In June 2016 it became clear that the challenges of looking after our severely autistic son were too much for our family. After a two week holiday which triggered a mental health crisis I had to approach the local authority and request that they found a 52 week educational placement for him. Something no mother ever imagines she will have to do when she first plans to become pregnant.
Having put my son's fate in the hands of the authority i expected that his best interests would be considered and supported. Sadly it quickly became evident that the only thing that mattered was saving money. Instead of finding a way for him to stay in a highly structured autism specific educational provision the local authority proposed he should go to a Steiner school with limited structure and no autism specific approaches.
To cut a long story short, our only way of protecting our son was to get the legal process involved and take the LEA to tribunal. 18 months later and thousands of pounds later we had our appeal upheld with no evidence to support the local authority. Sadly, the legal system does not provide our costs despite our success. Outrageously, effectively I have paid twice for a farcical legal suit - personally and via taxes. We have used savings including some put aside for James' future and now it is all over I'm reaching out to try and raise some funds to cover a tiny amount of our costs. We probably spent in excess of £30k over the course of this.
I would dearly love to replace the money I removed from James' account hence my aim to raise £5000. Anything in excess of this will be used to start a fundraising project for his current school, Radlett Lodge School, to create a Sensiry integration unit for the use of all pupils at the school.
Please donate whatever you can - no amount is too little. You will be giving my son his future and helping others in the process.
Thank you so much, from the bottom of my no longer broken heart