mother tackles tony about special school closure

[Jimjams]

story here

yay - go for it!

As for Tony knowing a bit about autism and "feeling sorry" for what we go through each day- well he can f* off quite frankly. We don't want sympathy we want SALT, OT and a decent education for our children; Respite would be good as well; and the knowledge that when they are adults there will be somewhere safe and suitable for them to go.

Saw this earlier and thought "good for her, make the git squirm"

Actually the report I saw also said that she told him that even if MMR wasn't the cause of autism, then it was his job as Prime Minister to find out what was. Quite right too. Shame he won't take a blind bit of notice.

Good story and good for her - just a shame they bundled her off the set. At least Tony had the decency to see her afterwards. It has crossed my mind before now that Leo may be autistic I don't know why just something about his evasiveness over the MMR thing and if Leo had received it. Pure speculation on my part of course.

Agree that we don't want pity. We just want the things that our children are supposedly legally entitled to.

Bloody right jimjams. In my area there is no provision for children like ds under the age of 8. He has to remain in mainstream instead even though its obvious he can't cope - he has been excluded 3 times since he started in sept. Luckily for me he is still below statutory school age so i have now withdrawn him from school but it won't be long before he has to go. I just hope his new school will cope better.

I heard her on pm yesterday, she was dynamite! I'm not against Inclusion but only as one option of many, not the only option. I got the following from the NAS today:

A parent of a child with autism yesterday confronted Tony Blair at a Channel Five TV debate The Wright Stuff. She was not given the opportunity to pose a question so she interrupted the programme to demand that her issues were heard. The PM agreed to meet her after the programme - which he did - and as a result she has been interviewed by a range of media.

Maria Hutchings (Autism Angel nominee www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=504&a=6256) spoke to Mr Blair about education and inclusion, about dedicated resources and the need for better understanding and training. She told him to look into causes and effects of autism - to consider what will happen to all the children currently in school when they reach adulthood. Mr Blair apparently said he would 'look into' all of her concerns and would arrange a further meeting when he has decided what to do about them all! The NAS inclusion statement has been issued to national media.
The subject of SEN was covered in some detail this morning on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on the back of Maria Hutchings' stunt yesterday. Stephen Ladyman was interviewed as was Tom Collins and Felicity Margolis (one of our case studies and author of Surviving the Special Education System: How to be a velvet bulldozer). Angie Lee-Foster spoke to the journalists at length yesterday, as did the Press Office.

I heard the tape of her acosting TB and was really impressed (and sad for her). I was wondering if she was a mumsnetter.