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SN children

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Original poster

Transport to special school.

29 replies

Sahkoora · 28/04/2014 10:05

DS is starting special school in September and we've just been sent some forms to fill in.

They offer a taxi service to pick the kids up and drop them off, which is amazing, but I just can't see DS getting in a taxi with kids he doesn't know and a taxi driver he doesn't know.

He'll be 6 when he starts, and has had very little time at ms school due to reduced timetables and then being excluded. He hasn't been to school at all since October, has had zero education as the home tutor was hopeless and the replacement only comes once a week and does art stuff with him.

I have also been very unwell due to pregnancy complications and as a result, he's not been out much in the last few months and he is a lot more anti social and less talkative than he used to be.

He goes to an SN after school club two afternoons, which has been great, but when he arrives he has difficulties going in, often we have to wait between 10-30 mins for him to be ready to make the transition.

I'm really worried about him needing this amount of time to get in the taxi, I can't imagine they will be able to wait for him.

I was hoping to have passed my driving test, but I've failed once and had to take so much time out this year that I'm worried I won't have done it by September!

Please could anyone tell me their experiences of taxi travel for ASD kids going to ss?

OP posts:

StarlightMcKenzie · 28/04/2014 10:10

Usually the taxis have an escort. DS' taxi is his social club. I couldn't see how it woukd work either (he was 5 when he started) but somehow it did.

For the first couple of days though I took him to school, watched the taxi arrive, chatted to the kids and escort, then at pick up time ds would sit in the taxi to a few mins with me before the kids came out and then with a couple of kids, so by the time he got to do it he was familiar with the experience and the kids new him.

coppertop · 28/04/2014 10:13

When I applied for ds I was offered the chance for him to meet his escort and taxi driver during the summer holidays so that he could get to know them.

Depending on where the other children live, they may be able to arrange the route so that your ds is collected first. That way he might not be so overwhelmed and it would give him a bit of time to make the transition.

autumnsmum · 28/04/2014 10:18

My dd2 is four and goes on a minibus her escort is lovely and she mentions the children who get her bus as much as her classmates. She is very, very shy and dislikes going out so it proves her transport is getting it right

OneInEight · 28/04/2014 13:06

We have been lucky so far in that ds1 has the taxi too himself. I was a bit when it arrived for the first time without an escort but in all honesty he prefers it that way & we don't have to worry about them saying the wrong thing and triggering a meltdown. I don't think he talks much to the taxi drivers other than to tell them they are going the wrong way .

magso · 28/04/2014 15:23

First of all I would be arranging trial/ settling in days now (several days if possible) for your ds to visit with you or other familiar adult, and get used to the new school. Ds school gave him a book with photos of his teacher to be, his classroom, the play ground, the lunch space, the library (after speaking to us as they had also put in pictures of his favourite trees!). There were also pictures of the children in his class with Christian names. Pictures of the taxis. I took pictures (places rather than children) on our visits. He fitted in well on his visits.
Ds started a week into the new term to let the other children ( who were not new to the school) readjust to school first so the staff could settle him in calmly.
We drove the route to and from school, over the holidays several times, explaining that the taxi driver would pick him up. That all the children (well almost all) the children go to school this way. We found books about going to school by bus ( up till then we had walked). Some American children's programs (Arthur for instance I don't know if that is still around) show bus and car transport. The teachers help the children get in the right cars, one at a time. see if you can meet the escort or driver, or get their pictures. The first day I took him so we could meet the taxi staff in person. He was Ok. Lots of the other children took iplayer type of music players with head phones, so we supplied one of those and got him used to it over the holidays. It did not last long but helped him feel at home in those first few weeks. Ds was introduced to the other children on his bus on his trial days, one of whom we knew a little so could work on that over the holidays. The taxi company wrote to us and called in to introduce the car and staff before he started. A good time to point out any quirks and needs. Hope it all goes well.

autumnsmum · 28/04/2014 15:53

Magso the wonderful Arthur is still on cbbc with dd2 we bought her a fisher price minibus although
I know this doesn't help with a taxi

magso · 28/04/2014 15:59

Thanks Autumnsmum. Ds is 14 so no longer watches CBBC -but Arthur was lovely. I explained that because ds new school was small, the buses were small too - like cars! (many taxis are estate style cars or mini buses.)

ouryve · 28/04/2014 16:39

DS1, while a little older, is doing some assessment days for his new school and will hopefully be joining one of the taxis for some of those days. Each little thing he does is helping to answer some of the questions he has, eg structure of the school day, where things are, who people are etc.

I suspect he'll love the taxi, once he gets over any shyness. It's lunchtimes I'm more concerned about. I've told him the food is nice and most of the other children have similar issues with food and there's bound to be something he will enjoy eating because the dinner staff find out what everyone likes. He seems to be game, but we'll see.

Original poster

Sahkoora · 28/04/2014 16:50

Thanks everyone, that's very reassuring. The head sent out a letter saying we could email with any questions or help we needed, so I think I will do that.

Unfortunately, the school is moving sites over the summer hol so they are not sure how any transition visits will be possible yet. We have been promised some photos of classmates and teachers/TAs at some point, and the specialist teacher team (about the only people doing ANYTHING for DS at the moment) are going to see if the teacher could come and meet DS at home at some point.

I think part of the problem is that I am so used to people in educational settings letting DS down, not understanding his needs and just being plain arseholes that I think it will take me some time to get used to people actually wanting to help him and looking for positive solutions!

This school is an absolute dream, never heard anything negative about it, but part of me can't bring myself to believe they won't be phoning me up asking me to come and get him and recommending parenting courses so I can learn to discipline him!

OP posts:

autumnsmum · 28/04/2014 17:30

Sahkoora thAts how I feel about dd2s school her old nursery had me picking her up early as she couldn't manage pick up time as it was to busy

Nigel1 · 28/04/2014 20:55

Write to Transport Dept. Tell them you have an ASD child. Tell them you want to have the child meet the taxi driver and escort before the start of the journey.
Get from the driver the route,. film it or take photos of the route.
Get Photos of the other children on the route.
Prepare him well and it wont be a problem.

autumnsmum · 28/04/2014 20:56

Mm in our borough you don't get a chance to meet driver or escort

autumnsmum · 28/04/2014 20:57

Sorry you might not be allowed to take photos of the other children because of child protection

magso · 28/04/2014 21:21

Yes that's right. I took photos of ds with staff and when the children were elsewhere. I took pictures of the things ds needed to get familiar with. They supplied photos of most of his classmates, presumably with the parents permission. SS are usually very good at helping children settle in and to my mind that should involve transport!

Ahhhcantthinkofagoodname · 28/04/2014 21:43

Thanks this thread has been v helpful. We're not sure what to do about DS, HE'll be 4 and 2 months when he starts his speech and language unit in sept... Want to find out how many other kids will be in the taxi / minibus and how long it will take (unit is about 20 mins from our house if you go directly) before we decide whether to use it or not (though it will be a real struggle to make other arrangements!)

Icimoi · 28/04/2014 22:10

Do push for more home education. DS is entitled by law to at least 10 hours a week tuition plus proper provision for his needs - e.g. if his statement says he should have speech and language therapy, then it should be continuing. It might be an idea to get legal advice.

autumnsmum · 29/04/2014 08:05

Ah anything of I would definitely use the transport dd2 started on it when she wAs three

Nigel1 · 29/04/2014 20:07

Autumsmum - the point is that if the child has needs and he is that young then he needs to know what is going to happen. If transport fails - and it does in a high number of cases then this is normally due to the tpt dept not introducing the driver and escort to the child. It is possible I do it all the time and in fact insist on it.
Photos - I would expect the other children will be in the same position. It is highly unlikely that other mums would worry about this. After all they would be in the same position.
What you are trying to do is to make tpt - potentially highly stressful less stressful. Worth a go I think.

autumnsmum · 29/04/2014 20:11

Nigel I know it can be stressful my daughter has autism and started sp sch nursery at three I was really worried about going by minibus . She is the first to be picked up as well

uggerthebugger · 29/04/2014 21:01

Loads of good advice here! Our experiences with transport were really positive in our old LA, much better than we expected. The DSs had a lovely escort, and a taxi firm who treated the job as much more than a reliable regular gig - they took a fair bit of trouble to understand what worked and didn't work for the kids.

The LA's transport department, on the other hand, were fucking hopeless - even more so when they merged into a multi-LA transport behemoth. Synergies? Coming out of their arses. Organising the routes in a way that guaranteed the kids got to school in a fit state to learn? Not so much.

One important thing to check is the length of the journey for his taxi route. If it's over 45 minutes for primary, then you've got grounds to complain - at least for now, until the DfE get round to finishing the fuckup they made of changing guidance for school transport. My two coped pretty well with a 40 minute journey - any longer than that, and they got knackered pretty quickly.

uggerthebugger · 29/04/2014 21:05

Ooh, not sure if this has been posted already, but here's something on the subject of LA SEN transport for connoisseurs of weapons-grade consultant bullshit...

'Too many Wirral children being given special educational needs statements' - consultants

Link to original report here - contains gems like

The review divides parents of statemented children into three "Value Mode Groups... They are: "Pioneer", "Prospector" and "Settler"

autumnsmum · 29/04/2014 21:19

That was brilliant ugger I don't think my hour year old is ready to be trained in independent travel yet

Nigel1 · 01/05/2014 20:52

uggerthebugger - The amended draft guidance is that the 45min/1hr 15 guidance shall be maintained.

However I was dealing with London case where the Tpt Mngr stated that the guidance only referred to inter authority travel - it does not, and there fore the limits do not apply. Tosh - they do.

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/05/2014 20:55

Well that has got to be MY LA Nigel. They said something similar to me, when trying to merge 3 taxis for a minibus causing my ds to be travelling for 3 hours a day in order to attend a school 2.5 miles away

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/05/2014 20:58

He said the law was flexible to allow parental choice for their kids to attend schools further away than 45 minutes would allow.

I asked him to produce evidence of any NT child with transport being made to travel 3 hours a day and threatened disability discrimination on account that it isn't my ds' fault that they have no provision in-borough and have to ship him out, and that 45 mins each way is actually a long time for such a short distance already.

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