Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
My 14yo with Asperger's hates school and the more interaction I have with them the harder it is not to see why. His in a unit within mainstream and passionately hates being in a unit or having any support. Several incidents some of which my son hasn't helped and others where the school hasn't dealt with bullying or outright discriminated against him. I've had meetings, discussions the lot and nothings improved. He has a year and a few months before finishing.
I've tried to encourage him to stick it out as it's such an important time in respect of his education but now not so sure.
Trouble is feel there is no solution. If he stays, how well can he learn when his so angry and upset? Main issue is him 'being in the unit' having support follow him around and other students calling him derogatory names. If he goes to another school it will be a big upheaval for him requiring using public transport and not having his current convenience of a 5minute walk. He also won't have support which is 100% what he wants but I'm worried he'd struggle.
School has become such a source of stress for both him and I for a long time now that I'm at the point I want nothing further to do with them.
Any thoughts or words of wisdom would be very much appreciated.
Hi struggling mum,
I really feel for you. I have been where you are now with my youngest ND son. And I agree, this is the worst time for your son’s school situation to turn critical as he is just on the cusp of the most important stage of his schooling with preparing for exams and leaving school now arising on the horizon.
With the end so near in sight and having already had too many painful battles with the school, it may be more tempting now than ever before to contemplate throwing in the towel. However, in my experience, I would gently offer: never throw in the towel because you are being pushed to do so (by his school.) Only ever choose to make a change which you firmly believe will be a more positive solution and enable better outcomes for your son.
I am really sad and frustrated to hear that, from what you have said, school seem to not be taking your sons thoughts or opinions into account at all when planning his provision. I would definitely give the NAS helpline a ring and talk through the difficulties you are having with the school with them as I bet they can offer some good advice about what you can do to better get school on board and working more positively for your son.
Also, have you contacted local Autism or SEN Charities too? These charities often have Support Workers or similar who may attend school meetings with you and attempt to resolve your current disagreements with his school amicably. Schools (sadly) tend to take far more notice of third party individuals and organisations than parents, so pulling in as much external advice and support from outside agencies could really help your son’s needs and feelings to be heard and acknowledged by his school. I would stress to these charities (and his school) that your son is on the verge of becoming a 'school refuser' because its important they fully recognise just how serious this situation has become for him.
If you believe your son has been discriminated against I think it may be worthwhile to contact your LAs Disability Advisor and chat through these incidents with them, as they will want to ensure your son’s school is acting lawfully and enabling equality for your son.
I actually pulled my son from high school in Year 9 and elected to home educate. But, a part of me is hesitant to share this as I can imagine just how desperate you may be feeling right now and, in light of this, home educating may appear to be an immediate and more appealing solution to end the pain you are all currently going through. Home educating can be fantastic, however, electing to home educate should ideally be a robustly considered choice and not a bolt hole. My reasoning being that if you choose this option as a bolt hole, it will likely unravel pretty quickly and may leave you in a bigger pickle than you are currently and with no clear forward path ahead for your son.
However, if after exhausting every avenue (such as pulling in external support first) you are seriously considering home educating at this stage, I am happy to share my experiences of this with you on here, if you so wish.
Best of luck.