Arguments to cknvince the judge at the court hearing: Help me please.

[Soumia]

Dear mums

I am appealing against LA decision of special school... I want 100% mainstream but with ABA...as I was told this is the easiest route to get ABA accepted easily...much easier than homeschooling + ABA.

My ABA therapist said that once we get my son accepted for mainstream +ABA we could then argue that full time is too much for him...and reducd to part time...

I visited only one special school but didnt like it...

I have another child who is autistic (my daughter) she is in mainstream.in year 1 and is doing well...she made a huge progress since last year (including speech) thanks to ABA...and my very hard work...

So i am aiming to do the same...i want my son to be with healthy kids in a mainstream environment as we have a mainstream environment at home.(I have 4 other healthy neuro.typical kids) ..special school.are detrimental...

I cant understand how a professional can take care of 4-6 disabled kids in the same time for the whole day. These kids are disabled with complex needs and more importangly theg need lots of affection and attention...which no one can privide as mothers do...

It is impossible for my son to progress or to be well looked after in this situation.

I spend at least 7 hrs daily 1:1 just with my autistic son (while my other kids are at scholl.ir witb their dad) to give him all the love and attention he needs while teaching him...etc

You know how autistic kids are sensitive especially at this age...

Do you think this is sn enough argument to convince the judge?

Please help and advise me... my hearjng is soon.

My son missed his entry to reception this september due to appeal process etc...but

my plan is to have my autistic son in nainstream reception in September 2020 with his younger brother (who is healthy and helpful) in the same class....

I have another child who is due to start reception in Sepyembsr 2020.

Do you think i could request that in the court?

Mainstream don't receive the funding to provide things like ABA unless the child has a full time 1:1 and even then I believe the funding isn't a lot.
I do understand your frustration and I say this as a mum who has 2 autistic children. One of mine is doing well in mainstream but the other failed miserably even with 1:1 full time and we had to place him in a specialist school. It was amazing for him as they had all sorts of therapies available and taught him life skills which he wouldn't have got in mainstream. He's now 19, has 4 As at GCSE and 3 A levels and works full time.

If your preference is for mainstream education you have a legal right to have your preference met unless placing your child in the mainstream school would be incompatible with efficient education of other pupils and there are no reasonable steps the LA and school can take to overcome the incompatibility. That could include provision such as full time 1:1 support if the evidence demonstrates that that is what your child needs.

However, it isn't easy to get ABA provision into mainstream schools. You would need strong expert evidence that only ABA(as opposed to other interventions such as TEACCH) can meet your child's needs. Do you have education psychology, speech and language and occupational therapy evidence?