Trip row girl taken out of school

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Story here.

In short, a woman complained that her wheel-chair-using DD couldn't take part in activities on a proposed school trip, so the school changed the venue to one which claims it "is designed especially for people of all abilities" and "is committed to Access for All and to programs and facilities which offer equal opportunities in an integrated setting...."

The woman rejected this option too, but said her DD had suggested instead "several viable alternative options such as a red-carpet film premiere, with pre-film makeovers and a post-film VIP marquee party. Everyone could have participated in and contributed to this."

She has now withdrawn her DD from school, presumably to HE.

Obviously I don't know all the ins and outs, but was there really nothing she could have done at the second outdoor centre? I'm sure I've seen film of wheelchair-users abseiling, and the place seems very aware. I'm just not comfortable that the "inclusive" option highlighted is a) indoors b) focussed on looks c)...er, what about the boys? Will they want a makeover?

iirc we didn't get any real input into school trips. as long as it was accessible then swbu
off to read the story now i've given my opinion

from reading it, it's difficult to tell...

SPB - did you see I replied to you on that advertising thread?

It sounds more like she didn't want to as there are lots of things she can do]]

Can you imagine how expensive a red carpet premier with makeovers would cost??!!

It is difficult to tell really.
It does sound like she didn't really want her to go but 't deep down why is a hard one.
I have a friend that I have had since school who has a physical disability but doesn't use a wheelchair and was and is capable of doing a lot for herself but her mother was very frightened of letting her a lot of the time out of 100% love for my friend.

I really think the worry for my friend had made her mother lose sight of the fact that one day she would leave home, get married whatever and so she wrapped her in cotton wool and kept her there.

For various reasons she did eventually manage to let go and now friend is happily married fantastic career etc. so I can see that this mother may not be wanting her daughter to do these things out of blind panic and fear more than anything else.

Although am a bit about a red carpet premiere being a viable alternative...to rock climbing and orienteering??? Really? And in Inverness???? even more of a bizarre suggestion they are not an every day occirance up there believe me.

They don't really go into detail about the nature or extent of her disability to sufficiently gauge whether the alternative venue was reasonable or not, but I am at the girl's 'viable alternative' suggestion! Not just a film premiere but makeovers and a VIP sodding marquee?! WTF?!

I think that an outdoor pursuits type school trip is a far better trip than a red carpet expierence. The first will install team building skills and confidence in the kids and the latter will help them aspire to be WAGs.

The school made a good effort to change the trip to an outdoor activity centre where she could be included, ideally they should have done this first though.....but she still didn't want to go.

I hate to say it but surely this girl is going to need to realise that there are going to be things in life that she can't do. We had a paraplegic boy in our school and I don't rememeber him complaining when there was a ski trip, he accepted he couldn't join in on that particular trip. Of course these days he probably would be able to but at the time there weren't the special ski chairs there are now.

Sad the little girl has been withdrawn from school. Doesn't sound like the best move to make her feel included TBH. It sounds like the school had done their level best.

Glad the rest of the class are going on a worthwhile outdoors activities trip not an expensive waste of time which is what the alternative sounded like.

of course young people can acees most of these things.
dd went
here and she had a go at it all.......yes even the zip wire.

tbh sounds more lik ethe mum is a wuss who didn't want her child getting mucky.

sorry
meant young people in wheelchairs.

Mmm, I had a look at that link further down and it doesn't look as though the 2nd activity centre could do much more to provide a great holiday for children with all sorts of disabilities. In fact it looks like a fab place in a beautiful setting, I would expect most children to have a brilliant time there even if they couldn't access everything.

I thought school trips were supposed to be 'character building', being away from home, having to get on with your classmates, trying new things etc. I don't think a red carpet event would do anything of the sort!

I'm local to the area and have been following this story with interest.

I don't know much about Craggan but I'm fairly sure they do a wide enough range of activities that even quite severely disabled participants would be able to have some involvement. I have to admit to being completely astonished that it was felt Badaguish was an inappropriate venue for such an event. AFAIK it is held in very high regard as an all abilities activity centre and has been active in the area for a very long time. It was set up by a social worker and an ranger, so they're pretty savvy about this sort of thing.

I think all that has been achieved is that this poor girl has been excluded further than she ever would have been and the publicity has probably not cast her mother in a good light.

My ds3 was in P7 last year, and went on their equivalent of this school trip - a week of activities at Loch Insh. I am sure he would have considered a red carpet premier, makeovers and VIP tent a far better option.

When my DS was in P7, they went to the West of Scotland equivalent of Badaguish. The whole class went, including a girl with CP who uses a wheelchair most of the time.

She was able to do most of the activities, and, in fact, had such a great time that she still goes back for a week every summer five years on!

The idea behind the P7 residential is to foster working as a team, independence and introducing a range of activities that the children may not have done before. A red carpet event is missing the point entirely.

The DDA requires "reasonable adjustment", which it seems the school and centre have done. This mum will have majorly pissed off the teachers, the other parents and the children, thereby setting back the cause of intergration and mainstream schooling considerably.

I feel very sad for her daughter.

it is sad this as it makes people think that a person in a wheelchair can't do thses things.
they can they just need more help and things like slings.
oh and a change of clothes when they get very muddy.

Sounds like when I went to a camp when I was about 10. Someone threw my wellies in the river so I was forced to wear my plimsolls which of course got soaked in the long grass. One of the adults tried to dry them in front of the fire in the evening and they melted.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl it was my memories of my school trip to Loch Insh god erm 20 years ago???? How did that happen when did 20 years pass like that???
ANyway it was my memories of that trip that made me at the Red carpet Premiere as a viable alternative.
Loch Insh was such a fabulous trip I can still remember that week like it was yesterday.

How could a red carpet event even be considered as a viable alternative to a P7 trip? What reality is this woman living in ffs.

StewieGriffinsMom I know, i was just remembering dd after she crawled through a muddy tube,(she had never got muddy before) her clothes were.......well muddy

The mother sounds like a nut. OK we are probably not getting the whole story, but to an extent a disabled person (adult or child) sooner or later has to accept that there are things s/he can't do. And that it is not fair or reasonable to expect everyone else to give up doing these things purely to spare one person's feelings.

I feel sorry for this child, definitely. Her mother's attitude is going to make her life a lot harder (and also, FFS, encouraging her to want all the sleb/glamour shit is disastrous, as that's a world that's more rejecting of disability than the world of outdoor pursuits.)

StewieGriffinsMom