The mum of an eight-year-old autistic boy has told of her battle to change the law so families who win tribunals get compensation.
The 45-year-old single mum said disabled children are the last group left unprotected by compensation payments for discrmination.
The eight-year-old boy at the centre of a compensation battle
The mum, from Lincoln, won a special educational needs and disability tribunal against her son’s school.
This followed her son coming home with bruising.
She later discovered the school had been restraining him for 15 months.
Left with post-traumatic stress
The mum says her son now suffers from post-traumatic stress following the restraints.
He already had pathological demand avoidance (PDA), sensory processing disorder and the joint disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type 3.
The mum, who along with her son cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the school did not use any autism-friendly techniques to try to calm her boy’s challenging behaviour.
She said “three or four” adult staff would pin him to the floor if he displayed challenging behaviour such as kicking out, throwing objects, hiding under desks or refusing to leave the playground.
The boy has since left the school.
Second family fighting for compensation
His mum is one of two sets of parents fighting over compensation.
She said she is bringing the action so children like hers “don’t suffer this kind of discrimination in the first place”.
Typically, where a child has suffered discrimination in school, tribunals order extra training and new guidance or an apology.
Compensation would be a more effective deterrent and a “meaningful punishment”, said the mum.
She is getting legal aid, as she is acting for her son.
Lawyers Irwin Mitchell represent both families. The other family involved are parents of a 17-year-old special needs girl from Yorkshire.
The Department for Education maintains that tribunals “offer a wide range of remedies”.
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Published: 17 July 2021
