Barred from Science (Health & Safety reasons)

Thanks for that, very helpful.

S2 is the second year of secondary in Scotland, so they're 12-13 years at the start of the school year. Our lad is one of the older ones as we had him start school a year later because he had obvious problems even as a toddler.

He was fine in S1 science, even though he had a probationer (who was the only teacher who really tried to get to grips with teaching an Aspie and the only teacher he had a positive relationship with). But in S2 science, with an experienced teacher, he's suddenly too dangerous to have in class.

We haven't been able to find out if there is a written H&S risk assessment, generic or specific. And we certainly haven't been shown one.

Another question we've asked is why, if he's too much of a risk in science, is he allowed to do home economics (sharp implements, hot surfaces, etc) and technical (sharp tools, machinery, etc)? No answer to that, either.

I'm in the middle of writing a letter about his S1 report, which is extremely negative, judgmental, prejudiced and discriminatory. Only one teacher (the probationer) wrote a professional, balanced, non-judgmental comment that reported positives in academic achievement, behaviour and social skills. I was shocked, not so much that the other teachers write him off as "hopeless", but they were prepared to put their comments in writing and that the Senior Management Team would allow such a report to go out.

Anyway, the letter in response is heavily referenced, including citations from the the EHRC's new Technical Guidance to Schools in Scotland on the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. As the council recently held a conference on autism, I'm copying the letter to all the key speakers asking how they can square their positive views of what's being done with our experiences. I'm also copying the letter to other parties with an interest in ASD. (Previous letters to politicians have had responses about "current economic climate", "resources are tight", "need to reduce funding shortfalls", "achieving best value" and the like, so not much hope there.)

My wife and I have been battling away on this for 11 years or so. It gets bloody frustrating dealing with the many layers of uncaring, prejudiced jobsworths, on top of the day-to-day stresses of living with an Aspie (no matter how fun and joyous life can be with him).

Thanks for that, very helpful.

S2 is the second year of secondary in Scotland, so they're 12-13 years at the start of the school year. Our lad is one of the older ones as we had him start school a year later because he had obvious problems even as a toddler.

He was fine in S1 science, even though he had a probationer (who was the only teacher who really tried to get to grips with teaching an Aspie and the only teacher he had a positive relationship with). But in S2 science, with an experienced teacher, he's suddenly too dangerous to have in class.

We haven't been able to find out if there is a written H&S risk assessment, generic or specific. And we certainly haven't been shown one.

Another question we've asked is why, if he's too much of a risk in science, is he allowed to do home economics (sharp implements, hot surfaces, etc) and technical (sharp tools, machinery, etc)? No answer to that, either.

I'm in the middle of writing a letter about his S1 report, which is extremely negative, judgmental, prejudiced and discriminatory. Only one teacher (the probationer) wrote a professional, balanced, non-judgmental comment that reported positives in academic achievement, behaviour and social skills. I was shocked, not so much that the other teachers write him off as "hopeless", but they were prepared to put their comments in writing and that the Senior Management Team would allow such a report to go out.

Anyway, the letter in response is heavily referenced, including citations from the the EHRC's new Technical Guidance to Schools in Scotland on the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. As the council recently held a conference on autism, I'm copying the letter to all the key speakers asking how they can square their positive views of what's being done with our experiences. I'm also copying the letter to other parties with an interest in ASD. (Previous letters to politicians have had responses about "current economic climate", "resources are tight", "need to reduce funding shortfalls", "achieving best value" and the like, so not much hope there.)

My wife and I have been battling away on this for 11 years or so. It gets bloody frustrating dealing with the many layers of uncaring, prejudiced jobsworths, on top of the day-to-day stresses of living with an Aspie (no matter how fun and joyous life can be with him).