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Reasonable adjustment - hair colour

Mumof2ASDGirls

I am interested to find out if anyone has been able to successfully argue that their child needs a certain hairstyle/colour due to it being imperative for mental stability?

My D15, diagnosis of autism and mixed anxiety and depression disorder, has recently had a bad mental health breakdown which resulted in 2 A&E visits and an overnight stay in hospital. She is prone to self harm as a way of dealing with her emotions. She has just split with an abusive boyfriend and this triggered her MH issues. She wanted to 'change herself' to not be the person he wanted her to be and start being her own version of herself. She was talking about self piercing or self tattoo's, but her therapist and I managed to steer her away from these self harm routes and guided her towards changing her hair colour. She has been out of school for a number of weeks now as her ex is a member of the school and she feels unsafe. School have eventually made provision for online learning (although it is far from adequate), but she is about to take her GCSEs and has 2 subjects which require her to go in and join classes (Textiles and Drama). The school are excluding her from coming in to these sessions due to her hair being half black and half blue. Initially they said she could attend if she didn't mix with the general school population.

Parents

  • I'm 45 and I work in a primary school where I've had to keep my hair covered with a scarf to comply with their restrictive dress code. My hair has been pink and black since before I started working there. It was only after I started the job that I was told it did not meet the dress code. It was very awkward.

    After four years, I recently tried to point out that this policy was not inclusive and fair.  I said that my hair was important support strategy for my autism, as it helps me feel happy and confident, and also it helps me to connect to other people. I've put a letter forward to the governors and am waiting to hear back.

    I think it's important because although hair and tattoos and piercings are not protected characteristics, a lot of people with protected characteristics use these forms of expression as support strategies or ways of expressing their identity.  Hair style restrictions have been used in the past to justify racial discrimination and force people to conform to white beauty standards.  When I went to my local Pride parade, I saw many lesbians and gender non-conforming people with hair styles and colours that wouldn't be acceptable at my work. 

    I think it's time that the world moved beyond this kind of prejudice.  What exactly is the problem with pupils having different coloured hair or undercuts anyway? It's purely because certain people make assumptions about others based on their appearance.  They think it's a sign of rebellion, but rebellion happens when people are not being treated fairly.  Emmeline Pankhurst was a rebel, and she helped start the journey towards equal rights. Rosa Parks was a rebel.

    I hope that you can find a way to prove that these kinds of rules are a form of indirect discrimination, and I would love to hear if you are able to make any progress.  Are the school aware of the abuse that took place? Would you be able to show a letter from her therapist as evidence?

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  • I'm 45 and I work in a primary school where I've had to keep my hair covered with a scarf to comply with their restrictive dress code. My hair has been pink and black since before I started working there. It was only after I started the job that I was told it did not meet the dress code. It was very awkward.

    After four years, I recently tried to point out that this policy was not inclusive and fair.  I said that my hair was important support strategy for my autism, as it helps me feel happy and confident, and also it helps me to connect to other people. I've put a letter forward to the governors and am waiting to hear back.

    I think it's important because although hair and tattoos and piercings are not protected characteristics, a lot of people with protected characteristics use these forms of expression as support strategies or ways of expressing their identity.  Hair style restrictions have been used in the past to justify racial discrimination and force people to conform to white beauty standards.  When I went to my local Pride parade, I saw many lesbians and gender non-conforming people with hair styles and colours that wouldn't be acceptable at my work. 

    I think it's time that the world moved beyond this kind of prejudice.  What exactly is the problem with pupils having different coloured hair or undercuts anyway? It's purely because certain people make assumptions about others based on their appearance.  They think it's a sign of rebellion, but rebellion happens when people are not being treated fairly.  Emmeline Pankhurst was a rebel, and she helped start the journey towards equal rights. Rosa Parks was a rebel.

    I hope that you can find a way to prove that these kinds of rules are a form of indirect discrimination, and I would love to hear if you are able to make any progress.  Are the school aware of the abuse that took place? Would you be able to show a letter from her therapist as evidence?

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