July 21, 2020, Wales Online: 'My nine year-old can't read and write, he's not learning anything at school and I'm not sending him back in September' https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/my-nine-year-old-cant-18634693 Jessica and Daniel Darch said they have been trying to get their son extra support for years and he's been happier since school was shut by Covid-19 This is Stephen Darch. He is nine years old but despite going to mainstream school for six years his parents say he can’t read or write. Stephen has multiple diagnoses for a range of disorders, including global development delay, Tourette’s, ADHD and OCD anxiety. He also has exotropia, a condition causing the eyes to misalign and turn outward. Despite these multiple issues, the Tonyrefail Community School pupil has never been assessed for a statement of special educational needs, said his mother Jessica. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said it worked to help children with additional needs. But Jessica said she has tried for three years, to no avail, to get her son’s school and the local education authority to assess him for extra help. Jessica and her husband Daniel believe Stephen needs to be in a special school or, at the very least, have one-to-one help in the mainstream classroom…. After years of trying and failing to get him assessed for a statement of education needs and extra help or a place in a special school they said they decided to tell their story “as a last resort to try to get help”. In a class of 28 Jessica realises her son “is not going to be the priority ” but she fears that because he is usually quiet he has simply slipped through the net….
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