Nottingham, England, UK
12:00 - 05 September 2006
AUTISM:- THROWN OUT - FOR BEHAVIOUR HE COULD NOT HELP
Link:-http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=134233&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133984&contentPK=15335711&folderPk=78481&pNodeId=133952
A seven-year-old Wollaton pupil was permanently excluded from school for
behaviour he could not prevent because he has Asperger's syndrome. His
school has been criticised by an independent appeals panel, as ALISTAIR
HARRIS reports
Running around the front room of his house, Jacob Smith does not seem
different to other seven-year-old boys. He is loud, confident and
articulate, full of energy and enthusiasm.
He shouts a lot, often repeating the same thing over and over again. His
behaviour could be translated as naughty, or attention-seeking - but it runs
much deeper than that.
His older sister, ten-year-old Ellie, plays with him on the carpet and
doesn't get annoyed even when he asks: "Ellie, can we play together?" for
the fifteenth time in as many seconds.
Jacob has Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism which seriously affects his
social ability.
It was this condition, and the sometimes violent reactions associated with
it, which led to Jacob being permanently excluded from school.
At Fernwood Infants, in Wollaton, teachers were told that certain things,
like unexpected change, would trigger an explosive reaction in Jacob.
So his mother, Helen, was mortified when she received a call on April 25
saying Jacob had been permanently excluded from school for exactly that.
Jacob had punched a female classmate in the face, then fought with teachers
as they tried to restrain him. He kicked out, swearing at them and even bit
one on the hand.
Jacob's teachers had not told him he was to be paired with the girl as his
new "talking buddy" - where pupils are paired together for half a term.
He had missed the day when the partners were swapped, so did not expect the
change to his routine, and he reacted badly.
Mrs Smith said some people fail to understand the syndrome - a form of
autism.
"It does affect Jacob quite seriously, especially in terms of how he
communicates with other people," said Helen, 32.
"He doesn't have a sense of danger, which can be construed as confidence or
cockiness. He takes a lot of things literally and people sometimes think
he's rude or obnoxious.
"That's the problem with Asperger's. If you've got a child with a visible
disability, you can tell there's something wrong.
"But this is more tricky to understand what's going on with them."
There are three key traits for Asperger syndrome: difficulty in
communicating, difficulty in social relationships, and a lack of imagination
in play.
Along with those, children often have a love of routines and obsessive
hobbies. The National Autism Society says: "People with Asperger's syndrome
often find change upsetting.
"At school, they may get upset by sudden changes, such as an alteration to
the timetable."
Helen knew her son could not help his behaviour, and appealed to the city's
Exclusions Appeal Panel against the school's decision to permanently exclude
him. Now she has been told she won her case.
The panel's report says: "It appears to us that the difficulty for Jacob in
dealing with the change of talking partner was caused by the lack of
consultation about the change and the lack of warning it was going to
happen.
"Jacob was only informed of the change after he had come in from the break
and we believe that he should have been informed earlier."
The school's head teacher, Jennifer Bradbury, was criticised for not giving
Jacob a chance to explain his actions - contrary to school policy.
It said she acted "in the heat of the moment" and "failed" to carry out a
proper investigation into the incident.
She took verbal accounts from staff, but not from Jacob, so she did not give
him chance to give his version of events.
Mrs Smith said: "He's missed out. He's missed his SATs.
"Jacob needs to be in a mainstream school. But he needs more support in the
classroom to let him know what's ahead of him, personal timetables to let
him know, because when teachers give general instructions to the class, he
wouldn't necessary think they apply to himself.
"He's now moving to Fernwood Junior and it should be better. They will have
special teaching assistants for him and he will do two days a week to settle
in. They've taken his problems a lot more seriously."
Jacob said: "The teachers weren't very nice to me and I miss my friends.
"I am missing science. It's my best subject. They excluded me and it was
their fault. It wasn't very helpful. It was a bit silly.
"I do like doing work but now I have missed out on some."
Mrs Smith, too, has suffered. Jacob has been home since April 25 and his
condition means he needs a lot of attention and care. Mrs Smith, a single
mother-of-two, could not afford full-time childcare.
She had to leave her £22,500-a-year job as a trainee teacher, and may have
to go right back to the beginning and start again if she wants to pursue the
career.
She now receives just £200 a week in benefits to look after her son and
daughter. Mrs Smith said: "I've had to leave work. I've lost my job and
income. I have to stay at home with my son. With his special educational
needs, it is very difficult to get childcare. So that was me out of a job
really.
"It really has completely destroyed my career."
A city council spokeswoman said
it was "seldom" that a school's decision to permanently exclude a pupil was
overturned by the exclusion appeal panel.
Olive Young MBE, vice-chair of governors at the school - who represented the
school's governing body at the hearing - said: "The important thing is to
make sure Jacob has appropriate arrangements made for him at his next school
when term starts in September."
She declined to comment further. The head teacher was unavailable for
comment.
LEA's obligation
When a child is permanently excluded, the school is responsible for their
learning for up to 16 days.
The law is about to change to make that six days.
After that time, it is the local education authority's responsibility to
provide education for the child.
The LEA has to provide about 20 hours a week for people Jacob's age (Key
Stage One).
The hours of provision are dependent on the LEA's resources.
Nottingham, like many other LEAs, does not have a pupil referral unit for
youngsters as young as Jacob.
Instead, it has to provide home education, which it did in Jacob's case.
Education system 'lacks awareness'
The National Autistic Society says it has seen many cases like Jacob's.
It has launched a national campaign, Make School Make Sense, to raise
awareness of the condition, and the education system's inability to deal
with it.
There are 2,311 autistic children, aged up to 19, in Notts, with 607 in the
city.
In the city last year, 14 special needs pupils were excluded from primary
schools, and two from secondary schools.
About one in every 110 children has autism, but there is currently no
requirement for newly qualified teachers to be trained in dealing with the
condition.
Children with Asperger's are not typically autistic - quiet and withdrawn
from the world.
Many are articulate and intelligent. In fact, many are more intelligent than
their peers.
But a spokeswoman for the society said: "Over 25% of children with autism
have been excluded from school, usually due to a lack of understanding and
awareness on the part of the school.
"There are more appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability
Tribunal about schooling for children with autism than for children with any
other type of special education need.
"We found 79% of parents who have appealed to the tribunal won their case."
For more on the campaign, visit www.nas.org.uk
_________________________________________________________________
Be the first to hear what's new at MSN - sign up to our free newsletters!
http://www.msn.co.uk/newsletters
________________End of message______________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about the list administratione should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
|