I had a
knackered old Morris Minor when I was in my twenties, bought with the heart and
not the head. £500 worth of welding, a
door that used to pop open when you went over a bump, a choke that you had to
wedge open with a match stick until the engine warmed up and windscreen wipers
that would flop about all over the place.
A car a clown would be proud of.
The last straw however, was when the cor plug popped out emptying every
last drop of water in one big gush on my way home from work. I stuck it back on with araldite and that’s
how it probably is to this day, if not on the scrap heap. I would be throwing time and money at it
forever to keep it road worthy. I
learnt a lot from that car though and took all the knowledge and bought a better
one.
Now, back to
the future and life with Special Educational Needs (and a better car) Getting
any help for your child who happens to have Special Educational Needs is a
challenge and that’s largely because of the crazy system that’s evolved over
the years, it goes something like this:
you ask, they say no, you appeal they say yes, they say what they’re
going to do, you disagree so you appeal (again) and hopefully your child gets
what they need. In reality it’s a much
more complex process involving reports, the Education Act 1996, sometimes a tribunal and case law but families battle on. It was a knackered old car and expensive to
work with both for the government and families.
So the government decided to modernise and have passed The Children and
Families Act 2014. Now us parents we’re
cynics but there was still hope so some of us got involved in the consultations, said what was wrong with the old system and how it would be great not to have
to battle anymore. Turns out we were
right to be cynics.
In affect, as I see it,
what the government have done is taken all the parts in the old car, renamed
them and then shoved them into the shell of a different looking car. I think they were hoping that we wouldn’t
notice. Parents are just going to be
confused for a while until they get up to speed. Maybe as a result the
government will save as much money as it cost for them to change the system.
So we hang
our heads in despair and I do despair.
In the last decade I’ve done what I could, firstly I wrote to the Prime
Minister, who referred me to the Education Minister, who referred me to my MP
who then referred me back to the Education Minister. I’ve been up to the house
of commons, number 11 Downing Street, I’ve lobbied and I’ve marched to try and
make them see the reality of their decisions, cuts and lack of funding. Because the reality is children damaged by
the system who are at home with their exhausted parents because there is not
enough specialist provision available. I
sit and I listen to the parents who are holding back tears as I try and reassure them and watch others
so full of emotion and despair that they are close to breaking point.
So what
options are left, do I really have to stand stark fanny naked with a balaclava
over my head outside number 10?? Well
spring is here and it’s not as cold as Russia.
Today is
World Autism Awareness day and the government have pledged 4.5 million pounds
to help with support for people with Autism.
That really is a tiny amount, but it’s something, enough to placate me
for a while. Maybe for now I’ll get my head down, work through my new modules
and learn about the new SEN reform so I can at least help get parents get up to
speed with all the jiggery pokery.
And maybe
start knitting ;)
