DS has a palce at autism unit but we have no transport.

[staryeyed]

We applied for transport because Ds's nursery is not near to us. But were rejected because we are too near- I thought we were over 3 miles away. Can anyone tell me how I can find out the exact distance between us and the nursery? It would take 40 mins on the bus to get there (not including waiting time for the bus) he is only there 2.5 hours, so there would be no point in me going home because by the time I'd reached home I'd have to be getting ready to leave again.

www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

That's the AA Routeplanner thingy. If you know your postcode and the nursery postcode, it might give you a clue. Google Maps has some way to check distances too. You can click on "get directions" and put in your address and the nursery address and even move the suggested route around on the map if it's guessed wrongly.

I wonder if they measure it in a straight line or by road, though?

thats ridiculous. Can you push for a statement?

DD got transport in our home town when she was 3

Ok I checked the walking distance in my councils own policy they say that 2 miles walking distance for under 8's is maximum. On a walking planner it came to over 3 miles. On a direct as the crow flies route its 2.38 miles. The council say its only one bus but we'd have to walk to the bus stop first and Im pregnant. We are starting the statementing process but it will take ages.

have you rang ipsea?

have you got anyone that could ring the lea on your behalf? Like an EP etc

I wouldn't mind so much if it was an all day place because then I'd have hours in between but that's just ridiculous.

We have the lady form the project that works with Ds she put in the application. I have to appeal but I dont know on what grounds really.

Council policy is that 45mins travel time is reasonable.

If his SN means that he cannot cope with even a travel distance below their minimum one, and there are special reasons noone can drive him, then you should be able to apply separately on a special form.

We got transport for less than 2 miles because dd has pain problems which make even bus journey too stressful + no guarantee of disability access on bus; also I have faulty eyesight so no driving licence.

Had to get separate form though from LEA and provide medical evidence of all these things.

How on this earth can 45 mins travel time be reasonable? You walk to the bus stop, say 10 mins. You stand there for 5 mins. You travel 45 mins whilst pregnant and trying to entertain a young child with additional needs, you drop them of at the nursery, you want 2.5 hours outside the place, you then retrace all your steps again??! Or go home and as you say immediately turn round and go back. Utterly mad. What would happen on that journey each way? There's no way my son would have been able to handle a 40 min journey on a bus at that age. He had the attention span of a gnat (great phrase) and was SO strong that it would be an all-day wrestling contest with me to contain him.

Definitely needs someone to reason with them.

Well I used to dread taking my Ds on public transport because he had no understanding of waiting for the bus (would try to run etc), when we got on the bus he could kick of at any time and he has no concept of even holding on if we needed to stand up. He has suddenly taken a liking to get on the bus and is much better behaved but there is no guarantee if he has to do this journey twice a day he would cope.

totally agree with Amber, and ended up removing ds1 from a CDC for that reason. To argue over half a mile is ridiculous. Hope you can get them to see reason on this.

I dont think it is the mileage they are arguing over I think its the travel time. According to TFL (London transport website) it will take us 41 mins to get there. They say 45 is ok so really they are arguing over 4 mins.

WE dont get mobility we actually only get middle rate care which is something Ive appealed against because Ds should be getting higher rate- that's ongoing at the mo.

I suppose I could appeal with the saftey angle. Danger of waiting for the bus, possibility that DS might melt down on the bus if it is too crowded etc

I would have thought autism was a very strong reason for not being able to cope with 40 mins on public transport. Dd's disability taxi collects a little autistic boy every day and takes him to school- and this is a boy who is able to cope with mainstream. Keep fighting!

If it helps, I can't travel on buses without huge strain on me. The engine noise, smell of the diesel/fuel, the crowding, the background noise of passengers talking, the lurching about when it stops and starts, the perfumes and aftershaves and B.O. of other passengers - it's like being in a nightmare. I 'shut down' if it's too bad (the equivalent of meltdown, but instead of going wild, I just stop completely) You know that book "The curious incident of the dog at night time" about an autistic lad and his train journey where he hides in the luggage rack? That's SO tempting for me. It's just not right for them to put a child with an ASD through that experience and nursery and then that experience again. Totally unsuitable in my view, as someone with an ASD.

thanks Amaber that is helpful.

Im writing my appeal letter for Ds transport. I need to get it done by today. Can someone help me with the wording of it.

DD gets transport and we live behind the school it takes 5 minutes to drive though. SN are entitled to free transport, that is what I thought.

Explain that a child under 5 shouldn't have to travel for nearly an hour twice a day for a 2 and 1/2 hour nursery placement. I thought the 45 minute rule was that a child shouldn't be on school transport for more than 45 minutes. (In our area it is)

Can you put what you've written on here (well, without the confidential bits and names on it?).

I'd be saying something like, "I understand that my application for transport for my child to (name of nursery) where he was due to attend for two and a half hours a day has been rejected because there is a '45 minute transport rule'. I am pregnant, and my child is on the autistic spectrum. My child has no understanding of how to wait for a bus, tries repeatedly to run away into heavy traffic and has had autistic 'meltdowns' (rages) on the bus. As I am pregnant, it is almost impossible for me to manage this situation. I also have to face the dilemma of what to do when I get there, since by the time I have caught a bus all the way home again, it will be time to return to the nursery to collect him. That would be exhausting and pointless for me, and my exhaustion would have then have a bad effect on an already vulnerable child. It would exhausting and stressful and potentially dangerous for my child to be facing an hour and a half of something he finds difficult every day.

With the challenges of the autistic spectrum, I believe the chances of him benefiting from the place would be almost zero. I would like to have this matter reassessed so that transport is included as a disability-related need, please."

Thanks I have put that all in and sent to be checked. fingers crossed.

Our appeal was rejected on the same grounds. It's like they didn't even look at the individual circumstances. What should we do now.

Could you contact your Paed for a letter of support?

I was thinking of writing to our MP. I just think its ridiculous. The paed is pretty useless so we stopped seeing her.