'Autistic children are being failed. My son is traumatised by his school experience'

North Wales Live

5 days ago

A dad has accused Conwy Council and the Welsh Government of failing autistic pupils, claiming vulnerable children and teenagers are being left without a good enough education across the county. Chris Bryant claims his 16-year-old son, who attends the Pontio unit for autistic children at Ysgol Aberconwy in Conwy, has faced repeated bullying and assaults on school buses.
Chris, 53, and his wife Sarah have four children aged five, ten, 14, and 16 and live in Old Colwyn after moving from London. Chris' oldest child has been diagnosed with both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but is academically able.
Ysgol Aberconwy provides the main provision for autism in Conwy county, with its Pontio and Tegfan units – although Ysgol Gogarth in Llandudno also provides education for children with even greater needs. But Chris said Conwy Council initially refused to provide dedicated school transport from Old Colwyn to the Conwy school for Chris' son, who wants to return for his A-levels in September. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
Chris says the family had to fight Conwy Council before it agreed to provide school transport, as Welsh Government legislation only requires councils to provide this up to age 16 - unlike in England, where it continues until 18.
Conwy Council says it funds a relatively wide and extensive range of Additional Learning Provision, and said Ysgol Aberconwy works extremely hard to meet the needs of all students. The Welsh Government said they have significantly increased investment to support children with additional learning needs.
Chris said he believed education specialists should set quantifiable goals that are 'specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and targeted' in an autistic child's individual development plan so their needs can be met, which he claims hasn't happened in the case of his son.
'You never get that with the council. They don't say, for instance, the child will have 20 hours of one-to-one care at school, or they will be taken to the Pontio unit if they are having a meltdown or if the child asks, which can be measured,' said Chris.
'Because Conwy are not specific and don't do things in a measurable way, we get incidents happening, attacks, fights, broken glasses, and then we have to have a return-to-school meeting with the headteacher and talk to the council, and it uses up so much time for everybody, not to get the results and keep the children in school.
'There are thousands of children in Wales who are not in school because their needs are not being met, and these are the most vulnerable kids, the ones with disabilities. If the (required) provisions were written down in the child's individual development plan - for instance that the children must have a teaching assistant to escort them to lunch - then if that's not happening because the school didn't have staff, and it went to a tribunal, then it's law.
'The council is deliberately making out that they are helping the parents, but they are not being specific about the provision they are giving the children. They are kicking the can down the road. I would like them to say they will follow the individual development plan and actually follow it until the age of 25 and really commit to doing that."
Chris claims his son has faced suspension from school after defending himself from bullies and also criticised the school for asking his son to take part in team sports, which he said don't suit his needs.
'The council or Welsh Government aren't providing for children with special needs especially those with ADHD and autism. This combined type is particularly hard to provide for,' said Chris. 'Why should children in Wales only have support until 16 when they get it in England until 18? I'm from London. We moved here for my wife's job. Why should people be penalised in that way for moving across the border? Education is worse here."
He added: 'My son is traumatised by the experience he's had, and he has shown such staying power to even want to go back there (Ysgol Aberconwy). The man who cracked the German code during the Second World War, they reckon he was autistic; some of the people who built the first computers were too. So we are wasting a lot of the special talents these kids have. If they are good at these things and get praised at school, that is very helpful to their self-esteem for their development and for a future job.'
A spokeswoman for Conwy Council's Education Service said: "Over a third of the Council's budget is spent on Education and Schools, and we fund a relatively wide and extensive range of Additional Learning Provision (ALP). All placements in Conwy's Additional Learning Provision are agreed by a multi-agency Moderation Panel, using the relevant ALP Access Criteria. Details are available in the Conwy Additional Learning Needs Principles document, which is available on the Conwy website here.
"Free home-to-school transport in Wales is determined by the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008, which sets out the law on travel and transport for learners. Post-16 transport can be provided at the discretion of the local authority. Conwy County Borough Council chooses to support eligible post-16 learners so that they can continue their education, and transport is provided for learners with additional learning needs if they meet the eligibility criteria set out in Conwy's Home-to-School Transport policy, which is available on the Conwy website at: School transport: free school / college transport - Conwy County Borough Council.
"Ysgol Aberconwy works extremely hard to meet the needs of all students and is proud of their achievements at GCSE, A Level, and beyond. Ysgol Aberconwy adheres to all relevant and appropriate legislation and is always pleased to talk to families about their experiences in the school to ensure that appropriate support is in place. The headteacher says that students are very positive about their time at school and noted that in a recent survey 93% of parents said they would recommend the school to friends and 92% said their children feel safe in school."
She added: "It should be noted the Pontio is provided by the school; Tegfan is Local Authority Provision, and there is further Additional Learning Provision across the county."
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: 'Our national mission commits to breaking down barriers for all learners. Since 2020, we have significantly increased investment with more than £150m to support ALN implementation as well as providing £80m capital funding to local authorities to improve facilities and infrastructure for learners with ALN.
'Local authorities are responsible for delivering learner transport provision in Wales. All children and young people with ALN regardless of their level of need, are entitled to a statutory plan called an Individual Development Plan (IDP) in which their transport requirements can be set out.'