Can't see this clearly as I am too involved

[yawningmonster]

Background: DS is 9.5, he has ASD, Dyspraxia and Dyslexia.

School have organised school camp. He is 6weeks into a new term with a completely new team. No TA going, no SENCO going just a team of 6 teachers and some parents.

To be "fair" the parent help names are being put in a ballot and drawn.
We met with the teacher and said that this while apparently "fair" meant that if one of us were not drawn then ds would be unable to go.

We were asked to put in writing what our concerns were (he has been at this school since he was 5 but there is very poor communication between staff one year to the next)

This is an small sample of the email that I wrote (hopefully it will give you an idea of needs)

...will find the physical activities extremely challenging, he has difficulty with co ordination and this combined with the pressure of being observed by other people can be very overwhelming for him. ....also has trouble with coping with new and out of routine situations and can go into meltdown.
Triggers for meltdown include being tired, being out of routine, being asked to do something he will find difficult, being watched by others, over stimulation, allergic reactions to allergens, hurting himself even if it seems minor to others, having other people too close and not being able to retreat all of which are concerns on the camp. We are not overly concerned about the actual camping over night part, ..... has camped since he was very young and is well used to sleeping in new environments and seems to cope well with this aspect of change in routine.
Meltdowns in ....... case are not aggressive but he will lose emotional control and become very loud and very distressed. ..... is still learning the best way to cope with a meltdown and re ground himself he at this current point of time will try to remove himself from the situation In full meltdown this may mean he will run off and hide at the best he will have a management plan of a place he can take himself to an arranged retreat before he reaches full meltdown. We are also concerned about the social backlash should a meltdown occur, it can be frightening for children and also it is far removed from behaviour most children of this age display. The strategy of having a safe place is not always employable as the further into the meltdown he is the less able he is to make rational and sensible decisions.
I guess for us the big concerns are that if he were to have a meltdown there is no one attending the camp who has witnessed a meltdown and knows how to cope with it while keeping ...... safe.
My assumption is that parent helpers will be supporting some of the activities and I feel particularly concerned that they should not be put in the position of coping with a meltdown as it can be scary and overwhelming even when you have seen and dealt with hundreds of them.

Our names were not drawn out as a helper and we feel that he can't go as it is a safety risk, he will be over an hour away for 3 days in an area he does not know at all with adults he also doesn't know. The school have said fine and that is our choice to exclude him, I am upset as I feel it is them doing the excluding by organising an activity that he actually can't participate in without support and not providing that support if that makes sense.

Sorry this is an essay thanks if you stuck with it.

Example: A secondary school takes its year 7 pupils on a week- long outdoor activity course every year. The school always goes to the same place which offers a wide range of exciting activities for the pupils to participate in. This year one of the year 7 disabled pupils has to have kidney dialysis on a daily basis so needs to be able to return home every day. In deciding on what adjustment to make for the disabled pupil, the school considers cancelling the trip and seeking an alternative such as doing day trips closer to the school. The school weighs up whether denying pupils the opportunity to attend the week-long trip is reasonable and decides to stick with the planned trip to the outdoor activities centre so pupils don’t miss out on this valuable residential experience and are not required to travel to and from activities each day. But, in order to address the disadvantage faced by the disabled pupil, they arrange for transport from his home to attend the centre for day visits on three days so the pupil has the benefit of being able to participate in the activities with his peers. If the school had not made this adjustment he would not have been able to participate at all. This is likely to be a reasonable step for the school to have to take. It is unlikely to be reasonable for the school to have to alter its decision to undertake the week-long activities course.

From the guidance page 15

Wow heaps of responses I will take a while to read through them properly but my initial realisation is that I need to point out I am not in the UK.

Also there are a couple of threads asking about schools knowledge of his needs, he has just entered his 5th year with them, they have a copy of all of his diagnosis', we have ORS funding here and TA hours but don't have statements. We do not qualify for ORS funding though we are fighting this we do qualify for some TA hours and he is on a termly IEP.

We have at this stage asked to see the schools policy and procedures and are intending on using the policies regarding inclusion to formulate a formal complaint.

European law

NZ Human Rights Act and education act

Australian example

section 504 in USA

Maybe school are openly excluding him in a bid to force the authorities to recognise and fund the support he needs?