Every morning we get a scene from Hitchcock’s Birds. Hordes of feathered friends waiting for the me to get my act together. Come on it’s about time we got breakfast. Just remember what happened in The Birds. No cute Angry Birds here….

We watched Angry Birds 2 a few nights back. It’s very funny. Red and Big Terrence are my new role models. The Birds in the Hitchcock movie are just a bit too Deadpool for my liking.

Everyday the garden birds wait and every day it’s worth it. Free, easy and safe food within feet of their nests. So sometimes waiting is worth it.

We finally managed to get our sons Education and Health Care Plan approved a few months after WE lost his mum. I remember a few parents saying well that’s the job done, your quids in now, it’s top class education for your son now. You could feel the sarcasm dripping off the words. Many parents buy into the idea spread by the media that kids with learning disabilities are taking money off their kids education. Schools are short of money because of these privileged kids. And anyway what’s the point – they are just low attainment. So undeserving. Just give the money to the normal kids…..

Welcome to modern, inclusive, caring Britain…..

Thankfully I didn’t assume it was job done. Now the real battle had begun. Trying to get any meaningful support from our factory farming education system. In practice the small level of funding nominally provided to our son effectively bought him a place in a secondary school. Nothing else. The money is put into the school budget for general classroom Teaching Assistants. These Teaching Assistants then are a resource for ALL kids in the class. The Teaching Assistants are not trained in learning disabilities. The school does have one who has experience in the area yet she has never spent anytime with our son. The school does not provide any additional help to kids like our son. It so much easier to label the kids low attainment and do nothing. So we get into a never ending cycle. The media vilify kids with learning disabilities. The government never contradicts these miss truths and the schools continue to do provide any support. The kids fall further behind. The parents pull their hair out.

So we are still waiting. Still waiting for progress. Still fighting battles. Still listening to the campaign of hate promoted by the media. Trying to get any help which might give our kids a chance. Not asking for special treatment. Just an opportunity for a decent education. So many kids are suffering in silence.

Still waiting. But there is now a sobering thought. A thought to take into 2020. Many of the current failings with the school system can be traced directly back to government policy and educational dogma. Ten years of taking schools back to traditional teaching practices. Back to Victorian values. Back to a time of unmitigated suffering for any child not fitting the expected mould. NOW we have 5 more years of this Government. A government proposing an even more stringent traditional approach. But here’s the rub. In 5 years son will be leaving secondary education.

We wait. So we probably will be still waiting in 5 years.

So as we move into 2020 the conclusion is that the school system will will not help kids like our son for many years. It will never help our son. It has and will continue to fail him until he leaves. I’m still trying to get my head round this. We will keep fighting but with little chance of any progress. So we are now in Plan B zone. What is Plan B? I’m not sure yet.

Sometimes waiting is not worth it.

34 thoughts on “Waiting”

  2. I’m so sorry Gary. I read your stuff about your son and the stupid education system, and it makes my blood boil. So NOT what it should be. And to vilify kids just because they are different is awful. Sadly, it is the way of the world in general now. We live in a society where you have to fit into a certain box, and those of us who don’t, aydder.n society gas chanfed unto simmerhubgcso yncarunf abd unhuman. U so deel dor you and your son, and I do know that youbget so exgausted and sometimes despairing, and angry, and rughtly so. But I also see the ibcreduble bond that you two have, and I read about the fun that you have, despite eveything. I read about you as a devoted father Gary, and it is heartwarming. I take my hat off to you Gary. I know it is a lonely life, but itcwarms my heart to see your friends here in WP, all behind you and supporting you. Molease please keep blogging, though I know it can be tiring. We all care. I don’t know what else to say, and I hope I haven’t made too many typing mistakes, and that what I have written is understandable. Bthe world is a much much better place for you and your son being in it. And I wish for you a better 2020 but I do know what you mean about waiting. We will wait with you, and be besidebyou as much as pissible. I read you even if I don’t comnent so much nowadays. May 2020 bring some much needed change for you Gary. Much much love to you and son xxxx

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  4. Hi. It will be an uphill struggle all the way. But keep fighting and knocking on doors; hundreds if need be. One day one will open and you will be surprised and rewarded. Keep knocking. Best Regards. Goff

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      1. Don’t be fobbed off about arguments and reasons of limited resources and the need to look at the wider picture. The only picture that concerns you is your son’s education, and getting the best deal possible to service his needs. Knock, knock, knock and keep knocking. Happy New Year. Goff

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  5. There seems to be a gap in the service. When children are severely affected, they go to a specialised school with trained educators. If not, they continue in a mainstream school where no one is trained to help them. It’s so unfair. I so hope and pray that things will change for these children who are being overlooked, despite the drawbacks of our country’s government.

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  6. I am stunned at the state of education in the UK. I am disgusted to read about the discrimination that your son and students like him face. What can (collectively) be done? Are there any groups that are lobbying/advocating for change? Where are the teachers’ voices? Are there any parent groups making noise?

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    1. I was talking to the head of a dyslexia charity. He was in the same position with his daughter. No help, constant fights. He was pulling his hair out as well. All he could recommend was trying to move to another area. But we can’t afford to do it and son doesn’t want to leave his house. The number of good areas is falling rapidly. Many areas are cutting back special needs budgets. Our area has hammered special needs transport and education plan budgets. Take care. x

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  7. This is a frustrating situation. We have a lot of failures in the US education system but I feel like serving special needs students is a strong area (although it’s stronger in some areas than others based on how well funded the school is). My degree was to work with students like this — I have a hard time understanding throwing teachers in there who haven’t been trained.

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    1. In the years our son has been in school he has only once been taught by a teacher with training in autism and or dyslexia. He was a young trainee teacher doing his placement secondment. He only did that because his younger brother had been diagnosed with Aspergers. So this young teacher arranged for his own training. He was with our son only for a few months but he made a real impact.

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