I have had several blind and partially sighted friends and students say
- they we not permitted to have their cane in parts of school or the
playground because of unfounded fears that they would use it as a
weapon. Maybe there is more to the story but the school have clearly
handled it badly; I can't see the mother going to the press IF the
school had contacted her or specialist advice straight away, rather than
banning use of the cane - which even for an hour isn't acceptable.
Two lawyer friends of mine reckoned it could make a very straight
forward Equality Act case, of course the press is faster and possibly
gets a better result. I think the pre-16 EHRC CoP has a similar case
example using crutches.
I find this "lets take the disabled person's mobility aid" infuriating,
it seems to the the first instinctive overreaction to things when it
should be an absolute last resort. It happens to adults as well as
children, but at least as an adult you can push back...
Natalya
On 19/11/2015 09:55, George Bell wrote:
> I suspect there is more hidden between the lines, such as perhaps the girl has not been taught to keep her cane's tip at ground level. Has she in fact had any professional instruction in using a cane?
>
> George
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Salisbury
> Sent: Thursday, 19 November 2015 00:02
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Blind primary school pupil denied use of long cane
>
> Hi,
> I was wondering what the view on the list about the story of a 7 year old girl has been denied the use of a long cane due to "health and safety concerns" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-34844437
>
> Thanks
>
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