The Life and Times of Old Bat and Her Family

Well, January has begun with Sunbeam falling back into a depression. Not as bad as it was but all the signs are there. He has started saying he feels ill and can’t go to school. He has had an upset stomach so it’s very real but obviously caused by stress. He doesn’t like the unit despite the teaching staff being absolutely wonderful. They all love Sunbeam and want to take him home! We have been given a date for our meeting with the LEA to discuss Sunbeam’s placement. Things are slightly different now as Sunbeam hasn’t made the progress we had hoped for and it has become very apparent that he will not be able to cope with the individual package the LEA is proposing. He would be going to different places everyday and continue to be isolated. We are going to have to push for the private school which will offer him a safe and secure environment and continuity. I have been busy trying to find a good lawyer with experience in special needs education. I have found one! Unfortunately she charges £250 per hour so we won’t be engaging her services! However, she has agreed to give us a telephone conference before our meeting on the 26th January so we can at least know where we stand legally and know if we can do a bit of “cage rattling”! I also heard from one of the teaching staff at the unit. She has done some research and has given me the names of 2 high placed officials in our county council and she reckons they might be able to put pressure on the LEA. She is also prepared, with other members of the teaching staff, to submit written evidence that Sunbeam is very fragile emtionally and needs a specialised environment. How wonderful some people are. It really revives my faith in human nature. I get very tired of being cynical and pessimistic!

Today (14.01.07)I was looking through my file of correspondence regarding Sunbeam and found a letter dated Dec 2000 from the LEA. They had acknowledged that I had requested a statutory assessment for him and were writing to tell me why they didn’t think it was appropriate at the time. My MP wrote to Children’s Services following a meeting with me last year and the Education Officer replied to him that my son had only just come to the notice of their service!! GOT THEM me thinks! Should make our meeting very interesting! Wish I could video it, in colour so as to show up the red faces!

This week I start to gather whatever I can to strengthen our case. I need to type up a diary I have been keeping recording Sunbeam’s moods etc. I must also write to our GP and ask if it’s appropriate for him to write supporting our demand for a placement to be found before this coming half term. Sunbeam continues to slip back into a depression and it needs to be stopped before there’s no return.

Well, I’ve done the diary and given it to the therapist. He’s not going to be able to attend the meeting but he’s going to write to the LEA but he’s going to have to be careful not to tell them what they should do! Sunbeam has also started to put into his own words what he would like to happen. His statements are very powerful.

Today (19.01.07) I had a meeting with our contact at Parentline. She’s very helpful and supportive and actually believes that our boy should be in the specialist school we have chosen. The nice lady is going to type up all our thoughts so that we can take them to the meeting. Had a phone call from the Education Officer at LEA! She had received my letter and sounded very subdued and contrite! Said we’d be welcome at the meeting although it had been planned as just a professional meeting. The fact that the meeting is to be held in the unit that has refused him a place implies that they have already made their decision. We look forward to our telephone conference on Monday with the wizzy lawyer!

22.01.07 Our telephone conference with the excellent lawyer was very useful and she gave us lots of advice and tips about our meeting on Friday with LEA. The biggest thing is that she asked if she could pass our details on to her colleague as she thought we have a case against the Children’s Services Department for negligence as they knew about Sunbeam when he was first diagnosed. They were supposed to get the Ed Psych into school to discuss implementation of strategies suggested by the professionals involved at the time but it never happened. Finding our letter will prove most useful. She also said that we have grounds to claim compensation for injury sustained to our boy ie severe depression resulting in near breakdown and having to be prescribed medication at 13/14 years of age. Another solicitor is phoning me on 26th Jan to discuss it and as he works on a no win no fee basis it means we can afford to pursue it.   I also spoke to the representative from Parentline who will be supporting us at the meeting on Friday and he seemed very nice but needs to get up to speed on how complex Sunbeam’s difficulties are. It’s certainly a very big week and very stressful. Â

 I took Sunbeam to visit the private school as I thought I needed to get his opinion before the planning meeting. After all, he could have said he didn’t like it! However, he did like it and he said, after careful consideration taking several hours, that he thought he could be happy there which was very significant. For the last 3 or 4 years he has been asking if he will ever be happy again.

Well, we had our planning meeting with lots of professionals attending. they all sang from the same song sheet in that they all said Sunbeam needs specialist teaching. They all acknowledged that he is extremely fragile emotionally and the LEA frantically scribbled all the information down! They weren’t actually going to take minutes but our chap from Parent Partnership insisted! The head teacher from the SN unit kept winking at me and she told the LEA that she has nothing to offer Sunbeam which is great as there is no other option for him apart from the private school. I mentioned about Sunbeam’s visit and it seemed to have the desired effect! The meeting ended with the LEA taking back what had been said to their line managers and then it all goes before the board sometime in February. More waiting! I don’t know what else we can do.

Spoke at last to the solicitor about suing the LEA for negligence and damages but he said that it would be very difficult to prove that Sunbeam would have been any different to how he is now and that they would claim they acted reasonably given the information they had at the time. The fact that they have done absolutely nothing for him in 6 years didn’t mean anything. Claiming for damages would take years and we’d end up having a very small amount so that’s that really. I didn’t realistically think we had a chance but ever optimistic, that’s me! We now wait for a decision.Â

In the meantime Sunbeam has had a trial riding lesson which he loved. I now have to try and afford some more lessons. One of the people at the planning meeting thought that Sunbeam ought to have access to relaxation therapies and as he loves his back being rubbed WHEREVER we are I thought I’d make enquiries about a back massage! £25 per half hour!! I checked with my GP and he said I wouldn’t be able to get it on the NHS! Why is it that whenever something might help a child in desperate need there is no access to it? More lottery tickets!!