Son is being excluded and told he will not be educated

lougus

My son has complex needs and has a recent diagnosis of ASD, he was excluded from school Oct 2017, has no ehcp and refused one, wanted to take his own life when put in apeople referral unit cut a long story short goal post changes all the time and was only rec 3 hrs education per week, today been told if he doesn’t access the unit he will not be educated ( his education ceased week ago) he is 14 

Ami2301

Hi @lougus welcome to the community! 

Sorry to hear about what has happened. I am unsure how to advise however hopefully q member of our community it will be ab,e to advise and will be in contact with you soon. I wish you all the best

JennyF

This is a dreadful situation to be in, and one which I have experienced, albeit many years ago. You are not alone in running into this type of educational brick wall - it's not your fault, it's theirs. I too hope that there will be others in the community with more concrete advice than I can give, but I think for myself, that if I were in the same situation all over again, I would be much tougher with the education authority - it's possible for example that they are breaking the law if they are refusing your son education. It sounds to me as though they are ignoring his mental health problem in their assessment, for example. 
However I know - I was also the parent of a child with educational difficulties and mental health problems arising from them - that caring for such a child is a very demanding situation for a parent all by itself, without having to fight the local authority.
Keep going - it's tough, very tough but it  will pass, we got through it into a much better place  and so will you. 

Sam_Alumni

@melaniethorley can you help at all?

Mark2121_21

Hi.
Let's try and understand where his mind has closure (something that has maybe caused a guilt problem-which makes him want to distance himself from someone, a place-or a feeling).i was 14 once ? where's dad?you sound like a single parent..if I may ,I might be able to get the best from your son.
We need direction ,give him a purposeful hobby(football) Maybe he would like a audience which not only builds his confidence but gives a inscrutable challenge (booting the ball gets rid of stress)
I found at that age I needed to let of steam ,home life was strict so I got my release staying out to play.
I'd be glad to talk if I may 
Best wishes

Geoark

Hello @lougus and welcome to the community.

Please contact IPSEA https://www.ipsea.org.uk/contact-ipsea

They will be able to go through what has happened and advise you on your rights, and your son, and what can be done. They are very good.

My own view is that pupil referral units are not the best mix for those with ASD as they often contain  young people with emotional and behavioural problems which can be a toxic environment for young people with ASD.

Good luck

melaniethorley

Morning. What a dreadful situation and apologies for the delay in replying - for some reason my scope alerts stopped working. I would follow the advise on here. An alternative would be a virtual school...

[Deleted User]

Hello @lougus

Sorry to hear that you've been experiencing these issues with you son's school, sounds like a really hard situation to be in.

I wondered if this may be of interest to you. My name is Emma and I am a Parent Adviser for the Scope Navigate service.  Navigate is a brand new service that provides a six week programme of online and telephone support to parents who have a child going through diagnosis or have a child who has recently been diagnosed with a disability. The aim is to provide parents of a child with a disability with emotional and practical support.

If you think this may be something that could benefit you please visit https://www.scope.org.uk/family-services/navigate or call 0808 801 0510

Best Wishes.