Shtum (22 page)

Tummy ache

My stomach fights for independence as I open the envelope. I try to read every word but then start scanning, madly. My eyes racing after my finger, pulling words from the text, tallying pluses and minuses as the phrases leap at me.

First Tier Tribunal Special Educational Needs and Disability

DECISION

Appeal by:
Mrs Emma Jewell and Mr Benjamin Jewell

Against decision
of:
London Borough of Wynchgate

Concerning:
Jonah (born 11 May 2000)

Hearing
d
ate:
28 July 2011

Tribunal
panel:
Lianne Wyatt (Tribunal Judge)
Peter Greeling (Specialist Member) Nigel Prior (Specialist Member)

Appeal

Mrs Jewell and Mr Jewell appeal under section 326 of the Education Act 1996 against the contents of a statement of special educational needs made by the London Borough of Wynchgate (LA) for their son, Jonah.

Tribunal’s
conclusions with reasons

We carefully considered the written evidence submitted to the tribunal in advance and the evidence given to us at the hearing. We also took account of the Code of Practice and the relevant sections of the Education Act 1996 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001.

Our Conclusions are:

1. 1.
   We are pleased that the parties maintained a dialogue about the issues in the appeal up to the date of the hearing and include their agreed amendments as part of our order.
   
2. 2.
   In relation to the issues in Part 2 of the statement, there is evidence to support a view that even when Jonah demonstrates appropriate behaviour, this undoubtedly reflects the level of individual professional input available to him. Furthermore, without this support, Jonah’s behaviour presents a risk to himself and to others. Therefore, we agree that the requested parental amendments should be inserted.
   
3. 3.
   In Part 3 it seemed to us that the parties were working on different definitions of a total communication approach. We agree that a consistent method for use in all contexts should be identified. PECS is Jonah’s preferred method of communication and this needs to be described in his statement as such, but equally this should be placed in the context of a range of other communication approaches as advised. Jonah needs access to a range of choices based on identification of a specific principal method to be provided
   
4. 4.
   There was little dispute between the respective speech and language therapists and we concur that the amendments sought in relation to the language programme and direct speech and language therapy should be inserted save for the changes we have made to ensure that Jonah’s communication preference is recognised in the provision of a specific method, but that he also has a range of choices as agreed are necessary in a total communication approach.
   
5. 5.
   We note the LA’s comments about the evidence from Ms Smart and we accept that Jonah has had regular indirect therapy. But we also note that Ms McDonald said the last joint work by the therapeutic team was in October 2010. In the absence of evidence to counter Ms Smart’s specific recommendations about the provision of occupational therapy, we accept that the amendments sought by the parents should be inserted in the statement.
   
6. 6.
   There is no necessity to insert the requested reference to a specified professional to carry out the functional behavioural analysis. This can readily be done by a teacher experienced in behaviour management techniques.
   
7. 7.
   Regarding the central question of an extended or waking day, a delicate line must be trodden between examining the full picture of a child’s needs and limiting our decision to a careful assessment of his educational needs within that full picture and deciding what is appropriate to meet those particular needs.
   
8. 8.
   The fact a child has a need for a consistency of approach does not necessarily mean this is an educational need
   that needs to be met with educational provision beyond the school day. Similarly, the fact that the well-being of a child and/or his family may benefit from social care input does not make that provision educational. lt is undoubtedly the case that there is only a small group of children whose needs are so complex and significant that a curriculum beyond the normal school day is required.
   
9. 9.
   However, it is a matter of fact and degree and judgement in each case and it is the individual needs of the child in question that is determinative. Our task does not include identifying what might be an optimum or ideal provision for the full range of Jonah’s educational and other needs. Both consistency and a behavioural programme appear to be features of Jonah’s educational needs.
   
10. 10.
    Jonah’s combined and complex ASD and
    severe
    learning difficulties require a change of approach.
    For this child, his behavioural and related needs are integral to the complexity of his educational needs and are obstacles to his learning.
    
11. 11.
    The LA’s claim that the current package was working and producing both progress and consistency did not stand up to close scrutiny.
    
12. 12.
    All the recommended therapies need to be delivered throughout the day across a range of settings by a multidisciplinary team of staff focused consistently on that task and able to plan and communicate effectively
    
13. 13.
    Therefore,
    given the complexity and interplay of his severe needs and the stage of his education,
    Jonah requires a level of consistency that inevitably points to a waking-day curriculum.
    
14. 14.
    Clearly, the most important aspect of the appeal for both parties was the identification of the school to be named in Part 4.
    
15. 15.
    Maureen Mitchell School is not suitable
    to meet Jonah’s special educational needs. Therefore, we turn to consider the LA’s alternative option of a residential placement at
    The Sunrise Academy School.
    However, taking into account all that we were told about The Sunrise Academy,
    we do not believe it can meet Jonah’s needs
    at this stage of his education.
    
16. 16.
    Taken as a whole, placement at
    Highgrove Manor
    is the only viable option in the particular circumstances of this case.
    

Order

Appeal allowed.

Signed:
Ms Liz Goldthorpe
Lianne Wyatt
Tribunal Judge

Amended under
Rule 44 Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules 2008
21 September 2011
.

I re-read the last sentence over and over again. Jonah won. And my excitement is for him, for the future he is now assured of, for the expanse of green fields and trees, for the chance he will have to exist without the stresses laid upon him by the unpredictability of a non-autistic world. For me? The revelation that I’ve finally finished something fills me with pride and relief and it is, I reflect – after a string of losses – the first thing I’ve ever won.

For the first time in months – possibly years – I phone Emma with good news.

‘The nightmare is over,’ I say. ‘We won.’

She cries.

So this is victory. I can allow myself that. Dad’s expression of pride, finally finishing something, something life-changing – the realisation that without loving myself, I cannot hope to love another. Emma knew and felt this for herself. She prioritised herself over Jonah; it was what she needed to do. We both screwed up, but at least we’re starting to fix it.

I want to sleep for the remaining week. Emma has posted the news about Jonah on her Facebook page, but all I feel is a sincere bitterness that none of these well-wishers were around to help Emma and me when things were at their toughest. Yet now that we’ve split up and Jonah’s going and the chance to invite us over as a family has evaporated, they’re full of ebullience. I’m affronted by their shortsighted belief that it’s perfectly fine for your eleven-year-old to leave home, probably for good. I feel like sending them all a response, but they wouldn’t get the irony. So I ignore them all, while secretly wishing them many happy years of rehab fees and unwanted pregnancies for their proto-delinquent offspring. Their children’s words will hurt them more than my son’s silence, that I can guarantee them. I need to let these feelings go, I know. They are a cover for my fear and a short-term antidote to my self-loathing, both of which I need to tackle if I want to live a happy life. At least, for the first time, I recognise this fact – which is a good place to start this new journey.

My mood swings between hope and a dull kind of nihilism. If only I could win this for Jonah, I had thought, everything would be good from now on. But feelings are more complicated than that.

Emma arrives to take Jonah for the day and it feels wrong, the three of us in this house, sitting at the kitchen table without Dad. And it occurs to me that this could be the final time around this old table. A full stop for the Jewell family. Maybe I couldn’t admit it to myself before, but they are all leaving me. Soon and for good.

‘Ben, why do you look sad?’ Emma asks.

‘Don’t I always?’

‘It’s time to move on.’

I baulk at this familiar sentiment. ‘Easier said than done.’

Silence.

‘So where do we go from here, Emma?’

‘We have Jonah. We will always be his mum and dad.’

‘Will you have more children?’ The question is out.

‘God, Ben, give me a chance to recover from this first. I don’t know. Part of me feels that I need another go at this, that I need the chance to be a different mother to a different child. To give Jonah another person that loves him. Another part of me is shit scared that it will happen again. You?’

‘No, that’s it for me. I couldn’t deal with the sense of betrayal.’

‘Betrayal of Jonah?’

I nod.

‘Someone told me this last week: if you have one foot in the past and the other in the future, you piss on the present,’ she says.

‘Who was that, the Dalai Lama?’

‘But it’s true, isn’t it? We only really have today,’ she says.

‘Jonah only really cares about the moment,’ I add.

‘Even better. Maybe it’s time we both accepted that he’s an individual, with his own life, to be lived in his way. Maybe we should concede that we’ve learnt more from him than he has from us?’

It rings true for me. ‘I think I recognised that a long time ago, but fought it. Even if he doesn’t understand it, or is never able to recall it or put it into words – even in his head – I want him to feel that I love him. I need to know that I’ve done everything in my power to be a good father. Does that make sense?’

‘Yes. You have and he does. You can see it in his eyes, Ben. He adores you.’

I watch them walk away hand in hand.