Where is the line in "reasonable adjustment"?

[AtLeastWeTried]

Hi,

I wondered if I could ask for other's thoughts?

I know we are meant to advovate for ASD adults and children, and try to find a way for communities to enable them to integrate. Ideally communities should value their strengths I feel, and not ostracise them for being different.

However, just recently I have gone to community organisations twice to advocate for DS to be given a different challenge of equivalent difficulty. I've been asking this so that he can remain in an organisation and keep progressing in his learning/development.

Both times it has gone down like a lead balloon, and I've basically been told "you're different and that's wrong". In one case we had to leave altogether, and in the other he has just been put down as a "fail" in spite of working hard for 4 years on a qualification.

I'm a bit gobsmacked because for years these organisations have been preaching about how they value diversity and inclusion, but when push comes to shove, it turned out not.

I can't go into detail because it would be extremely outing.

The thing I'm wondering now is:

How are we meant to plan a route through life for our kids, if the dividing line between "reasonable adjustment" and "actually you're a failure" is so difficult to predict?

My sense is that it often comes down to the individual person in charge at the organisation. So even a change of leader half way through a qualification can move the goal posts and ruin all previous planning.

I would be really grateful to know other's thoughts on this.

Thanks!

What adjustments are considered reasonable depends on the specific circumstances. The EHRC has some guidance on their website about factors that might be considered when deciding if something is reasonable. Ultimately, it would be for the courts to decide. But a supportive person in the organisation makes a difference.

If the qualification is governed by a regulatory body such as the JCQ, their guidance will set out reasonable adjustments. For example, JCQ’s publicly available guidance allows adjustments that don’t affect the integrity of the assessment and qualification. Their guidance states most of the time changing the assessment objectives would affect the integrity so wouldn't be considered reasonable.

Thanks, that's good to know.