School and reasonable adjustments

[PhoebeCat23]

My son has a lot of sensory needs which are impacting on his ability to go to school. I have to give him extensive sensory input before he goes to school and even this sometimes isn't enough. He reports it feels itchy and uncomfortable and (if we make it out of the front door), is pulling and readjusting his clothing the 15 minute walk to the bus stop. He wears bamboo underwear and socks which he has no difficulty with but school uniform simply does not exist in these materials. I have made efforts to soften the clothing to make it more comfortable which has helped a little, but not enough.

I have provided his school with an OT report outlining his needs as well as sharing his challenges around the uniform. They have allowed him to wear another top under his P.E. t shirt so it is not touching his skin directly but apart from that, are refusing to allow any further adjustments. They've just said he MUST wear school uniform and he MUST attend. I'm now being pulled over the coals because of this. I feel like a broken record repeating myself to them but just being ignored.

What on earth do I do? I have done everything I can possibly think of (but still open to ideas if I've missed something) to help him. I don't want to get into trouble but I'm at a loss as to what else can be done. They simply won't budge.

Advice and ideas much welcomed. 🙂

It isn’t unusual for more than one professional to incorrectly tell parents their DC doesn’t need or won’t get an EHCP.

You can’t pay privately for an EHCNA. The EHCNA is undertaken by the LA. Parents can fund independent assessments from EP, OT, etc. but that isn’t the same as an EHCNA although advice and information from those professionals can be part of an EHCNA.

I presume you mean SENDIST rather than JR?

No I know that

I meant an assessment

For autism

Yes I did. I shouldn’t let myself MN and do other things!

An ASD diagnosis won’t change the current situation, though. Reasonable adjustments and the best endeavours duty are based on needs, not diagnosis. Same for EHCPs.

Wow. The SENCO is a POS. Appeal the decision or go to mediation if you've still time. The threshold for assessment is so low but you always get knocked back first time - that's how the LA saves money as lots will give up. The school are being arseholes and putting up barriers for your son to attend. My daughter was the same age (also in state school) when her sensory needs become too much to attend at all, even with all adjustments I requested allowed (21 of them). After 15 days out of school the school have to put in place alternative provision (your LA will have a list of providers) and your child not being able to attend school is proof of the school not being able to meet need. Happy for you to message me about any of this/answer questions. Don't give up. It took me a year to get an EHCP and get my daughter into a specialist school (after being out of school for 3 years) but she then was there for two years and passed all of her GCSEs and is now in mainstream college. The school is not supporting your son and they should support your EHCNA request - it's the best thing for everyone!

My DD was diagnosed with ASD and sensory processing disorder at 8, EHCP at 9, special school for a year but still has wasn’t allowed any adjustments for uniform in mainstream secondary. I wonder whether it’s part of a deliberate managing out of SEN pupils.

Tell them they make the adjustment or you'll see them at tribunal for disability discrimination and do it. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-send4a-disability-discrimination-claim-by-a-parent

Did you bother to read before advising?

These are some practical options that might help:
M&S do some sensory friendly clothing.
Sensory Smart sell a seam tape you can use over seams to soften them.
Also look at clothes/uniform that's aimed at kids with eczema.

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, ultimately the duty to ensure CSA pupils unable to attend school full time lies with the LA. Provision should be provided as soon as it becomes clear 15 days will be missed. The days don’t need to have already been missed or consecutive and provision should begin by the sixth day of absence.

The eczema clothing company used to do school trousers and shirts in cotton if that helps. They ĺok exactly like regular school uniform

I always find putting the ball in their court helps.

“what’s unreasonable about him wearing clothing he can tolerate?”

If you get some line about uniform important to learning then you can ask how they think he’s learning when he can’t concentrate because he cannot tolerate the uniform due to sensory needs.

It’s highlighting that it’s not reasonable to limit adjustments if they don’t work - but rather than giving them suggestions they can say no too - it’s getting them to explain what they are saying no!

Have you tried the adaptive clothing ranges?

What type of clothing does he wear at home that he find comfortable?

EHCP takes 20 weeks at least and should not be necessary to get a simple uniform adjustment. It may be necessary to get his broader needs met, and is easy to kick off, but alongside solving the immediate problem, not instead of it. OP you might find the clothing is symptomatic of him not coping elsewhere - reduce demands/meet other unmet needs and he might no longer be so super-sensitised to the uniform. Mine struggled a lot with labels until he went to special school where the problem magically went away - he was no longer spending all day at breaking point.

At this age they can worry a lot about looking different to peers so do check in with him what he would actually like. Would he actually want to look different? It can bring extra social challenge. Don't go into battle without being sure you're aligned on that. Going tieless in a school that enforces tie wearing is not for the faint hearted.

I think your route is going back to SENCo and follow up with the OT. They may be able to advocate further for him. I think some SEN teams are really firefighting at the moment so they resist taking more children into that fold if they can help it. But do have a serious look at whether this sensory sensitivity, particularly if it's worse than previously, is manifesting because of other unmet needs. It would be massively in his interests to make school more bearable in Y8 & 9 because the pressure steps up in Y10, and he needs to be coping with the headroom for that step up.

I would push to get him assessed tbh. Is there a nurture group, maybe he could do with a bit of scaffolding. In the meantime I’d swap out the school uniform for cotton alternatives. ZThere guys are good for trousers, expensive so I size up then use waist adjuster and hem, then let down later they last well though.

ecooutfitters.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/77/s/organic-cotton-school-trousers/?srsltid=AfmBOor3kpbnmnyQFNOuW7CB4nLJ1yeJ2AW_md5NeuJn7B0l8XdndDfE7bU#150=59&160=94

@PhoebeCat23 under the Equality Act 2010 this could be discrimination. You have professional evidence that your son's sensory needs have a significant and long term impact on his daily life which is the definition of disability. It is discriminatory for a school to impose a policy (e.g. for uniform) which a pupil can't meet because of their disability. The school needs to allow him to wear the closest suitable alternatives you can find. Plenty of secondary schools treat this as a standard accommodation in such circumstances. I'm a SEND specialist. If you don't get a result in these grounds with the head make a complaint to the Chair of Governors about discrimination, and also contact the attendance officer at the Local Authority. Hope that helps.

Have you had a look at the school's website to see if they have a reasonable adjustments policy? Assuming they do, read it thoroughly to check if they are going against what their policy says. If they are, challenge them on that basis.

I’d put in a parental request for a needs assessment. Sensory and/or physical needs was one of four main categories for reasons for EHCP request so it’s clearly enough reason to apply. It will likely get declined (like a lot of applications do), but appeal if it does and there is a high likelihood that they’ll assess.

The key word here is ‘reasonable’. lf the uniform isn’t available in softer fabric it will depend on how much OP wants to deviate from the standard. The school may well object on the grounds of maintaining standards/discipline. And it wouldn’t be up to OP to ‘see them at tribunal’. To be allowed to make a claim it would first have to be determined whether she has a case in legal terms.

Adjustments to the uniform would be a reasonable adjustment even if the adjustments meant it didn’t look like the original uniform. If the school refused, she would be able to go to SENDIST.

If he's going to go to a school with a uniform, the best thing for him overall is to wear a version of the uniform that doesn't affect his sensory needs.

It's easy to assert rights and insist on significant adjustments, but a uniform is for all of the children, so they dress the same and belong.

Opting out and doing something different, even with permission, in outrage, or for a very good reason just doesn't follow the uniform requirements and separates him from others, when you'll have known the uniform ruled when you applied and everywhere in life he will always be required to wear appropriate clothes.

The best thing to do is buy sensory friendly shirts and/or wear something soft and smooth underneath as a base layer. That's 'reasonable', as in he is still dressing outwardly in uniform like his peers i.e. all the same / uniformly / the clue is in the word.

Yes. What's the issue with my advice? Why are you being so rude?

They're refusing any adjustment. She absolutely has a case.