An Edinburgh mum is afraid her son will get bullied and hurt other children if he is put into a mainstream primary school - after his place at an additional support school was rejected.
Toni Edwards, 44, should be excited for her son Darryn Edwards, five, to reach the milestone of starting school in August. Yet she finds herself going through a stressful appeal process and facing options she believes will have a detrimental effect on his health.
Darryn is autistic and was born with learning difficulties which make it difficult for him to understand and cope with his environment. Although he can speak, he is unable to communicate or make friends and socialise with other children.
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The youngster has been receiving one-to-one support in Clermiston Nursery after showing no improvement. His mum says he can become violent when stressed so she fears he will struggle in a mainstream primary school. So she wants him to go to Redhall School - which caters for those with complex long term additional support needs.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Toni said: "The whole process has been very misleading. I'm autistic too and I have found it very difficult to process.
"He has been at Clermiston Nursery for two-and-a-half years and had one-to-one support which has helped. He has no friends there. He has never been invited to any birthday parties and doesn't know any of his classmates' names because he has communication issues."
Toni applied for a place at a local additional support school for Darryn in January only for it to be rejected. The worried mum is now trying to fight the decision.
She explained: "It has been really complicated since the refusal. Darryn has anxiety and he needs someone to teach him how to learn but he won't get that in a mainstream classroom.
"It's going to hurt his mental health and social skills. Just now he just plays alongside his peers but I don't know how much he understands about the environment around him.
"He gets really anxious and can get violent when one activity stops and another begins or there is a change. I don't know if I am more worried about him or the other kids dealing with him."
The rejection letter listed a number of reasons for the decision - stating Darryn’s social, communication and cognitive ability is higher than other children at Redhall School. It also claims he would benefit from mainstream education and that Redhall is full. But Toni feels insufficient support is available for her son.
Toni said: "The staff involved in the appeal process make you feel like you don't know your own child at all.
"My nephew had similar learning difficulties he got put in a mainstream school and caused thousands of pounds of damage before he got moved to a special school two years in any way."
She continued: "If I don't win the appeal he will either have to go to the mainstream school where he will suffer or be homeschooled which I don't even think I'm capable of.
"He has been to the nursery for over two years and I have been to the open days so I know what it is like. Just now I am having about one hour of sleep and am sick with stress as he won't cope at all.
"I'm so concerned for his safety and mental health, I don't want him to get punished for behaviour that he can't control because there is not enough support there.
"He already gets bullied by kids from the local school when he is playing outside in the area, I know it won't be good for him.
"I sat in silence suffering and living a life of misery in primary school with no support until I exploded in high school and started to get in serious trouble - I don't want him to suffer in the same way."
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An Edinburgh Council spokesman said: “We have procedures in place to fully assess and moderate all requests for specialist provision through our Educational Placement Group.
"These include review of the Assessments of Need and plans for learners by a team of experienced specialist staff. Places are allocated based on need. This is a fair and transparent process which is well established."
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