I have got to vent sorry about this! here goes
My son was at a large primary school until 1 year and a half ago. He had special educational needs he could bearly read and write properly, fell behind had massive anxiety issues and all the school did was put him on school action plus and give him half an hour 1to 1 once a week to improve literacy.Then when the situation got worse they said they thought something was wrong possibly aspergers and wanted to palm him off to a short stay referal unit for medically ill children because they couldnt deal. At this point we were unsure of what his difficulties were,i got to my wits end and decided i would home educate.
Ayear and a half has passed and i have paid out £700 for the easyread reading program thinking elliot may be dyslexic to help with his reading. It started to help but the headaches were persistant so easyread recomended he may have irlen syndrome. I paid £350 and my son was diagnosed with irlen syndrome which is a perceptual dysfunction of the brain. Anyway the lens tinting on his glasses has started to improve his situation and slowly his reading has improved and his handwriting is better. He is now a confident learner and knows well his strengths and weaknesses.I have got a full report with recomendations for enviroment and eduactional changes that need to be taken into account.
My son wants to go to secondry school after year 6 and decided he would like to return to a school for year 6 to get back into the swing of things before secondry school and he said whilst he enjoys home eduaction he misses friends despite going swimming twice a week, drum lessons etc etc.My son shows a muturity beyond his years!
After a discussion with our lea officer who visits us he said he would find a place for my son in a small primary school with good sen provision. Anyway he said he found a place at a little catholic school local to us. However a disccussion with the head teacher today reveled that he told them that my son had a eye problem not that he had got irlen syndrome or dyspraxia or that he had been on school action plus before and been assessed by the lea. He also failed to mention that my son would need access to a teaching assistant for help aportion of the day especially with the reading writing aspect.
Anyway to cut a long story short the headteacher explained that although they do have sen provision threy already have a statemented child with a brain injury in the class who swallows all extra help, and they wouldnt be able to give my son the help he needs.It wouldnt be fair to my son to put him in a situation with no help again. She was honest and i was glad of it.
My Lea officer failed to disclose the right information applicable to my child, which to me is vitally important.
Im torn now because he states that normal primary schools are unlikely to be able to dedicate the right sen for elliots needs.
Do i get a statement so he has options of special schools with moderate learning difficulties. Or a statement for normal schools to force the right provision.
Any advice welcome, not sure how many people have had simular issues.