumably someone in my class told me but unsure if they found out or asked about his photo too.

as a 30 year old I am no longer ashamed of my epilepsy (and was later diagnosed w autism) but it seems very odd looking back.

this was from about 1999-2006. I didn’t go to a special needs school. My parents never said anything to the school but im not sure they knew till I told them after I left.

I'm a teacher.

We have photographs of the children who have medical conditions up in the staff room with information next to their photo about their condition and the medication they need. This is so that medical help can be given quickly in an emergency by any adult in the building without needing to access computerised systems.

It's literally to help keep children with severe medical problems alive. It's an example of good practice.

It's also perfectly normal for other students to be told about fellow students' medical conditions if it's necessary to keep them safe. For example everyone in a class should know if someone else has a food allergy. We have an epileptic student in one of our year groups at school, and everyone in that year group knows and has also been trained on how to help if that student has a fit if a teacher or another adult isn't around. Again, it's about keeping children safe.

I understand as a child you may have felt sensitive about your health condition, but the school is under no compulsion to keep it secret from anyone under GDPR or any other law - it's actually pretty much the opposite!

Common practice in those days and considering good practice. The staff were made aware that potentially you might need help if you become unwell. Now this information would be online and shared privately between staff but in those days no computers ...I left school without touching a computer and I was at school similar time to you. My friend has epilepsy and we had a brief lesson in what to do. My neice now has epilepsy and I know the other children were advised on what to do...

From anyone?

Surely only the people who, as described, need to know?

I wouldn't expect teachers to be sharing pupils' medical information with their families or friends or hairdresser.

please don’t waste peoples time having to read this

Most threads on here are a waste of time, that’s the joy of mumsnet! You would have hated it years ago when we spent multiple evenings playing message in a bottle, a pointless but addictive and fun time waster! If you are bothered by a thread either move on or report it.

some people have real problems they need help with.
And lots come here to get away from their problems. Who are you to judge whether ops troubles are real or not?

@lilacbreeze I imagine as a child who wanted to hide your differences that it wasn’t a nice experience for you to have photos up and people talking about you especially if you are autistic. I don’t know whether it was wrong (although I agree with you that the dinner lady sharing with her dc sounds unprofessional) but I can see why it made you uncomfortable. Did you ever speak to your parents about it?

It was in your best interest for everyone to know you had epilepsy. When I was in primary school I probably would have thought someone was just messing around if they had a seizure. If you had a seizure out of sight of staff but in front of other children then knowing about the epilepsy would make a difference to how fast they react.
It is pretty obvious that all staff needed to know, some seizures can be very subtle. Even the unsubtle ones could not be clear from a distance in a playground where children often roll about on the floor. The staff knowing you have epilepsy would increase the chance of them providing the right treatment at the right time.
As an adult you have the capacity to decide who knows your medical information. As a child you did not. I don't think the school did anything wrong.

When I was a child, back when dinosaurs walked the earth, having a medical condition made you special and I was so jealous of the ones who did

yes long after I’d left. Parents were not impressed dinner lady had told, but have never been open about my epilepsy or answered my questions. It’s only when I met my boyfriend- and my seizures came back- he was comfortable telling me what had happened

Yes of course.

No one has suggested that a teacher going and telling all and sundry pupils' personal details is ok.

But the OP mentions the school cook telling her daughter who was also in the OP's class - not at all the same as randomly telling your hairdresser about a kid you teach!

I don’t roll about the floor. Not all seizures are tonic clonic.

Hmm I dont think so - back then the focus would've been 'keep the kid alive at all costs' with zero thought to our emotional wellbeing 😭

I had a terrible time at school, but being singled out at school dinners time for my many allergies didnt make a difference tbh

The lack of bothering to pursue an autism diagnosis for a very obviously struggling child made more of an impact. If I could sue, I would tbh

Just to say, I didn’t have tonic clonic seizures. I had focal ones that lasted a few seconds. But as I said I never had one at school. Hope that clears things up.

Hope some people learn not all seizures mean collapsing!

You look to the acceptable standard of the time rather than with hindsight - this was probably considered good practice.

I think, even 30 years ago, the dinner lady should have not discussed your medical information outside of school but she may have thought your class already knew. Or been trying to explain epilepsy to her child who had seen your lanyard in the classroom?

Around that time my DDs were in guides with a girl who started having fits and all the girls were given some advice on what to do, particularly if she was taken unwell when an adult wasn't around. I assumed this to be at her parents' request.

My school (not that one, another one- I went to five schools) suggested I may have it but my neurologist said that’s lilac being lilac so I didn’t. He was a shitty neurologist for other reasons. It was later on (about 15 years) when I was getting help for an addiction I was diagnosed.

I mean, they could have sued for anything. It doesn’t mean they would have won. There is a family at our school trying to sue the school because a child squirted glue into their child’s water bottle. 🤷🏻‍♀️

100% Our school is the same. It's how we keep everyone safe, healthy and alive!

A dinner lady telling her daughter out of school time without permission from the teachers or my parents?

The issue here is more the cook telling her daughter without permission from anyone, then the daughter telling other people without my consent who then asked me about it.

school should’ve told staff to not tell kids without their consent first

I remember kids on free school meals had a difference colour trays, and those with allergies had a triangle on theirs.

thats embarrassing for them poor kids. That never happened at primary, at secondary I think the kids with free school meals carried a card

But what would/could the school do about this?

If all staff know something, you can't prevent them from telling other people about it, even if you've told them not to. The school itself wouldn't be at fault.

You also have to recognise that you have no idea the circumstances under which the cook told her child.

Moreover, even when parents don't give permission for information to be shared, the school can still overrule them if they feel it contradicts their legal safeguarding duties.

We have had parents ask for health information not to be shared beyond specific people and my headteacher has refused on health and safety grounds. This is her right - at the end of the day, if a child dies on her watch, she is responsible. The headteacher is in charge of the school site and the safety of everyone on it - they ultimately make the decisions when it comes to safeguarding, not parents.

and her daughter then gossiped with other children about it and made fun of OP about it.

The dinner lady was in the wrong for telling her daughter without the permission of OP's parents or OP herself if she was old enough.

Your boyfriend told you it 'flouted GDPR'.

Um, GDPR didn't exist when you were a kid. It's pretty recent in the scheme of things.

In any event, this has the vibe of someone gathering ammunition before they go and instruct one of those no-win-no-fee lawyers.

😭😭

Oh i misread the bit about the adult telling her child - that was wrong of her.

The thing is, having you sat in front of the class and saying 'this person has epilepsy' wouldnt have been the best idea either.

What a neurologist, eh? Glad you got the help needed. I didnt get mine til after my breakdown 🙃, but glad to have it now x