my disabled daughter has been turned down for swimming lessons?

Question

she is in main stream school and county hall is refusing to fund her to go on these lessons with her class mates who r abled bodied i want to know what i can do as she is devastated i have started a petition at 10 downing street for such funding but who do i complain to and what else can i do as i think all disabled people should be able to enjoy swimming in local bathes with the proper equiptment installed in all areas

Answer 1

that is so awful,ive been through similar experience with my daughter,you could ask education department to give your daughter one to one support,and dont take no for an answer,I had to fight the system and I beat them its your daughters right to have that support,and its awful they have upset her in this way,feel free to email me if you wish,

Answer 2

In the United States, we have many opportunities where any of our "disabled" family members can have access to everything offered to our mainstream students.

I do not know what the reasoning is behind her not being funded to go to these lessons with her classmates. This would be considered to be extremely discriminatory here.

Does your daughter need to have an instructor all to herself? If that is the case, I would look into hiring an instructor for her, and you could consider attending the classes also; if you are able to.

There may be safety and insurance concerns on the part of the school or the locations where the lessons are going to be held. Possibly the bathes do not have proper equipment installed for her use, and that is why she is being turned down. This is totally unfair, but insurance is always a consideration for any business.

You may want to consider hiring a lawyer, and petition the court on her behalf; in order that she has a chance to participate in everything that all children have access to.

I would hope that you have some laws and regulations in place where you reside that uphold the right of all to participate in all life has to offer.

I wish you and your daughter the best.

Answer 3

Have you considered that the instructors for the swimming program felt that they lacked the skills to teach your daughter? I am a volunteer in a program that teaches disabled children to ride horses. It takes some special knowledge and training. The swimming instructors may not be able to provide what your daughter needs in a way that would insure her safety. If she has special needs, private lessons with one-on-one instruction may be more appropriate. Perhaps you should have a talk with the people administering the program to see what the obstacles are and how they can be addressed.

I suspect they have your daughter's best interests at heart. People who work with children seldom want to disappoint a little girl, and would not do so without a very good reason.

Answer 4

I am not sure as to what things you can do to get her in but as for the swimming lessons i have been a certified lifeguard for 10 years and taught children swimming lessons for 7 and i have taught several children who were physically or mentally disabled. I taught at a pool and i see absolutly no reason why they couldnt teach your daughter to swim. So the only reason u can think of that they could possibly justify (even if it is a bad reason) refusing would be if the pool is severely undermanned and even at that its not your fault that they didnt hire on enough staff and your daughter shouldnt be forced to pay for that type of mistake.

Answer 5

I couldnt agree more!!
But do bear in mind that they may of turned her down for her own safety, If they cant look after her then they are doing the right thing..As I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her.
Bt they need to look at the funding and have a qualified swim teacher there that can deal with a disabled child

Answer 6

First become knowledgeable about the disability discrimination Act.
Second; Set up an appointment to talk to the managers at these local bathes and talk about this issues. Also make them aware of they're violate against the disability act, and request to see their policy about who can and can't used their establishment.
Third; contact your local news media and see if you can get a reporter to cover this issue. Next step to get yourself a lawyer. I wish you the best and Good Luck!

Answer 7

I'm training to be a lifeguard at the moment, all pools have or are obliged to have measures in place to allow people of all disabilities to swim. You might want to check with the school and see whether she is covered on their insurance to swim, that may be the problem. If not, then take it to the courts.

Answer 8

I mean do you really want your daughter swimming with swim instructors that are not equipped or even taught how to properly deal with disabled swimmers? I'm sure you can put your daughter is a special swimming class, that would be better for her anyways...try the YMCA

Answer 9

WHY?????

One of my friends works in a special school and they take the children swimming regularly. I'm sure that they could find someone to go in the pool with your daughter for the duration of the lesson.

Surely her confidence and self esteem have been severly dented with this course of events. I'm fully behind you, post the link to the Petition page and I'll sign it for you.

Answer 10

That is terrible.
Would it be anything to do with health and safety issues> In uk folk are so scared of being sued that it could be becase of that.
Involve your local MP, go to the governing board and also take this as high as you have to as everyone should be able to enjoy swimming.

Answer 11

The disability discrimination Act has made all public buildings legally obliged to provide access for less able bodied as have all retailers and places of work. Get in touch with some group like scope for further advice. In the meantime can you go to the classes with her?