Examples of potential discrimination in school - Please can you help? Thanks

[nedandme]

I believe my DD 14 is being potentially discriminated against at school. She has ASD suspected ADHD.
I am trying to put together a case and I am struggling to remember everything that has happened.

Please can I have your examples of how you think your child was or is potentially discriminated against to give me some ideas... Obviously I am not going to make stuff up that didn't happen, I just need help to jog my memory of similar situations that may have happened to us.

Examples I have already are:
If DD is late to lesson she will get an after school detention. Every single time. So some days she gets 5. This automatically means an entire day in isolation. Sometimes she is just late, some times it is because she is in the bathroom, sometimes it is because she is still unable to tell the time, sometimes it is because she is afraid to go into the lesson because there is a cover teacher or the person she sits next too is off.

DD had an after school detention for "rudeness to staff". The teacher referred to the classroom as "my classroom" this was a cover teacher so DD said "It's not your classroom".

DD asked to move English classes for 3.5 years. They said no because they said if they did, she would then fixate on moving in another subject. So DD only went to around 50% of her English lessons and hid in the toilet for the rest of the time. They finally moved her in September. Her English assessments went from around 30% to around 80%

Thank you.

Does she have an EHCP? I feel this may become relevant.

Good point!! No ECHP, school reluctant to do this although she has a "pupil profile" which is adhered too 60% of the time.

Do you think you would get further with the school by pushing on the need for 'reasonable adjustments' rather than stating discrimination?

As in:

Dear School,

DD has run into a series of issues this term / academic year which have got her into trouble. However I feel that a great many of these have been caused by her ASD and suspected ADHD.
<list of bullet points including why related to her SN>
Please can we have a discussion in order to document what reasonable adjustments can be made so that DD does not get into trouble for issues arising from her SEN and how otherwise she might be helped?
Obviously we all want DD to have a positive view of school, and we want to work with you on this. If necessary we would be happy to apply for an EHCNA in order to bring in assessments from Educational Psychologists / Occupational therapists to help you understand how to best help her.
Kind regards

I have meetings, phone calls and/or emails every single day. Nothing changes.

Hence, why now I feel I have exhausted all options and based on the last meeting on Friday, I believe potential discrimination.

Are they about individual things, or the issues as a whole?
The reason I mentioned the EHCNA is that by being clear that unless they engage properly you will apply, it might make them be more cooperative.
When you apply for an ECHNA you have to show the school aren't meeting her needs. The kind of letter I have proposed would I think be pretty much what you would have to write when applying.
(I'm not an expert, DD only gt her EHCP earlier this academic year age 17).

Alternatively if you have already tried all this then just apply for an EHCNA siting all the stuff you have tried with the school and how they aren't meeting needs still.

Thank you!

It varies, on Friday, we had to sit and listen to 17 things that had gone wrong!

Ranging from being late to lesson, mobile phone usage, verbal abuse which was actually a meltdown. The list just went on and on.

I will look into an EHCNA! Thanks

The SEN board has some very helpful people who helped me when we applied last September.

You will get nowhere based on these examples. Asking for other peoples is also ridiculous.

You need to
Build a relationship with school so you can work together to help her. You also need to accept that sometimes your dd will not be allowed to do what she wants. If you can show you are listening to the school they will want to work with you. If you go in with the attitude that your dd is never in the wrong then they won't.

If you do not have confidence that this good working relationship can be achieved you should find a new school for her. All you are setting yourself up for is conflict. It won't end well for your dd.

I don't agree @cansu . A child who is spending half the time hiding in the toilets in fear and the other half being punished is not a child that is being properly supported. And the school are clearly not listening or making reasonable adjustments.

Hard to say if school are clearly not listening or making adjustments as we only have the OP take on this. In every school I have worked on there would have been numerous attempts to help the child attend lessons. There are a few things on the OP that make me think this parent isn't wiling to work with the school. It is also true that asking other people for examples of how their child was discriminated against sounds like the op doesn't actually have much evidence ce of their own! It is like saying 'I hate my employer. Give me ideas about how I can say they are bullying me!

What have they tried to help her transition from one lesson to another?
Have you explained why saying “it’s not your classroom” is rude? Does she understand and have you managed to model better responses?