Mother explains why deaf son hasn’t been to school for nine months

Jenny Lindop-Lamens talks to Juliet England about why her deaf son Jenson hasn’t been to school for nine months.

Essential missing paperwork has meant a deaf boy has had no school to go to for nine months, according to his parents.

Jenson Lindop-Lamens, who turns eight at the end of September, left Cheshire’s Lindow Primary School in Wilmslow at the end of last year after staff couldn’t offer him full-time BSL support, his mum Jenny, 37, told Limping Chicken.

And Jenny and Jenson’s dad, 41-year-old Richard, say Cheshire East Council has not attempted to get their son into another suitable local school, and have claimed he doesn’t need to use BSL.

Jenson became deaf at 16 months following a bout of bacterial meningitis, and has undergone three rounds of brain surgery. His mum says: “He’s incredibly lucky to still be with us.

“While I noticed his deafness early on, at the time he couldn’t move his arms or legs, and I was more worried about the brain damage.

“I think his brain is still recovering from the meningitis, and this can take up to 10 years. And although he has some autistic traits, it’s hard to know whether these are permanent or because he’s still struggling to communicate.”

The boy’s first choice of school was refused last autumn without consultation, his parents say. They add that the council claims there’s no evidence Jenson needs sign language at school.

Now the family, based in Sandbach near Wilmslow, have taken the case to a Special Educational Needs (SEN) tribunal, due to be heard in November.

Jenny adds that while the council did start offering her son two and a half hours’ tuition a day near the start of the summer, she was told she’d have to be there at the sessions as the tutor could not use BSL.

She explains that Jenson’s Educational Healthcare Plan (EHP) was not updated to include his need to be educated in BSL, and that it would be hard for a school to take him without this.

She claims that the document outlining Jenson’s entitlement to signing support has gone missing, and that the council claims they never had it.

Jenny, a full-time mother who’s also mum to teenagers James and Eleanor, and Kristian, who’s 10, adds: “Jenson deserves the same opportunities in life as hearing people. But without a BSL school, he will never get that.

“He really is very clever, and any teacher of the deaf who has assessed him says he’s not autistic, he just needs BSL. In fact, he had an amazing deaf teacher before, and great one-to-one support at nursery. Seeing what he achieved previously just showed how clever he is. Yet the local authority said he was autistic, and that deafness was not his primary need.

“If I hadn’t trusted my instincts as a mum, Jenson would be in an autistic school now, with no way of communicating.

“I have never got over watching my little boy fight for his life and struggle through rehabilitation, so it makes me so angry my council is now putting us through this. What happened to Jenson has affected us massively – that’s why this past year has been so hard for us.

“My other children have been neglected as a result, and, at times I’ve felt like a broken mother. I feel the council has lied to and bullied me, and been ignorant of the needs of a deaf child. Meanwhile Jenson has been missing out at a vital time in his education. He loves school and wants to be there.”

But Jenny has vowed to continue fighting so that others don’t go through the same thing.

Jenson’s parents have been signing with him for the past year and are currently home-schooling their son. And they are paying for a private assessment to ‘prove’ Jenson’s deafness – an assessment they insist should be paid for by the council.

“In Cheshire we don’t have any BSL schools, and the council says they won’t allow an out-of-county placement. But surely it’s their duty to offer the right provision, wherever that is?

“How can you say a deaf child doesn’t need BSL? At the moment I really don’t feel Jenson has a voice at all and so we’re having to fight for that.”

A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said: “Cheshire East Council does not comment on individual cases of this nature, but can confirm that it operates a robust process, in accordance with the law, to ensure that a child’s needs are met within their education, health and care plan. The decision to remove the child from his school was taken by the parents.
“We continue to seek to find a solution to the current situation and remain open to working with the family to achieve that.

“This matter is due to be considered by the SEND tribunal in November and the local authority will adhere to any binding decisions made by the tribunal at that hearing.”

Read more of Juliet’s articles for us here.

Juliet England does freelance social media and PR work for cSeeker.