'Why is my SEN son not able to start school?'
A mother who has been told her son cannot start special school without further psychological assessment says he is being denied his right to an education.
Caroline Campbell’s 17-year-old son Oscar has complex needs and has a special educational needs (SEN) statement.
Ms Campbell, from Londonderry, said Oscar had previously attended a mainstream school’s autism unit but that had become too stressful for him.
Oscar now has a place at a special school, but his mum said she has been told by the Education Authority (EA) he cannot attend until he has been further assessed by an educational psychologist.
She said she fears Oscar will be left “in limbo” while they wait for that assessment.
Ms Campbell said she has "genuine concerns" that Oscar "won't get into school this year."
In a statement, the EA said it is “committed to ensuring all children and young people with a statement of SEN receive a placement which meets their individual needs and enables them to reach their full potential.”
“September and we are back at school, all the children, all the photographs going up all over social media, and unfortunately my son is home with me full-time,” Ms Campbell told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.
“My question is why is his education being denied to him?” she said.
Ms Campbell said she had taken the decision to remove Oscar from mainstream school where he was not coping.
“He had always been in an autism unit within a mainstream school and offered great support, but the last two years has seen him not engaging in school, his mental health was declining and it was affecting his whole life – so I made the decision.”
Ms Campbell said the EA want another assessment carried out because Oscar is making the move from mainstream education.
“His cognitive scores are too high, they (the EA) say, for him to be placed in specialist school so I am waiting on an education psychologist to get back to me for an assessment, she said.
Ms Campbell added: “I know there is a place in this specialist school, it’s ideal for him, we have been down to the school and met with teachers, but as yet I cannot get that sign-off to get him the move down there.”
'Learn life-skills'
That makes life very difficult for Oscar and his family, Ms Campbell said.
“I am his only social connection, he needs to be out with his peers,” she said.
Oscar, she added, is at present confined to “runs out in the car” with herself once or twice a day.
Were he able to take up his school place, she said, he would be with people of his own age, he would “learn life-skills” and be happy.
She fears the required assessment could take months, maybe years.
Ms Campbell said she will continue to push for her son.
“I will keep being his voice and continue to fight for him because that’s all as a parent that I can do.”
East Londonderry SDLP assembly member Cara Hunter said “red tape” was “blocking Oscar from his fundamental right to an education".
“We really have to ask questions as to why this child is being treated any different to any other,” she told BBC Radio Foyle on Wednesday.
Ms Hunter said while the number of pupils with a SEN statement continues to increase, “we are not seeing the level of investment necessary to provide appropriate places for those children.”
The EA said its highest priority remains continuing “to engage directly with schools and families, to ensure the necessary resources are in place”.
