Justice for Children with Special Educational Needs

14/05/2023

I’ve spoke to some parents about what could make their child’s school experience better and this is something that has regularly came up.

A parent has a lot of pressure to ge their child to school on time, each day is different and trying to achieve this is difficult as often the child will turn up dysregulated and unprepared for the day ahead. Many children will be sent home within the first hour of school due to “bad behaviour” and in my opinion this is one of the reason as to why.

Schools should work to reduce the stress and pressure on both parents and children during the school day. By allowing a child to be a little late if they need to regulate can change their whole day into a positive. Many people don’t understand and can’t see it from their view, many people have different home dynamics and have different commitments to stick to.

14/05/2023

I love this.
We should work on children’s strengths rather than trying to make them conform to a set curriculum that many SEN children struggle to keep up with.
They see their peers excelling and put themselves down and become triggered for not reaching the same targets.
Well we should set their own individual targets, things they want to work toward because that is what they will excel in.

14/05/2023

Some people are not aware of the things that can trigger children with autism. Here are some triggers - being aware can stop a child from being pushed into a situation where they can’t handle their emotions.

Children with autism disorder are very sensitive, and it's common for them to behave in certain challenging ways. However, not every autistic child is the same. If one factor is triggering an autistic child's behaviour, it might not affect the other child. Once a trigger has affected an autistic'

14/05/2023

https://www.supportincornwall.org.uk/kb5/cornwall/directory/site.page?id=aq6QKb5BEPE

Cornwall’s SEND Local Offer describes the provision that is available for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families. Cornwall’s SEND Local Offer helps families by gathering in one place, the information that they need to know in order to....

09/05/2023

08/05/2023

PLEASE READ ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Someone’s personal experience.

“Having a brother who is diagnosed autistic, both sensory and bad additional needs and experiencing first hand in school for 3 years the struggles he faced, i can clearly see there is more support both educational and emotional needed for young people who have additional needs and require additional support.
From not understanding my brothers emotional meltdowns because his sport clothes felt too itchy on his skin, to being unable to sit and focus on what the question is asking him in his gcse’s in and specific time, this all led to him ultimately failing all his exams due to misunderstand and not having the recourses and equipment to support him.
Funding needs to be implicated in all schools and SEN needs are a broad and endless spectrum with every child requiring different things.
Schools needs to improve on their understanding of a child’s needs and not just allow children to go to a learning recourse centre and play with fidget toys, and begin to start finding a route of moving forward to give that child a better chance to their ability to succeed. Once my brother went to college he was allocated with a school counseller who we could go too if he felt over stimulated, frustrated or upset, which helped him a lot social wise and built up his courage to engage in class.
They further looked into his intellectual work, and he was funded a pen that he can scan across a paige and the pen will audio relay what it is asking.
Since both of the strategies were implicated, he has no passed his maths and english GCSE, scored a distinction in catering and mechanics and socially has excelled, he has strong friendships who is sees outside of college and overall is happier and alot more developed. instead of labelling children with SEN disorders as naughty, understanding their own personal needs and creating a safe and open atmosphere allows that child to succeed not just in school but other factors of life.”

05/05/2023

Information On Mental Health In SEN Children
- Educate Yourselves !!!!!

This information is about how schools, colleges and local authorities can and should support children and young people with mental health needs in school.

30/04/2023

Cornwall Council operates Short Breaks and Residential Services across the County.

These are for children and young people with learning disabilities and associated complex needs.

They help parents have a break from their caring responsibilities and also encourage children to be more independent.

The Short Break Service provides county wide planned residential short breaks for children and young people with learning disabilities and associated complex needs.

30/04/2023

Cornwall council reduced its spending on early support for children by around £8.6 million over the last decade 😤

Cornwall council reduced its spending on early support for children by around £8.6 million over the last decade, according to a new report.

29/04/2023

⚠️PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ

Here I’m sharing more views and experiences from someone with lived experience.

The main area for massive improvement is actually engaging with the child to find out what they actually need, rather than what they think they need . Then not letting the golden children keep their crowns forever, regardless of behaviour and allowing the children with more negative labels prove to be able to change into different children too.

-school aren't on parents side, automatically they take a us vs you approach.

-act like we wouldn't know our own children better than them.

-when they do realise what parents have said is correct they pretend like you've never said anything and it's all there idea.

-Have had to tell the school on multiple occasions its too negative for him and is taking its toll on his mental health bc hes in trouble for small things like fidgeting.

-main teachers ignore what SEN lead has implemented/said.

-anytime as a parent you have an issue and goto them they stop acting like a single teacher and suddenly they're acting as part of the school as a whole. This means nobody is ever held accountable for shoddy decisions bc they get to hide behind the school.

The negativity took a huge impact on his mental health. They escalated his behavior by being so negative (punishment based learning instead of rewards based) being in constant trouble for minor things effected his confidence and mental health massively.

At the end of most days for a while they would pull me aside for a chat and tell me all the 'naughty' things he was doing... always basically a list of ADHD traits.. the fat they weren't realising that as a trained professional was worrying and made me loose all faith in their abilities.

28/04/2023

PLEASE READ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

I have been in contact with parents/professionals who have lived experience of our injustice in Cornwall.
Some have been kind enough to share their stories and views which I will be posting anonymously.
If you have any experience please feel free to send me a message 🙂

- “I have had mixed experiences with the SEN system as a parent.
My eldest recieved every possible support, but my youngest a nightmare.
There is an institutional problem with umbrella terming when regarded as problem children.
The terms ASD and ADHD are the first response, not looking at the bigger picture.
A lot more listening is required on the part of the professionals involved in the initial process as this is key to getting the correct support for all involved and making it accessible within a realistic tome frame, not 4 years later.
There is a huge gap in mental health support for children that, as a parent, I feel is particularly bad in cornwall. This is something that needs address by local authority and government alike”