Educating the child with hemiplegia

HemiHelp (www.hemihelp.org.uk) publishes a series of useful leaflets on education for children with hemiplegia, designed to be read by both parents and teachers. These are available as pdf files on their website. Many children are successfully included in mainstream provision; increasingly, Local Authorities (q.v) are identifying and providing support within the local school, delegating responsibility for delivery to the Head and SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.)

You should, however, consider pressing your authority to issue a statement of special educational need, even before your child reaches school age. It is vital that the services, resources and treatments which your child requires are set out in such a way that their delivery may be routinely monitored through the annual review. Without the guarantees afforded by a statement, it is all too easy for provision to be diminished or simply to disappear. Some children with hemiplegia thrive in a special school, either maintained by the local authority or within the independent sector. The vast majority of such schools are non profit making charities. Some of them are beginning to specialise in one type of disability and/or learning difficulty. Only one school currently claims to specialise in hemiplegia, a misunderstood condition whose consequences for learning are frequently underestimated.

Stepping Stones can now provide a first class education for children aged 8-16, encompassing a wide range of cognitive ability, leading towards an equally wide range of nationally accredited qualifications, including GCSEs.