‘This is discrimination’: Mother claims school threatened her with a fine for taking her disabled child out of school for medical treatment

A mother from the UK has claimed that she was charged for taking her son out of school to receive medical treatment outside the country. The woman’s son suffers from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), although she claimed that a swim lab outside of the UK helped her son to walk the year prior; however, the school is now threatening to fine her.

“I am so unbelievably done with the systems that are built in the UK,” TikToker Meg said in her video, adding, “I just feel like they are set up to make disabled people and families of disabled children fail.”

Meg went on to explain that she was being charged by the school because she was taking her son, Edward, to a rehabilitation center in Lanzarote. Edward suffers from SMA, a rare genetic condition that causes the muscles to weaken and worsen over time, according to the NHS website.

The frustrated mother claimed that she had booked for her son to be taken out of school for a week to go to a swim lab, which she described as “intensive rehabilitation for disabled children.” She said that the swim lab was “incredible,” claiming that his time there had previously helped him to walk for a brief period of time. 

Unfortunately, three weeks after the breakthrough, Edward had a double hip reconstruction and hasn’t walked since. The mother hoped that going back to the swim lab would help to get him walking again; however, she claimed she was now having to deal with threats of a fine from her son’s school.

Meg claims the school discriminated against her son

Meg stressed the importance of her son having access to this physio and rehabilitation, but despite this, Edward’s school contacted her and denied her request to take him out of school, allegedly telling her that it was “not exceptional circumstances.”

She went on to explain that, as the trip was over ten days, the situation had apparently been passed on to the local authorities. She was also told that Edward’s attendance needed to be the same as other, non-disabled students, but Meg argued that it wasn’t feasible to expect her son to have the same attendance as other students without accommodations when he had medical appointments, physiotherapy, and more. “This is discrimination,” she said.

Viewers agreed with Meg. “The fact they have said he should have the same attendance as a non disabled child is in itself disability discrimination under the Equality Act,” claimed one. Meanwhile, others advised Meg not to pay the fine, “Let it go to court,” they said, adding, “I would be astonished if the court will enforce this.” Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.