Mother sues autistic son's primary school for making him wear a hi-vis vest

[Tony Montana]

A mum-of-five has taken legal action against a school she claims forced her son to wear a bright yellow bib in the playground "so teachers know he's autistic".
Joanne Logan says she wants to win a landmark case so no other children like seven-year-old Charlie can be made to wear markers that single them out as "different" from other kids.
She has taken Cherry Lane Primary School in West Drayton, London, to a disability tribunal, claiming it discriminated against her son.
The London mum, who has five autistic children - two now adults - says she wants to win the case on behalf of all families raising kids living with special needs.
She cannot seek damages in the case - but says the fight is not about money anyway.

“I just want to make sure that no other autistic child needs to be put through what we did and it needs to be challenged - and if this case, if it’s won, could change that,” Joanne said.

“I have had a lot of people say they’ve had similar. It can affect a child as they get older - they realise they’re different.

They know all these things. They just want to be accepted… we need to stop singling out our disabled kids.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-boy-made-wear-bib-14235290

[Withano]

Hope she wins tbh

[Brillopad]

Can’t believe they did that. Poor kid.

[user104658]

Having an autistic daughter myself; I'm in two minds about this and would want to hear the school's reasoning. Yes, on the surface of it, "othering" is wrong BUT if the kid, like my daughter, has poor danger awareness (wandering off, roads etc.) and can be hard to keep track of then I understand why they might do it. If wearing a high vis vest let's staff keep an eye on him safely from a distance so that he can play independently with his peers, rather than always "helicoptering" around him as he plays, then I can see why it might have been thought to be a good idea. I know my daughter wouldn't care an out wearing a vest (actually would probably love it) and would much rather play freely with the other kids with a vest on, than constantly be followed closely by an adult.

Really it should come down to whether or not the child himself feels weird or embarrassed to be wearing it and if he does then it shouldn't have been done. If the problem is other kids picking on him or singling him out then THAT is the problem that needs to be tackled.

[Vicky.]

Having an autistic daughter myself; I'm in two minds about this and would want to hear the school's reasoning. Yes, on the surface of it, "othering" is wrong BUT if the kid, like my daughter, has poor danger awareness (wandering off, roads etc.) and can be hard to keep track of then I understand why they might do it. If wearing a high vis vest let's staff keep an eye on him safely from a distance so that he can play independently with his peers, rather than always "helicoptering" around him as he plays, then I can see why it might have been thought to be a good idea. I know my daughter wouldn't care an out wearing a vest (actually would probably love it) and would much rather play freely with the other kids with a vest on, than constantly be followed closely by an adult.

Really it should come down to whether or not the child himself feels weird or embarrassed to be wearing it and if he does then it shouldn't have been done. If the problem is other kids picking on him or singling him out then THAT is the problem that needs to be tackled.
Yeah, my immediate reaction was 'how disgusting' but it does kind of make sense too. I don't know what to think about this to be honest.

[Cherie]

Having an autistic daughter myself; I'm in two minds about this and would want to hear the school's reasoning. Yes, on the surface of it, "othering" is wrong BUT if the kid, like my daughter, has poor danger awareness (wandering off, roads etc.) and can be hard to keep track of then I understand why they might do it. If wearing a high vis vest let's staff keep an eye on him safely from a distance so that he can play independently with his peers, rather than always "helicoptering" around him as he plays, then I can see why it might have been thought to be a good idea. I know my daughter wouldn't care an out wearing a vest (actually would probably love it) and would much rather play freely with the other kids with a vest on, than constantly be followed closely by an adult.

Really it should come down to whether or not the child himself feels weird or embarrassed to be wearing it and if he does then it shouldn't have been done. If the problem is other kids picking on him or singling him out then THAT is the problem that needs to be tackled.

Thats a good post about it, sometime schools can be too protective of kids with special needs and just go down the wrong path, I suppose the first point of contact here though should have been Mum to see if she agreed