AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
Devastated Melanie Sykes says finding a school for her autistic son has left her wanting to ‘run away screaming’
MELANIE Sykes has revealed her heartbreak at trying to find a suitable school for her autistic son after a mainstream academy asked him to leave.
The TV presenter has said she is struggling to place 11-year-old Valentino into a school as she doesn’t want him to go to one just for autistic kids.
And she said hers and Valentino’s struggle was one faced by many families having spoken to other “desperate parents” in a similar position.
Valentino – or Tino as he is also known – is Melanie’s youngest son from her marriage to actor Daniel Caltagirone, with whom she also has another son, Roman, 13.
Valentino, who is now 11, was diagnosed with autism when he was just two years old
She has admitted in the past that his diagnosis has left her wanting to “run away screaming” but she has learnt how to cope and added: “If I can’t accept he’s got autism I can’t help him to emerge.”
And she said she and Daniel are concerned that Valentino, who was diagnosed with autism in 2006, will face problems in later life if a suitable school isn’t found.
And they are reluctant to send him to special school as they feel he would benefit better from being around all sorts of children.
Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “We are doing everything we can but there are so many obstacles. Valentino could be independent, self-sufficient and a very valuable member of society, but he may lose the ability to live that life and slip through the net.
“He is a high functioning austistic child. We do not yet know what Valentino’s gifts are, but he definitely straddles the autistic world and the mainstream world. I do not want to put him in a school with only autistic children.”
Valentino was just two when he was diagnosed but thrived in a mainstream primary school after his diagnosis.
It was only when he started at an academy in London in September last year that problems began to arise.
Staff reviewed his progress and told Melanie and Daniel they felt it would be better if Valentino was put in another school, a decision they feel was made due to league table pressure.
He said: “They are driven by exam grades. What is becoming clear is that we are not the only ones in this situation.
“We have met a lot of parents whose children have special educational needs who have been told, ‘we have pressure from inspectors to meet academic standards, so your son or daughter does not fit in here’.”
SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowb...n-has-left-her-wanting-to-run-away-screaming/
Devastated Melanie Sykes says finding a school for her autistic son has left her wanting to ‘run away screaming’
MELANIE Sykes has revealed her heartbreak at trying to find a suitable school for her autistic son after a mainstream academy asked him to leave.
The TV presenter has said she is struggling to place 11-year-old Valentino into a school as she doesn’t want him to go to one just for autistic kids.
And she said hers and Valentino’s struggle was one faced by many families having spoken to other “desperate parents” in a similar position.
Valentino – or Tino as he is also known – is Melanie’s youngest son from her marriage to actor Daniel Caltagirone, with whom she also has another son, Roman, 13.
Valentino, who is now 11, was diagnosed with autism when he was just two years old
She has admitted in the past that his diagnosis has left her wanting to “run away screaming” but she has learnt how to cope and added: “If I can’t accept he’s got autism I can’t help him to emerge.”
And she said she and Daniel are concerned that Valentino, who was diagnosed with autism in 2006, will face problems in later life if a suitable school isn’t found.
And they are reluctant to send him to special school as they feel he would benefit better from being around all sorts of children.
Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “We are doing everything we can but there are so many obstacles. Valentino could be independent, self-sufficient and a very valuable member of society, but he may lose the ability to live that life and slip through the net.
“He is a high functioning austistic child. We do not yet know what Valentino’s gifts are, but he definitely straddles the autistic world and the mainstream world. I do not want to put him in a school with only autistic children.”
Valentino was just two when he was diagnosed but thrived in a mainstream primary school after his diagnosis.
It was only when he started at an academy in London in September last year that problems began to arise.
Staff reviewed his progress and told Melanie and Daniel they felt it would be better if Valentino was put in another school, a decision they feel was made due to league table pressure.
He said: “They are driven by exam grades. What is becoming clear is that we are not the only ones in this situation.
“We have met a lot of parents whose children have special educational needs who have been told, ‘we have pressure from inspectors to meet academic standards, so your son or daughter does not fit in here’.”
SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowb...n-has-left-her-wanting-to-run-away-screaming/
I hear of this happening a lot, children with ASDs being asked to leave the academy schools because they don't 'fit'. In some cases it isn't even due to them feeling that the child will get poor results, but sinister 'social engineering', as I have heard of the same happening to children with no learning difficulties but on the AS or those who are in a wheelchair, because their very prescence 'looks bad' to inspectors, other children and the local community. There are a number of legal loopholes academies can exploit to get away with this, whereas state schools cannot.
