Getting to school- ASD can't walk alone

[Chickpeas]

Hi,
Don't know if anyone here can offer advice?

My son is 9 and has AS. He is in mainstream but has 20 hours support. He is not statemented because the LEA here fight statementing. It took me 2 years to get him any help...but that isn't the issue.

The problem is we live semi rurally. Basically up a steep mountain with no proper road or pavement to walk on. There is also a sheer drop on one side of the road, which is dangerous. It blows a gale up here and there are no street lights etc. The lane is used as a rat run by speeding vehicles as it is national speed limit despite being narrow, we have even had a car on it's roof on the blind bend, so it's not safe for a NT child to walk really.

The school is in a local village about a mile and half driving but it might as well be a different world.

If my son walks to school he will have to navigate his way down the mountain, cross 5 roads, 1 of which is busy to get to school. There is no crossing patrol on the busy road at the school. It takes around 30-40 minutes to walk there.

I now have no car. It has finally given up the ghost and we have no money to buy another.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do?

We had to walk down today and we were very late and soaked through despite waterproof coats.

My son now has to sit all day in wet clothing and his eczema will be a nightmare when he comes home tonight.

I cannot walk it every day as I have arthritis in my feet. I was crying in pain after I had walked back. A 1 1/2 hour walk for me. Just not feasable.

Cycle slowly? Taxi? You won't get transport for a mile and a half I'm afraid (but I'm sure you know that). The issue here is more your disability and problem walking than your sons I think as many parents would probably want to walk a 9yo old to school, and most people would be able to walk a mile and half fairly easily.

Sorry, that's not much help - hopefully someone with better advice will be along soon.

Hi Chickpeas, your situation sounds awful - I have a son with Aspergers so I completely understand your dilema, there is no way he can walk alone. I'm no expert but hopefully someone will be along soon who can offer some good advice. Do you get DLA? Is there any way that you can contact your local authority to arrange some kind of transport for him such as minicabs or local minibus service?

Other than that, on a practical level could he keep a spare set of uniform at school so he has something to change into when the weather is bad?

"If my son walks to school he will have to navigate his way down the mountain, cross 5 roads, 1 of which is busy to get to school. There is no crossing patrol on the busy road at the school. It takes around 30-40 minutes to walk there."

Have you investigated with the council what the official 'safe route' is for your DS?

Once they are over 8 the rule is '3 miles by nearest safe walking route'.

Now, the safe route isn't necessarily the shortest route. So in the event of a route being unsafe but short, that would be superceded by the longer route that is safe.

DirectGov says:

"Children also qualify for free transport - no matter what distance they live from the school - if they are unable to walk for any of the following reasons:

they have SEN
they have a disability or mobility problems
<strong>there is no safe walking route</strong>

Safe walking routes are those which usually include road crossings, good lighting and well maintained pavements and footpaths. LAs are required to assess the suitability of walking routes."

[Emphasis mine]

There is also a link here to search for the safe walking route near to you.

I'm sure, also that if you search MN, there was another parent whose child got transport because they could show that there was no safe walking route, due to the only road between them and school being a 60mph road with no pavements, etc.

Unfortunately I can't ride a bicycle as my balance is bad due to menieres, and neither can my son, he doesn't have the co-ordination, so cycling is out. Doesn't seem any safer than walking anyway.

We tried the local taxi company but they won't transport him, as you said, I didn't know they wouldn't do it for a short journey, I thought if you paid a taxi they would take you...but not the case it seems, they only want longer journeys they can make more money with.

He has to take spare clothes in because of his continence issues anyway... but they soon get used up.

Would the LEA know about things like that? Are there special 'CRB checked taxi's'? My son talks to strangers, has no idea how to cross a road etc. He would go off with someone if they told him he could play on their Wii. He is very naiive, emotionally around 4 years old.

I am very worried and am not the best at coping with these things.

I just saw that Direct Gov thing you posted.

There is only 1 route to school. No others at all. What does that mean?

There is no street lighting or pavements.

I will ring the LEA and ask about this safe route thing.

Thank you

Using the info in Lougle's link I would contact your council and request home to school transport.

You don't have a safe walking route and your DS has SEN, both fit the criteria for transport. Often this is a taxi with a CRB checked escort.

x post

Good luck

Speak to your 'Inclusion' Dept at your LA. They may be able to help - they approved free transport for my son to secondary school as the public service bus would have been unsuitable for various reasons (without SEN he wouldn't have qualified for free transport, so LA transport dept turned us down).

I would second Lougles guidance regarding 'safe routes' trumping distance. In the village where I live, a free school bus brings children from a nearby hamlet to school even though it is within the distance guidlines - there is a busy 'A' road with no pavements between them and the school which would not be safe to walk along with young children.

Thank you everyone,

I have contacted the LEA and they say they only provide taxi's to special needs schools, not those with support in mainstream.

They also told me if my son didn't attend school they would prosecute me.

They seemed unsympathetic, to say the least.

They gave me the phone number of their school transport officer in the hope there would be a list of private taxi's with CRB checks willing to take the work but when I rang them the lady said there was no safe route from where we lived and couldn't understand why my son wasn't getting a taxi anyway. She is going to look into it for us and ring me back later.

Not much else I can do for now I suppose.

Disability discrimination act applies here. You'd have grounds to take them to tribunal.

Email the SEN department with your request so that you have started a paper trail. If you can take digital photos of the route and attach. Quote the stuff above re "safe route" and mention the disability discrimination act.

The LEA are trying to fob you off with threats of prosecution as you are not unwilling to educate your child. You are unable to due to your disabilities - NOT the same situation at all.

The family fund might be able to fund car repairs.

you can appeal or complain and you should. They rely on parents being fobbed off and giving up.

See IPSEA link and you can use their advice line, or that or NAS, SOSSEN etc

Put in writing your telephone request and the response you have received. Say you disagree your child does not meet the criteria and that they have not properly considered your child's SEN - quote the law if you feel confident doing so (On IPSEA page). Ask for written reasons for refusal to be sent to you and ask for details of how you can appeal / complain about this decision. Also put in the letter you were threatened with prosecution if you could not get your child to school.

They have not properly considered it over the phone. I was given equally inaccurate advice when I asked on the phone about my son being statemented and told he did not meet the criteria - 18 months later he had a full statement and they had to pay very expensive specialist provision.

Start making a paper trail. Once their inaccurate advice is in writing and on file they might start taking you seriously.

"I have contacted the LEA and they say they only provide taxi's to special needs schools, not those with support in mainstream.

They also told me if my son didn't attend school they would prosecute me."

Just because that's what they currently do doesn't mean that they can't or won't do something different - you are the family which will make them change

They can't have a blanket policy that contravenes the Equality Act. They also can't have a local policy which contradicts national law.

"They gave me the phone number of their school transport officer in the hope there would be a list of private taxi's with CRB checks willing to take the work"

Why?

It isn't your job to pay someone to solve a problem which is the responsibility of the LA.

Put your indignation pants on - they are messing with you!

They have deemed the walk safe for a child. I disagree with this and so do the school headteacher and deputy.
The taxi wants £40 per week. If I had that I could buy a second hand car!

So I am stuck to getting up at 5.30am to get ready in time and having the 40 minute hike down the mountain and the 40 minute hike back up twice per day. No chance of getting any sort of job now.

Son is starving hungry by the time we get there and has to sit another 3.5 hours til lunch.

I's only this term he was able to stay for school lunch, from 3 years until 9 he has been coming home because he gets bullied in school and ends up self harming. He did it yesterday again after we had to walk to school. He can't cope with the routine change. It's a good job he is staying because it would be impossible to get him at lunchtime now.

Write to them, copying in your MP and Social Services, to confirm that they are deeming the route safe, and therefore will be responsible in the event that your Son comes to any harm?

State that you do not consider the route safe, detail the parts of the route you think inadequate, especially if any of the route has either no pavement or no street lighting.

Check the route carefully and check whether your authority admits to schools based on shortest safe route or birds-eye distance. If they use shortest safe route, check the route they use, and see if it matches the route they are now telling you is safe.

Get a letter from your Doctor stating your DS's condition, your condition, and that it is injurious to your health to walk this route 4 times per day.

State that you look forward to a reply within x days.

Make sure you include the fact that you will copy this in to x, y and z.

I cant see anywhere in the information that Lougle has posted (or when I have read the code of practice) that says it has to be a special school. Surely when the "policy" is to "include" children in MS schools they would be on sticky ground??

I would suggest that you ask your local authority to provice you with a copy of their home school transport policy.

This thread prompted me to contact my local school transport dept. My dd is 13 asd refuses to walk, has no road safety awareness, no sense of danger, vulnerable, finds public transport over whelming. I don't drive and have 2 other children at primary (one aged 5 hypermobility and suspected ASD). At the moment my partner takes her to school and back (goes in late and comes out late to miss the other pupils) as he works from home and drives. However that will be stopping soon and he may have to work away. The councils view is we are within the walking distance and she doesn't have a statement so therefore no help. I have just applied for SA. I've just emailed them back asking for copy if policy and directing her to the directgov page where it states sen or disability or mobility issues. I have also pointed out that my dd is on both the sen register and the disabled children's register and that not having a statement does not mean she doesn't have a sen. I'm looking forward to her reply!