a 'disability' or not ?
 

the father of a 14 year old girl, has appeared in court to get his local council to pay £2,500 per year for his daughter's tuition in an independent school, because of her high IQ and exceptional scientific and mathematical mind.

the defence argues that this case should be treated as a 'disability' case and so local authority help should be provided.

the case failed to get the desired verdict (due to delays in hearing the case) and its expected the father will resubmit the claim.

source BBC news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3563923.stm

so should the council foot the bill ?

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Yes they should. She is 'special needs'

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

ooh this is a tough one, it's not really a need is it? But I think it's a worth while investment.

PS: sorry for the changing avator, I think I'll stick with this one

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Hmm, I don't think that anyone would agree that having better brains than most is a disability in the traditional sense of the definition. After all dis implies a lack of something.

However, the fact that the daughter has special schooling needs, and needs extra resources, may give rise to some form of claim under equality legislation. I suppose this is a natural progression of the effects of Political Correctness. I woudl hope however that the case can't succeed. simply on the basis of where on earth does this sort of thing stop.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

She is in need of advanced levels of tuition, just like an autistic child is.Why should she be denied achieving her full potential because the council cannot normally supply her full educational needs?

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Its certainly not a disability, and she certainly doesnt have special needs.

How about the many others with High I.Q. , should we start sending them all to Private schools at our expense? how is she any different than any other gifted child?

If she is unable to learn at a normal school then maybe she should be entitled to it as that would constitute a learning disability however this doesnt seem to be the case, her father simply decided to move her to a private school and now expects us to flip the bill (He is a Dr by the way and I'll bet he is on a fair bit more money than most of us).

What is this Girls I.Q. anyway?

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

if you look at the claim it can easily be dismissed, a disability is not defined as being exceptional in something, it means your are unable to do something such as walk unsupervised............

however i dont think the council should foot the bill because if the father choose to push his daughter in to a more 'private' area then he should pay.......

what about people who really are disabled mentally ?

you are taking money away from them.........

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Ive seen no mention of this, Ive seen nothing to say that she needs the same level of tuition as an autistic child. She was in a normal Comp before this anyway and from the little evidence we have it seems pretty safe to assume that she was doing well there.

It just seems to me that the father wants whats best for his child (Dont we all) she has the best employment opportunities later in life if she goes to private schooling yet for some reason he thinks we should pay her way.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Definition of Children with Special Educational Needs

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The Report of the Special Education Review Committee in its definition of pupils with special educational needs included all †œthose whose disabilities and/or circumstances prevent or hinder them from benefiting adequately from the education which is normally provided for pupils of the same age, or for whom the education which can generally be provided in the ordinary classroom is not sufficiently challenging.âââ€à …¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�1 The Report described particular categories of pupils with special educational needs, including pupils with mental handicap, emotional and behavioural disorders, physical and sensory disabilities, specific learning disabilities, specific speech and language disorders, and autism.

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Report of the Special Education Review Committee, Stationery Office, Dublin, October 1993, p. 18.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Why should she have any more of a chance than any other child? She will more than likely get excellent GCSE results, gain good A levels, and go onto Uni to get a degree anyway..

Its not fair at all to compare her to a 'special needs' child in the usual sense of the word.. They need help to gain even the most basic of qualifications, and should be given a chance. She's got more than enough imo.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

Realistically, is she being discriminated against, by not getting a higher standard of education than anyone else who went to the local authority school?

I suspect that that school will have had a number of children who are gifted in one way or another. Yet the school isn't expected to pander to each childs specific needs, just to provide education according to the legislated standards. Now if there was an Ofsted inspection, that said the school was not meeting that standard, there would be a case to answer perhaps. Of course the Education Authority should be striving at all times to provide the best education standards it can. Maybe the real answer is that for the classes at which she is exceptionally good, she should be moved to a year or two above her age group.

I really can't see why anyone should be able, of right, to get a better education than others, however nice and idealistic it should be, simply because they have more marbles than those others, yet that is what is being argued for.

Disability legislation intends to try and help those less, not more, fortunate to have some form of quality of life, and thus there is special needs education entitlements. However lots of local authorities are trying, as far a practical to do this within the existing school systems, rather than in special schools, simply to reduce the exclusion effect, and thus again reduce discrimination. The father however by seeking an eletist private education could be argued to be adding to discrimination of his daughter by excluding her from a standard school environmnet?

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

They might have a case if this applied to all of her classes but this only seems to apply to science/maths, at wich she os over achieving, ive still seen nothing to see that she is suffering directly from over achieving though.

I still cant see anything wich suggests that she needs extra attention like an autistic child as you mentioned earlier.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

There is an initiative running in schools at the moment, which involves the appointment of one of the Teachers as a 'Gifted & Talented Co-ordinator', in order to target resources within the schools, to provide for the more intelligent students.

Personally, I would prefer this approach, which potentially could benefit all gifted children, rather than just the ones who can successfully pursue a claim in the courts.

Obviously, it will need funding, but if the Council has not had to divert monies to subsidising private education, this will be more likely to be forthcoming.

So, while not saying this girl is not deserving of 'special' treatment, I would like to think it could be provided in a 'normal' school background, which would also benefit her in areas other than her 'specialities'.

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

But then we could argue that 'real' special needs kids should also not be entitled to any extra tuition, since it's tough if they cannot reach their max potential on what they are tought in a normal class. I think it should work both ways though....

Re: a 'disability' or not ?
 

if you want a 'gifted' child to have a 'higher' standard of education you (the parent) should pay for it, its grossly unfair on many other students who are 'normal' or disabled (such as autism)