Children who don’t consent to a lateral flow test should be treated as positive and sent home

[user1471505494]

Schools now have much higher numbers attending than in the first lockdown. The lateral flow test was brought into schools to try and keep Staff and pupils as safe as possible.

If a parent or child refuses consent is absolutely their RIGHT to do so and I appreciate that there are many varied reasons for this. It should therefore be the RESPONSIBILITY of the schools to safeguard others and send the child home to self isolate.

@SionnachRua

Yanbu. I feel the same way about anti-vaxxers tbh. Fine if you want to refuse it but you shouldn't be allowed into mainstream school.

absolutely - and not restricted to "no school" either, certainly restricted from NHS treatment, as they clearly don't trust the health service. It would be soooo bad to go against their wishes and subject them to treatment against their will when they were to weak and ill to object.

Genuinely scary that some people think they have a “right” to expose other children and their families to the risk of Covid!

The tests were brought in as a means by which the books could be cooked for attendance. Back up to ‘schools are safe’. Instead of having close contacts out of school for 10 days, the plan is to test all close contacts everyday instead. This was never about keeping school staff safe and given that for the most part it will be school staff overseeing this shambolic attempt at proving something we all know not to be the case, was never going to keep school staff safe. Indeed I can only see that it would have lead to an increase in school staff illness and, ultimately, deaths.

So no, I won’t consent and my children will stay at home if required.

@EveryDayIsADuvetDay oh fuck off. My ASD dd would twist herself in pieces over the test. She wouldn't be able to do it, but would also beat herself up about the fact that would want to be able to do it.

This isn't a choice that SEND children make. They physically cannot do it due to sensory stress.

But I'm used to this kids of disabilism on here now.

@parkpoolplunge

Of course they do but I'm not in charge.

We're talking about parents refusing to give consent or teens refusing to have tests.

I don't want anyone else to go through what i and the the 1000s of other people who lost loved ones have been through this year!

So my dd's human right to an education doesn't matter? Even though there are alternatives to the tests and ways to make schools safer.

Absolutely. Nothing else makes any sense whatsoever.

@NoSquirrels

I’ve given consent for my secondary aged DC, but to be honest I’m not at all happy about it. Because the school has specifically said they won’t be isolating close contacts any more if the DC are using lateral flow tests, and that is a major concern to me. They just aren’t accurate enough for that.

I am happy to consent to my DC taking a LF test to pick up asymptomatic carrying.

I am not happy that if an asymptomatic carrier is identified, their close contacts can continue to go to school, incubating and potentially also spreading the virus until their viral load is high enough for the LV test to pick it up, at which point it’s too late.

It’s a dumb strategy. So I don’t judge those who haven’t consented.

^ this

I work in a school and I have been told by my line manager that how many false negatives the tests (are known to) produce is just my “personal opinion”. At least I have the measure of him now.

Would a saliva test be easier for people and kids with sensory difficulties? I'm puzzled about why there hasn't been a mass move towards saliva over swabs, it has been repeatedly shown to have equivalent performance on PCR tests for the coronavirus, though I don't know about lateral flow. My workplace (research institute, so this is all in house with equipment we already have) is rolling out saliva based PCR testing for staff and students - just going through calibration now.

Anyone who thinks this is going to make schools "safer" is kidding themselves.

My child has a right to a proper education and a right to not be discrimined against due to disability.

I would argue that the vast majority of children with SEN attending a mainstream school CAN be managed and supported to take the test.
Different measures/exceptions for those with vastly more significant SEN in alternative settings.
There is no one size fits all solution but parents just saying no to tests and expecting education as usual isn’t realistic.
For context I do have a child with SEN, I am a key worker and I am currently not sending my child to school.

@wingingit987, did you lose anyone who would have been in the categories for vacation by the end of March?

Quite rightly many specialists are saying that once we have all of the vulnerable vaccinated there isn't any justification for us to live under restrictions.

It hasn't been ok to throw out the Equality Act during this time.

My kids autistic and he's having the tests whether he likes it or not. There are always consequences and his autism doesn't make him exempt from shit just because it doesn't feel nice.

@Imiss2019 the SEN support groups im in say the opposite.

I still don't understand why my child should not be able to access her education but the blatant disregard far too many parents have shown for the rules are allowed to. They are the ones placing the other kids at most risk. Not mine who is literally at home or at school.

@gamerchick good for you. Is your DS not of a size that he can physically stop it being done to him?

I know no one is getting a swab near my DD and there absolutely will not be consequences for her being terrified.

Secondary age DS is autistic and has severe anxiety related to anything related to medical issues or anatomy. He will not engage with testing. He has seen me do a test (pre-surgery), he has seen me test one of his siblings (symptoms) so he knows what is involved. He has been asked if he will have the test and he will not. This is all aside from the fact that due to coordination and dexterity issues, including hand tremors and poor grip, he would not be able to self-administer the test anyway meaning a member of staff would have to do it for him. Once his fight or flight reflex kicks in there is no way that this will happen safely and puts both him and the staff member at risk of harm.

He is at home now due to lockdown, when he does return to school the chances of him being asymptomatic will be low as he has only been in contact with his own household so the two tests three days apart are unnecessary. If there is a case in his bubble then he will isolate at home for the fourteen days and school will provide work for this as he will not do seven days of lateral flow tests. If weekly testing is brought in he will not be doing it.

Its not legal or right to deny an education to children who are unable to take part in testing.

I think most SEN parents are kidding themselves if they think sending their kids to school during this lockdown equates to accessing their education!

One of the reasons my child is staying home is precisely because he has a better chance of accessing his education at home right now.

Education staff should be given the vaccine during lockdown then start the test. My DS with SN he will be highly distressed and would need to be manhandled, I'd hope they'd allow me be the one to hold him down if I wore ppe.

Would a saliva test be easier for people and kids with sensory difficulties?

It would be so much easier, spitting into a tube or onto a cassette would make testing simpler for a lot of people.

@Imiss2019 mine is receiving her full provision in school. The only provision missing is a social skills group.

I have withheld consent for Dd precisely because I want her out of school if there is any chance she may have it. If someone in her class tests positive, I absolutely want her at home, behaving as though she is positive. I don’t want her having a test which has a low reliability rate, getting a negative result and carrying on with life as normal when in fact it is a false negative and she is busy spreading it.
I would rather she was at home isolating.
It’s academic at the moment though as she’s at home anyway. I’m a TA so she could go in, and if I had to work full time she would as she’s only 11yo (Year 7) so I wouldn’t want to leave her for extended periods. But my head has worked out a rota which means I’m only doing mornings and I don’t mind leaving her for those.

@gamerchick

My kids autistic and he's having the tests whether he likes it or not. There are always consequences and his autism doesn't make him exempt from shit just because it doesn't feel nice.

It's difficult, isn't it? I have 2 with SN (1 with complex needs at special school and waiting for ASD assessment, and 1 at MS school with ASD) and so far my attitude has been "Yes DD1, you hate the mask, you want to rip it off your face, but so do lots of people and nobody actually likes it, so put it on." Similarly with DD2 this week "I know you hate the CV test, I know you feel sick at the thought of it, I know you're really anxious about it, but I've given my consent. If you refuse consent, they can't do it, but I really want you to get it done."

But I recognise that I can do that, and that there will be young people who can't.

Having said that, given my DD goes to a school where all the children have at least moderate learning difficulties, alongside severe and profound LD, it surprises me when I hear or read of so many children who 'can't wear a mask', because all the children who come to DD1's school on transport (probably 150 ish) wear a mask from the moment they get on transport, until their classroom, so up to an hour. So when I see someone whose child has mainstream education and some specific learning difficulties say 'they're exempt from wearing a mask', I must admit that I feel a bit suspicious as to how much they've tried

Excuse my ignorance, I haven't heard of this. Mine are under 12 which I understand to be the exception for travel/airport testing. Are they really swabbing primary kids? I think mine would do it albeit with fuss. Smallest on spectrum though so can be unpredictable.

A lot of people are missing the point with these tests.

Seems like OP thinks a negative lateral flow test means you're safe to attend school.

Maybe you are, maybe you're not.
You could flip a coin instead.

[quote Mumofsend]@gamerchick good for you. Is your DS not of a size that he can physically stop it being done to him?

I know no one is getting a swab near my DD and there absolutely will not be consequences for her being terrified.[/quote]
He's bigger than me.

Then the consequences of refusing are to stay at home. It's a clear choice. But I'm not presenting it as a choice, it's just something he has to do like anything else medical.