AUTHOR NICK HORNBY: 'BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS FAILING AUTISTIC CHILDREN'
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 (16:56:52)

Posted by sylvia

The Times, 03/10/2003

The award-winning British author, Nick Hornby, has attacked the government for failing autistic children.

Hornby, whose son Danny, aged 10, has autism, told a fringe meeting in Bournemouth on October 2 that the Labour government was not spending enough on health and education services for autistic children. He said that the local educational authority (LEA) staff employed to help children such as his son became "enemies" who were "institutionally hostile" to their needs.

His comments came as three separate reports were released warning of the "massive stress and cost" faced by parents who take LEAs to tribunals. Hornby said: "One of the first of many shocks you receive as the parent of a disabled child is that there is no one to help you negotiate the dense and dark forest of difficulties which has sprung up around you.

Unless there is enough money in the system to meet the needs that are out there, all the wonderful new initiatives the government is announcing aren’t going to engage the single most pressing reason why the system is failing disabled children.

"[LEA workers] are forced, by circumstances beyond their control, to turn into gatekeepers who have always to be thinking about how little they can get away with providing, rather than what the child needs."

The strain of fighting for proper education damaged some parents’ mental health and even led to marriage breakdowns, he added.

Hornby’s marriage to Virginia Bovell, Danny’s mother, broke down in 1998 but he has remained involved in his son’s upbringing. He said that they were lucky because they were educated and able to navigate the rules and appeals procedures governing the care of autistic children.

The reports, released by the National Autistic Society and parent groups, highlighted what they called the shortcomings of the system, suggesting that LEAs were using the appeals procedure as a way to postpone funding and sometimes failed to provide support after being ordered to by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

Margaret Hodge, Britain's Minister for Children, said not enough funding was available but added that she was restricted by voters’ reluctance to pay higher taxes.