Reasonable Adjustments

Morning All,

You may have heard the term "reasonable adjustments" but maybe you don't know what they are and how they work?

Well, like many things in the field of SEND, it's complicated.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 and under the Equality Act 2010, all schools and education authorities have a duty to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils. The duty is to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the substantial disadvantage to a disabled person.

Substantial is defined as being anything more than minor or trivial.

So, examples of Reasonable Adjustments that school could provide are:

Early starts to the school days and leaving early, in order to avoid crowds of people.

Allowing the Child to doodle in class, to help focus and regulate.

Allowing the use of fidget toys.

Adjustments to school uniform to meet sensory needs.

Enhanced transitions between year groups or schools.

Providing large print reading materials for a child who is visually impaired.

Anyone can ask for adjustments, but to have legal rights to them your child must be defined as disabled under the Equality Act 2010. A Physical or Mental impairment which has substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

The problem you may have is that "reasonable" is not defined in law. Schools can take into account, cost, practicality, the need to uphold standards, health and safety, the effect on other students and the effectiveness of the adjustment when deciding whether to make your adjustment request or not.

So what can you do if School refuses to make reasonable adjustments?

Failure to provide reasonable adjustments count as discrimination under the Equality Act.

Start by making an appointment with relevant school staff to discuss how they may put things right.

Next step would be making a complaint to the school via their procedure.

Finally if all else has failed you may need to things to First Tier Tribunal.

And if you don't already, you need to get that EHCP in place. An EHCP is a legal document drawn up between the Local Authority, Health and Social Care and a child's family or a young person.