Divide and Conquer: Parent versus parent - I will be SILENT NO MORE
- By Brian Leveson
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- 08 Jul, 2021
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So irate by what I have witnessed in the total of FOUR Haringey SEND coproduction meetings that I have ever attended, I can remain silent no more - apparent anti-Semitism, parent blaming, hostile environment and permission for professionals to do and say whatever they like - all I do is write a blog. I AM NOT YOUR SCAPEGOAT FOR YOUR FAILINGS
Prior to attending ANY coproduction meetings I had found my family harassed, seemingly at the instigation of the local authority.
In the first instance, staff from the SEND department in Haringey had leaked personal emails to parents. (Of course, eventually the parents realised what was going on and became good pals).
In the second instance, on Boxing Day 2019 I got a threatening phone call saying that from hence forward we would get NOTHING from the local authority. The call was made by another parent who had heard this from an Assistant Director.
The leaders with in the Children's Department were angry that we had stopped the privatisation of the SEND Transport management in Haringey because the claims made about coproduction were wholly false.
In the first 'coproduction' meeting I ever attended, I saw my wife being silenced by the Director of Children's Services
In the second 'coproduction' meeting I ever attended I was told by an Assistant Director that they did not want to hear from my demographic
In the third 'coproduction' meeting I ever attended, when I started to speak one of the SEND heads of service commented 'here we go again'
In the fourth 'coproduction' meeting I ever attended a parent governor from a Haringey special school (with lots of former Haringey SEND staff on the Board of Governors) launched a blistering attack on me and my family - blaming us for the failings of the local authority. When we appealed to the chair, who was the Head of SEND, for a 'safe space' we were told 'we are all consenting adults' and encouraged to leave the meeting
This does not happen in ANY other area of coproduction.
I have sent a Cease and Desist notice to the organisers, SENDIASS, but I have not had my email acknowledged.
I have sent a Cease and Desist notice to the organisers, SENDIASS, but I have not had my email acknowledged.
In spite of the revolving doors at the top of the department, nothing ever changes. Time for the Department for Education to step in to take over this mess.
What's it all about? Having a SCAPEGOAT for the failings of the local authority - and what better scapegoat than a parent?
If you thought SEND was bad - the NHS is seemingly prepared to throw away money to private companies
About 3 or 4 times a year we get the euphemistic message 'Parents please note we have put a letter in your child's bag' - its a world away from how a child's death was handled in my child's first school
More of a trial by ordeal than a well organised clearly set out administrative process for moving the care of vulnerable young adults from Haringey's Children's Services to Adult Services. We have been failed at every stage of the process.
Never EVER get on the bus without a camera running if you need the priority wheelchair space
The reality of using a London Bus in the teeming rain on a Sunday afternoon is no joke when the parents of a paraplegic person in a wheelchair clash with the self-entitled buggy-pushing parents of toddlers.
At 3pm today I received some barefaced lies from Haringey Council Adult Social Care in response to a photograph I published online yesterday and the media interest it generated
Haringey SEND Transport are insisting that a 17 year old minibus with no air conditioning is a suitable vehicle to transport my paraplegic son in this heatwave. The appalling conditions inside the minibus inside the bus is something they knew about last summer, yet they have to date done nothing whatsoever provide a suitable minibus this year nor appropriately mitigate the temperatures inside the minibus.The conditions inside the minibus are so bad that they triggered multiple seizures during the heatwave as my son has epilepsy, which they SEND transport department know about and they also know that they are triggered by heat.It is not just son who is impacted: last year we know of one child who died on Haringey SEND Transport in the summer heatwave and another who had seizures.
I am simply asking a question - are we all absolutely certain that the road closure / travel restrictions (commonly know as LTNs) placed on some of the most severely disabled people who are wholly reliant on cars are absolutely necessary
Haringey's road closures exemptions policy for disabled people is not fit for purpose, unduly burdensome and intrusive - it's time to stand up against the pro-LTN lycra-clad cycling bullies
Is the argument for and against exemptions for disabled people in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods really a case of GOOD versus EVIL?
