no funding support for respite/nursery-help????

Anna - posted on 07/16/2009 ( 3 moms have responded )

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HI,

My son ellis is 2years and 1 month-we live in england and education will not take over funding for him to go to nursery untill he is 2yrs 9months old-he currently was funded to attend a nursery for 2 months pending his diagnosis the funding was from a CAFF through the local council,ellis has been diagnosed with autism the report was sent out to all relevent services however social services will not support us and pay for ellis to continue to be funded to go to nursery for the 8 month gap-i have explained that he has made real progress in the setting but he has to have one to one which is costly...£10 an hour he attends for 10 hrs a week,which is £100 and his placement fee is £40 a week so in total we would be expected to find £140 a week for the next 8 months to keep him in! i myself really need this time to do things like the weekly shop which is a challenge with ellis in toe and he has an 11month old brother who i try to dedicate some of this time to because our whole week is focased on appointments or activities to help ellis and his sibling misses out greatly on interaction even with me. we worked really hard with sleepless nights to settle ellis into the new routine of nursery and i feel it would be detrementle to him and the rest of the family to have to take him out because of this funding issue-i have been investigating a few charities to see if they can help i myself am in no position to afford this but will put any dla awarded towards it-just wondered if any of you experienced mothers have any suggestions or contact points??? or if you've had a similar problem i'd love to hear about it and the outcome! any help or advice would be great-sorry to drag on x

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Brandie - posted on 07/17/2009

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if discrimination act is the same there as here you should be charged only the $40. because i know here nursery/ daycare automatically get extra government funding for each child with a disability. and its that money that covers the extra cost for the 1 on 1. gl i really hope you get somewhere with this.

Anna - posted on 07/17/2009

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hi lynne-thats a very good point will be sure to ask about it we attend a child development centre weekly am sure they would know or direct me to someone that would-i know he will be funded at 3yrs by education it's just the gap! will let u know if i find a loophole!! -thanks for the reply! x

Lynne - posted on 07/17/2009

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I am really sorry as I don't know if I can help much, my son didn't get funding until he was about 3. Just wanted to make one point, I am not sure that the Nursery can charge you more just because Ellis has autism. Under the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) I think that they should offer him a place on the same basis as the other kids. Have you got an Early Years support person, maybe they can help? Sorry I can't offer more but I really hope you find a solution. Lx