Mainstream school discriminating asd

[Safh]

Hi all, I’m new to MN but I’m looking for some support /advice from other parents in relation to my ds 7.

Ds had a diagnosis of autism at the end of last year and is currently in a mainstream school in year 3.

It was clear from reception (but not before) that there were some SEND issues with my child. School informed me and we sent off referral forms for SLT.

Ds was muddling along but there were constant complaints about my ds behaviour (not interacting, S&L difficulties etc). I say complaints because it was always poised to me that he was a problematic child rather than any empathy/consideration of SEND.

The school I have sent him to, being unaware of his needs at the time, is a school that has a long standing reputation for producing good academic results and has a lot of high functioning children.

Throughout his time at school I’ve been mentioning ehcp, as I knew his needs were being unmet I got special private tuition for him by a sendco at another school on weekends.

I signed off ehcp consent forms at end of year 2, but after a series of complaints in year 3 I arranged a meeting with sendco last year where I was told by him ‘they’re still in the process of gathering info they need for ehcp to be successful’ and incredulously that I myself need to learn more about autism.

Queue to the present day my ds is unable to cope showing some demand avoidance and behaviour issues so much that I received a call from headteacher who said I should be changing school that better suits his needs. No ehcp still in place. Is this discrimination? Any advice appreciated on how I can deal with this ?

You can request an EHCNA yourself. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

The school shouldn’t be trying to off-roll. Is it a state school or an independent school?

@StrivingForSleep its a state school that simply known for its good grades. Sorry I forgot to mention in my original post that after repeatedly asking for ehcp the paperwork was sent off and I received an acknowledgment from the council two weeks ago. In my chat with the headteacher yesterday firstly he called me without even knowing my ds has autism…. when he was aware he mentioned that the ehcp will not make a difference something that the school sendco has now said to me too. Any ideas who I should be escalating a complaint to ?

Make sure the LA sticks to the EHCP timescales. They must inform you whether they are going to assess or not within 6 weeks of your request.

Follow up verbal conversations with emails so you have a paper trail as evidence. The HT and SENCO are wrong, an EHCP can make a difference.

The school cannot ask DS to leave and off-roll him. That would be unlawful. Initially, you need to follow the school’s complaints procedure. That should be on their website. If it isn’t, ask the school for a copy. If that fails, depending on the circumstances at that point and the type of school you may be able to complain to the LA or directly to the DfE or ESFA. If at any point they actually try to remove DS from their roll, you could take further action e.g. a pre-action letter.

Thank you @StrivingForSleep that’s helpful