Key stage 3 & 4/Secondary School for child with CP

CamillaS

Hi
My son is about to be 13 and has Cerebral Palsy. He has spastic quadriplegia, and so is in a powered chair and only really has reasonable use of his left hand. He can speak, is cognitively able but has some 'kinks' and learning delays as a result of his physical disability and not being able to experience all the things that those more able than him experience when growing up. He loves people, enjoys chatting, debating and is interested in the world around him.  Recording his levels, in an academic sense, has proved to be difficult for his mainstream primary and also the DSP within a mainstream secondary which he currently attends - dictation & scribing goes so far, but it is difficult in certain circumstances & subjects.  He is currently at a school which he enjoys, but we, his parents, aren't quite convinced that he is going to be allowed to fulfill his potential there.  We don't think he could cope in a mainstream setting unless the curriculum is highly differentiated for him, he has more cognitive ability than the Entry Levels allow for, but getting him set up for 'Levels' is difficult as there is a requirement for independent working which our son might find difficult to demonstrate.

If anyone has come across a similar situation and found a tool of some sort that 'opened up' learning for you/your child, or a school which managed a similar child in a similar situation really well, I would be so grateful to hear about it.  

Thank you!

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @CamillaS

Thank you for sharing this with us. We have lovely members who may be able to support you with this.  Our Parenting Advisor  is also very supportive.

Pippa_Alumni

@Richard_Scope, is there anything you can suggest?

Richard_Scope

Hi @CamillaS

Good to meet you and thank you for your post. My parents placed me in mainstream education at the age of 10 and I followed the National Curriculum. Just to clarify are you looking for a mainstream school that has a more tailored approach?

Sam_Alumni

@melaniethorley do you have any thoughts?

melaniethorley

@Camilla. I am not really the person to answer this as my knowledge is mostly post 16. However, if you feel the school is not meeting his differentiated learning styles, maybe extra-curricular activities might be useful.

I would also look at some of the assistive and augmented technology out there and/or look at some of the organisations who support disabled young people:

https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/who-else/housing-health-wellbeing/wellbeing/disabilities

https://www.gov.uk/support-group-for-children-young-people-families

https://www.allfie.org.uk/audiences/disabled-people-and-organisations/

sorry not to be more helpful