14/06/2025
Protest as a form of love
I am refusing to deliver Early Years training for a LA next week- why?
A wonderful mum I work with was subjected to distress in her TAC meeting last week. An LA EHCP caseworker described my report on her wonderful and complex child as ‘waffle’. You read it right the word 'waffle' was used.
On the one hand I am asked by this LA to consult and train and on the other my work is put into disrepute by the LA education team. But this is not about me….
As a result of the training I’ve undertaken, families have come to better understand the importance of sensory integration and Occupational Therapy in supporting their children’s needs (often through the EY practitioners passing on their knowledge), leading to an increase in EHCP applications. However, I now find myself in a position where, in advocating for the right support and in providing education on this very important area of child development, I am effectively funnelling parents into a system where they risk being treated in the same unacceptable manner as this particular EY mum.
What happened in her meeting was unacceptable. The EHCP team’s response — rather than simply stating a refusal to fund OT support — went further to disparage my professional judgement (and other private therapists) – this is consistent and on-going. That is not only unnecessary but completely inappropriate. I know of many families currently in this exact position. These are people I care deeply about, and I will not accept them being subjected to dismissive or disrespectful treatment or placed in situations that cause unnecessary stress - these are parents of children with very complex needs. This mum confirmed that what the LA case worker described as 'waffle' was actually a very accurate description of her son and his needs. I cannot imagine the pain she experienced.
In order to exclude private reports from the EHCP process the LA will state one of the following. 1. private reports cannot be used. 2. the reports are not 'specific' (when they really are!). 3.The private reports need to be 'checked' by NHS equivalents. 4. schools do not 'agree' with the report and therefore it is going to be excluded - which places teachers in a position that is outside their code of professional practice. 5. Reports get described as ‘large and overwhelming’ ‘waffle’ ‘wordy’ – apparently caseworkers need to ‘cut through the waffle and bring out the needs for that young person to meet their best interests’ (!!!)
And so to bring this issue to light – I have stated that my other work for this LA cannot go ahead. Will it do anything ? Probably not. But I have to try. Occupational therapy profession has a long history of activism.
Dear Parents there are people out there who see you and who are fighting with you. Occupational therapy has a social vision that is founded on a core philosophy of ‘enabling living’ (Polatajko 1992, p198), a vision of promoting occupational and social justice through enabling individuals to participate in society and to fulfil their occupational potential (Townsend 1993, Townsend and Whiteford 2005).
