apply for an EHC plan - HFA

[kafkesque]

If you are going to continue to punish my son for his deficits I want you to do the right thing and apply for an EHC plan please.

I have applied for one which has been refused last year.

I have been told if he is doing well academically, it's unlikely I will get an EHC plan. It’s simply not true. It’s a MYTH spread by the schools and LA, there is absolutely nowhere in law that says this! LA nonsense and unlawful policies do not trump the law however much the LA want them to.

The SENCO either doesn't know herself or has been deliberately or otherwise fed the line by the LA.. Unfortunately for everyone, SENCOs get their information usually from the LA, who have a different agenda entirely.

So why is it called an Educational Care Health Plan.... You can have a child that is academically capable however they may still have limited capability in Social and Emotional areas. That is not to say that they are not being properly provided the correct support from home or school. Just means they process information in a different way.

I want you to apply anyway because you have a wealth of Behavioural evidence now as well as having a Communication and Autism specialist teacher to advise you on strategies but still continue to punish him.

It’s obvious he can't cope in a normal school environment. Sometimes he just does not know what is rude and what is not and sometimes he is telling you to go away and leave him alone. Referring to a paragraph in their legislation that says something like “ if there is something that is hindering his access to the full curriculum and he cannot reach his full potential then he needs support” yes he may be doing average grade-wise, but is that his full potential? My son has most trouble with interaction with peers and being easily distracted.

My son may reach age related expectations (ARE) but I don't care about age related it's not his full potential relative to him! We have an EP report that says he scores 94th, 95th and even 99th centiles so ARE is irrelevant!# as not behind but exhibiting low level behavioural issues at school.

He has spikiness of his profile in a class of 100 there might be three people more intelligent than him, but his writing speed has just seven people below him! No wonder he's frustrated, bored, non-engaged and drifting into trouble.

It's more about educational care plan, not HEALTH CARE PLAN. High anxiety, sensory issues all need support in order to for my child to reach full potential during his education.

Every autistic person is different so its case-by-case isn’t it.

I believe he still fits the LEGAL criteria.

This is the criteria for an EHC needs assessment to take place.

Section 36 (8) of the Children and Families Act:

“The local authority must secure an EHC needs assessment for the child or young person if, after having regard to any views expressed and evidence submitted under subsection (7), the authority is of the opinion that -

(a) the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and

(b) it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan."

The criteria for assessment for an EHCP is that our child MAY have special educational needs and MAY need special educational provision.

The only test in law is that one and it applies across all 4 areas of SEN identified in the Code of practise, only one of which is academic.

There are 4 areas of SEN defined in the Code Of Practise and a child can have issues in any one (or more) of them that require an EHC plan. They are Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Social Emotional and Mental Health and Physical/Sensory. Sufficient evidence that shows they are failing to progress in any one of these areas should trigger an assessment and possibly a plan. You have a wealth of Behavioural evidence now which would come under Social Emotional and Mental Health. I am still waiting for the Sensory Profile paperwork to come through.

Yes you do need evidence that shows our child MAY need more support than available to children with SEN in a mainstream classroom, but the key word is MAY. And that can be your evidence rather than a professionals e.g. any exclusion paperwork, home/school communication book, emails to and from school, behavioural diaries, - the list goes on! The aim is to get the gates opened to a full assessment with the relevant professionals. But there is nothing in law that says you have to wait for any period of time before applying

The sooner you apply the better.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

If this is something you're sending to your child's school, it might be an idea to correct it to refer to an Education, Health and Care Plan. I'm not trying to be pedantic, it's just that if you call it an educational health care plan it sounds like it's more about care when it's important that the main focus is on education.

I'm also not sure what feedback you are hoping to get by posting this here. You've typed in a way that seems like something you would send to your DC's school - although there is a mixture of formal and informal language that confuses me a bit.

It sounds like you are trying to persuade your DC's school to apply for an EHCP?

Maybe you should consider taking charge and applying for it yourself? The school have to jump through more hoops with the LA than parents. Plus you are more invested and have more time than school staff to do right by your child.

Have a look at this article: specialneedsjungle.com/parents-seven-steps-success-ehcp/

It should help you set out the "social and emotional" case for an EHC needs assessment. As you say, if you have an academically able child it is difficult to advocate for them - but it is not impossible. My son falls into this category and I managed to get an EHCP in place for him despite his "worst" academic performance being "average" or "expected" levels. Good luck

Have you spoken to IPSEA and SOSSEN? Have you looked at their model letters? Have you ran your letter by them?

Dealing with schools and the LA as a parent of DC with SEN is very frustrating, upsetting, hart breaking. I know this having 2 DC. Most hurtful is to see and believe the cynicism and indifference. What helps is channeling your feelings into razor sharp instruments.

From my reading it feels as though your letter tries to achieve several things and leaves all the control to the school, which has all the potential to upset and frustrate you even more.

Do you have all the specific evidence? Then quote it, attach it and apply for assessment yourself using one of those model letters.

Do you want the school to give you copies of evidence that already exists? There are model letters to that effect, you can request school records under data protection act and freedom of information act etc.

Do you want the school to take steps, such as provisions, that they ought to make under graduated response, that they don't currently make? There are letters for this as well.

If it is a letter to school trying to engage them productively, to make suggestions on what you would hope them to include in their response to your application for assessment, quote specifics - the incidents with dates, lay the evidence for them. You still need someone at school who is an ally and will do the doing, usually the Senco. So some passages, although completely true about the LA, don't help the Senco to help your DS. They will reply with a denial, while you want them to reply with specific actions.

In my experience schools will not apply for assessment unless it is the only way to solve TEIR problem with your DS. If the problem is your DS's and yours, you will have to apply.

Just take it straight to tribunal. Use IPSEA for guidance. I did thus for my now 10 year old HFA top 7% for maths, 50% for literacy, self harms, runs away, can’t wipe her bum. Academic performance means little weighed up with a child who can be so complex I wonder if she will survive to adulthood.

It doesn't sound as if OP has any right to take a case to tribunal at the moment, if the request to assess was refused last year.

Thank-you for taking me seriously and for your constructive comments.
I will put into practise what you have advised.

She needs to apply again personally, then wait for refusal (within 6 weeks) and then go to tribunal.

If a plan comes about, school will probably realise they’ve screwed up and need to take it seriously.

'Do you want the school to take steps, such as provisions, that they ought to make under graduated response, that they don't currently make? There are letters for this as well.'

Can you give an example or point me in the right direction please?

OP, I am not working for any of those charities, I am not an expert, so I am just trying to help based on my limited understanding.

The first thing is for you to understand the process and where you are in it, the code of practice. The link to SEN Jungle from Tartan above sounds very helpful. Various other education advice charities including NAS are good resources as well to get a sense of what provisions would help you DS and how to get there. I used to use them all.

You already have an EP report, so the professionals have already been involved - this is good, you are on the stage of graduated response right before EHC needs assessment.

I suppose the EP made recommendations, have they all been implemented? If not, you might write a complaint to the governing body and or the LA that recommendations are not implemented.
You could use some of these:

www.ipsea.org.uk/the-best-endeavours-duty

www.ipsea.org.uk/making-a-complaint-about-a-nursery-school-or-college

www.autism.org.uk/about/in-education/extra-help-in-school.aspx

If the reason the school give is lack of resources, you have evidence for criteria 2 of the needs assessment, that your DS may need provisions, and even evidence that those provisions are beyond resources available at MS school - that he needs EHCP.
The same for ASD teacher - did she make recommendations?

Do you have a formal diagnosis? If yes, it takes care of the first criteria for assessment, although you might argue that his full needs are not fully understood and the assessment is necessary to identify them.

But generally, given you already have an EP report and your DS's need are not fully understood/ provisions not made by the school, you need to be applying for EHC needs assessment. As described on the link from SEN jungle, every piece of information and correspondence you have from the school should be used to make your case. In simplified terms, everything the school did is evidence that they tried and reached the limit without assessment and EHCP. Everything they didn't do is evidence of the need for assessment and EHCP. All your DS's struggles are evidence of needs that may exist but not yet understood and provisions that may be necessary, thus need for assessment and EHCP.

You want to demonstrate inadequate progress with current provisions, that the gap is widening or not narrowing, which as you list in your OP is in at least 4 domain. All the emotional and behavioural evidence, sensory, communication and interaction, speech and language is relevant. X month after EP report your DS still is having behavioural outbursts, is punished, has friendship problems that affect him in such and such way etc.

Concerning the academic progress specifically, you need to use the test in the code of practice and might state that the gap is widening or not narrowing compared to his potential which is 95%-tile, or compared to his peer group, or compared to his previous rate of progress, whatever applies to your DS.

Thank -you for the replies.
This was the reply to the above email posted:

Thank you for your emails regarding DS1, the support he is receiving and the sanctions that he is getting at the moment. I felt it would be helpful to put a coordinated approach so I have also invited Mrs X, Mrs Y and Mrs Z to contribute to this email. As the new Senco this also gives me an opportunity to look at the overall picture and provision for DS1.

Autism teacher has shared with us her notes from the meeting with you on Tuesday and I wanted to draw you attention to a couple of points.

In your email you highlight that Autism teacher did not observe DS1 in May, this is not actually correct as she did observe him, however, the observation was brief and did not provide her with enough information to write a report. As a result an additional appointment was arranged for 08.10.18 following a request from us.

The notes from Autism Teacher visit on the 08.10.18 highlight that DS1 is able to concentrate for around 15 minutes before he uses self-regulation strategies. This was discussed in the meeting with yourself and it was agreed that he should receive short learning breaks. These breaks could be helping with something in the class, working a different part of the room or any changes that the teacher feels is appropriate to the task, teaching staff have already been made aware of this.

It is also highlighted that DS1 struggles to receive support or engage in lengthy instructions with staff, therefore interactions are better in lessons when they are brief and non obtrusive, some suggestions as to how DS1 could seek support or how teachers could adopt techniques for DS1 to access and develop his work were also given. This included checklists of instructions so DS1 knew exactly what was required of him with his work and emailing his teachers. I personally will be arranging time with DS1 shortly to discuss how he can use mind mapping strategies and programmes on his Chromebook to support his learning and structure of his work.

In regards to DS1 inappropriate use of technology I will quote from the notes
“DS1 has recently been in “trouble” at school for inappropriate use of technology including playing games in lessons. School have introduced some boundaries and support strategies around this. It was agreed that he would benefit from an age appropriate social story around this issue which he can be referred to. We also discussed the use of a social behaviour map to support DS1 with a very clear idea of expected and unexpected behaviour in lesson”
Mrs Y will be working on the social behaviour maps supplied by Autism Teacher in the near future. I also attach the sensory profile questionnaire sent by Autism Teacher, for completion.

We will continue to look into the different ways of helping engaging DS1 with his inappropriate use of technology, however, we have expectations of all of our students and rules that all students must adhere to, in many case for their own safety. Staff are following these guidelines and have been told to monitor inappropriate use of technology and sanction accordingly. Looking at the notes from meetings with the school in July and September, arrangements were put in place to support DS1 with understanding this policy, I also see that there has been a positive impact with the number of incidents and sanctions DS1 received reducing showing the positive impact of this strategy. I feel going back on this would be a step backwards when it is proving to be a success. At the same time when DS1 is using technology appropriately, the system is rewarding positive behaviour by being allowed to access his technology outside of school.

As a school we have already implemented the lunch card as requested so that DS1 is able to skip the queues and potential noise and lack of space in these areas, I believe this was issued on Wednesday the day after the meeting, although as yet, he has not used it. We have also already looked into the careers interviews as suggested as I know DS1 would like to become an engineer. He has already had one meeting and we will be arranging a further session with Connexions to reiterate what he needs to be achieving at this point.

I clearly understand from your email last night that you are keen to pursue an EHCP and in the past we have said that the progress DS1 is making could be an inhibiting factor with this. I have looked at his trackers from last year and it is clear to see that he is making expected or excellent progress in many areas. DS1’s Year 8 end of year exam results were satisfactory considering he admitted that he had done no revision outside of school. We will obviously look at this again when the first Year 9 tracker is released at the beginning of December, however, looking at the available data at the moment does suggest that he is doing well at school. From a behaviour perspective the evidence does suggest that the strategies that have put in over time have had some success and need to continue. The external agencies that have been working with DS1 have also not recommended an EHCP as a course of action at this point and an application is usually supported with this evidence. We will of course fill in our part of an EHCP if it came from you, however, I would be unsure of the success of the EHCP based on some of these factors. We obviously won't know for sure however until an application is accepted or rejected.

I can assure you that all teachers and staff at Mumsnet School are working with DS1 to support him, we are adopting the strategies outlined by external agencies and updating DS1’s passport so that staff are aware of the latest strategies. The evidence also suggests that the strategies implemented by yourself, Mrs Y and Mrs X have been successful in reducing the number of sanctions DS1 was receiving.

I am feeling that he is in Year 9 and time is running out for DS1 therefore wanting to apply for EHCplan and looks like I will have to. Tell me if I am barking up the wrong tree.

I guess it depends on how true what is set out in that email is. If he is making at least enough progress to keep up with his peers academically, and is also making progress in terms of behaviour, it may well be difficult to get an EHCP. However, if he is still receiving punishments regularly as suggested in your original post, that suggests she's wrong about the behavioural issue.

I'd suggest you carry on and enter your own application - there's lots of information on Ipsea's website, including a template for requesting an EHC needs assessment which is the first stage.

Surely if he can't stop himself playing games on his laptop in lessons, he just needs to be provided with a device that is not internet enabled and has no apps so all it does is word process?

Exactly, 4points, this is a first time I here about technology being allowed in lessons that gives access to internet and games freely.

If he is making at least enough progress to keep up with his peers academically
The test is not to keep up with his peers, (this is what LA would use), but whether he keeps up with himself - his ability 95%, or his earlier rate of progress, or whatever best suits in the test laid out in the code of practice.

The broader question is whether one can demonstrate that the "engagement" undertaken by the school is ineffective, that it does not solve the problem or create new problems, possibly due to insufficient capacity or understanding. In that case an assessment could help the school to better understand all the needs and access resources beyond what they have now to make it work properly.
OP, the school replied that they would respond if you apply, so do just that, make your best shot.

But of course if interventions are working and there are no demonstrable problems, maybe DS does not need an EHCP.

Gosh you are making us work hard to understand what’s going on! I’d suggest you set someone at the charities above (or pay an advocate) to help you compile your evidence.

I remember that was one of the hardest parts - knowing what was happening at school and how things we’re changing.

1. You will need evidence of your DS’ needs and difficulties
2. You’ll need to list out what school has done from their email
3. You’ll need to review if the school support has worked or not - with evidence
4. If it’s worked - great let school know what’s going well. If not feed back to school what’s not working and wait for next update.
5. Consider the ehcp if things still aren’t going well after school have tried a variety of things OR they don’t understand the problems

Annoyed: Asked for a professional to visit DS1 in March. Saw DS1 in May and in fact there is no report from May. We first discussed her visit in March and now it is October after I have made the request for an EHCplan and it is refused again I will discuss these delaying tactics at Appeal Tribunal. Instead of finding support for DS1 school have decided to punish him for his deficits.

The most behaviour incidents recorded have been in Maths, English and Science. For inadequate work, lack of focus, lack of equipment and step 2. I had hoped the recommendations for strategies from the professional team would benefit the teachers as some of them seemed and the end of their tether. I wanted professional to find the triggers for detentions. She did not mention any of this as SENCO wrote they would pass on my comments to her. She only noted lack of focus.

It has not been done.

OP would you consider employing an advocate to draft your communications? I feel your pain - i could have written your last post - it’s just that it seems that your frustrations are clouding your message. What’s obvious to you isn’t necessarily obvious to the school. It took me about 2 years to learn how to advocate well for my son. But if your DS now needs a plan you may need to get help as you can’t afford to spend time learning by trial and error...

if your DS now needs a plan you may need to get help as you can’t afford to spend time
OP, you come across like you need a brake. Get help. Now might be the right time for you to use outside help for the sake of your DS. Raising autistic children is very testing physically and emotionally, and the circles of hell with the school really get to you. I know watching those nice people from the school saying nice teflon things can be soul destroying. But it is even harder for our DC, they are in pain, so you need to act.

Have you actually applied formally to the LA for EHC needs assessment under section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014?

Not the meeting / letter to school you discussed above, but proper application?

You need to understand the nature of the process. You need to have tactics and strategy of your own. The tribunal will not pay much attention to delaying tactics, but will look for evidence that your DS meets legal criteria for assessment.

Have you tried SOSSEN free walk in sessions? Very helpful, patient people, face to face. They are very knowledgeable, they discuss all questions at length with everyone who arrives within opening time. I was impressed, as they gave answers to questions I didn't know I should ask and discussed factors I didn't know how to navigate in spite of years of dealing with DC. They might help you to sort out your evidence, your arguments and even help to draft communications as a follow-up (I think for a fee). They are champions of tactics. A good advisor from IPSEA and NAS could do that too, over the phone/ email for free. They appoint a volunteer advisor. NAS tribunal helpline in exceptional cases / circumstances can seek pro bono legal representation for you. But I would say for the latter you need to be in top shape in the driving sit, the lawyers they assign are trainees. Tell them your circumstances, ask for help. There are advocates that can review your case and write letters for you for a fee, although I have no personal experience with them.

Do you have the right of appeal? Have you applied to the Tribunal? The clock is ticking for your DC either way.

Maybe start with SOSSEN
sossen.org.uk/advice_centres.php

Thank-you for your replies. I applied for an EHCP last year. The letter refused assessment on 18/1/18. I will apply again this year and will take them to tribunal as the school have not been as supportive as I would have liked. When can I apply again?

This is what I have prepared so far with your help:

It sounds like he is making academic progress but that is not the only reason to apply for an EHCP. There are four areas of SEN and failure to progress in any one should trigger an assessment.

Issues affecting our child. The sorts of challenges which apply to a child with Autism in mainstream school:

1. Communication and interaction – e.g. core ASD difficulties with use of language, social skills, lack of self-advocacy, rigid thinking, difficulties with transitions/task initiation and using non-verbal (uncooperative) behaviour to communicate difficulties, etc.
   What he has been punished for:
   Lack of Focus 7
   Step 2 8
   Missed department detention/Intervention 4
   Lack of Homework 13
   Inadequate work 18
   1 hr after school 1
   Step 3 2
   Inappropriate use of ICT 9
   Insolence/Defiance 2
   Racist incident 2 - (Mrs Young disagrees with me and I have received an email regarding a particular incident)

2. Cognition and learning – e.g. core ASD mind-blindness / central coherence / executive function difficulties; specific learning difficulties (SpLDs eg dyslexia, difficulties with written expression); reduced availability for learning due to dysregulation caused by transitions/ sensory differences / changes to routine, etc.
   What he has been punished for: Equipment 7

3. Social, emotional and mental health – e.g. eating disorders, anxiety, poor self-esteem etc.

4. Sensory and/or physical needs – e.g. fine motor problems, sensory integration difficulties; personal space issues, feeding etc.

I know that Autism is a hidden disability and it may be difficult to understand but I am still anxious he is still being punished even though Professional is involved and it says in his diagnosis notes, under Details and Outcome of Assessment : “He clearly struggles with organisation and forgetfulness and it would be more helpful to support him with strategies rather than sanction him as it is unlikely to learn from this”

The test for an assessment is in section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act - below. We need evidence for both legs of the test, ie, that he has SEN (in one or more of those 4 areas) and that he MAY need more support than is normally available to a child with SEN in a mainstream classroom. It’s a low bar at this stage. An assessment alone may help identify what is really going on with our son even if we don't get a plan out of it. Maybe Professional advising your team is not enough, to support him, as he still receiving sanctions.

The local authority must secure an EHC needs assessment for the child or young person if, after having regard to any views expressed and evidence submitted under subsection (7), the authority is of the opinion that—

(a)the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and

(b)it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.

Today I noticed DS1 received behaviour points and detention for Inappropriate use of ICT and Uniform. Under his rigid thinking he was always going to access the ICT as that is his area of interest even though he is an intelligent boy who knows he will be sanctioned. Going forward I would like a whole load of support as noted by Professional so that this is not a regular occurrence such as last few years. I am trying reduce punishment instances one at a time. The teachers need to understand the triggers for this behaviour. I am disappointed Professional did not investigate his behaviour report. I genuinely think with the right support he would be fine and that actually that support is by no means excessive. It’s not just that he knows the rules, it may be that he cannot help himself.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,

OP that’s a good start but you need specific legal wording at the start. Look for the IPSEA template letter.

You will be sending the letter to the local authority so find out who/where to send it so it doesn’t get lost.

You should think about how to pare down the items under the 4 areas of need to just list the difficulties your DC actually has..... I think I recognise the full lists from an old post of mine! The idea is that you customise it heavily....

Please do get some help as suggested above. If you send in a letter like above you’ll be refused and you’ll waste time in tribunal. Aim to get help to submit a great letter and get an Agree to Assess.

Please do get some help as suggested above. If you send in a letter like above you’ll be refused and you’ll waste time in tribunal. Aim to get help

OP, this thread is full of specific advice that will really make a difference if you try to systematically work your way through it, post by post, line by line, and implement it.

Just focus, go a line at a time and DO IT

Download the IPSEA model letter here:
www.ipsea.org.uk/making-a-request-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment
and fill in the addresses, names, admin details. You must address the letter to the Director of Children Services / or Ediucation of your LA - find out from previous refusal letter the exact title and name , or call the LA SEN team and ask. Your letter will be as good as void if you do not address (and later send it with recorded mail) to that specific person. Then paste your above draft into the model letter and take it to SOSSEN.

Print out SOSSEN example here (download document) sossen.org.uk/information_sheets.php and take it with you to SOSSEN. You need help to convert your own DS info into something like this.

Have you found out the nearest, soonest walk in session at SOSSEN?
sossen.org.uk/advice_centres.php
Put it in your calendar, put a post-it on the door, tell your partner/friends to remind you/drive you there. Get onto planning your journey!
Be open with them, you are having a difficult time, ask them to help you to figure out how to convert what is in your head, what you know about your DS into an effective application. Tell them you need hands on help.

Call NAS education helpline and leave a message (it is the normal procedure), ask to have a volunteer helper to deal with EHC needs assessment application because for [insert your own personal reasons here] you are currently not coping with it independently, you need hands on help.
Tel: 0808 800 4102
online form: www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/education-rights/education-rights-service-enquiry.aspx
They will call you back at random time within a few days, be prepared to answer a call with withheld caller ID. NAS may help to sort out your SEN content- what to write about your DS behaviours and problems, how to link that with autism and provisions, you need to have specific examples of problems to put in the letter, as well as the legal things.

Ask all of them them what other options might be available to you to get help from someone who can advocate for you.

You would probably find SOS SEN's booklet on assessments helpful - www.sossen.org/shop/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=d511ur1prca94kao28vuoun1d2

The SOSSEN booklets are good as they break things down for you. All of the information above is what helped me and drawing on the experience and expertise of those who have posted above. I too used tartanterrors previous posts and link to Special needs jungle. It took reading our draft several times (even now when I have gone through it can see I could have been more precise) to get a letter that I could be happy with. I found backing relevant points with evidence helped and putting them as appendices at the end. Your local IASS may be able to help you with the letter or look through it. Good luck.

Just another thought most local authorities have their guidelines available online. They have a booklet for parents and one for providers, it may be worth doing a google search and taking a look at the one for providers. Although the law is set out, one thing I have picked up is different local authorities have their own policies and procedures. It helped me get an idea (not even sure if we did a good enough job yet) of what I could include if we need to appeal. Might give you some useful information.

It is clear that the school and CAT from doing the bare minimum this year and it is now obvious to me that collectively HCC is not going to help my son ASD and that my only course of action is the right of appeal at Tribunal.

From the letter dated 18/1/18 “The SEND Code of practice, point 5.38 states that all setting should adopt a graduated approach with four stages of action; assess, plan, do and review. From the information submitted this was unclear as to how the school have adopted and implemented this strategy for DS1. Therefore, it was not clear that the school had taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet DS1 special educational needs and whether he has made expected progress as a result.” The school and CAT have made no effort to do this, this year. I have received no paperwork apart from meeting notes of a short meeting with CAT on DS1’s lack of focus dated 11/11/18. Or do I submit GO4Schools information? I was expecting IEP’s ect.

At least, I was expecting the school to ask CAT to advise from the behaviour report what DS1 is to be punished for. I assume this will not now happen? If DS1 is to be illegally punished following the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Repealed by: Equality Act 2010 I will not allow DS1 to attend. I usually find the school uncommunicative and uncooperative on all matters SEN. I am sooo angry!