An 11-year-old Leeds boy who has been isolated out of school for two years is 'over the moon' after finally being offered a place to go back to school.
Joshua Lee has autism and is also believed to have a condition of autism called Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), where following everyday expectations and demands causes extreme anxiety. Joshua has been struggling over the past two years after being rejected from four separate schools who said they were unable to accommodate his needs.
After the long years of fighting and Joshua struggling isolated from his peers, he has now been offered a place at a school in North Yorkshire for September following a long assessment process. He has been left overjoyed by the news and finally feeling like 'he has a future'.
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Joshua's dad Oliver, from Collingham, told LeedsLive: "The day that we found out Joshua was actually going to go, for us as parents, it was an amazing moment we'll remember for the rest of our lives. After the last few years this is even better than winning the lottery.
"It's taken three years of fighting to do this. To know that he is going to have a chance is amazing. The future looked bleak and now it doesn't. We have a picture of him hugging his grandad when he found out.
"He's been so over the moon, especially since he's going to have a friend he made during assessment in his class. He feels positive and really excited about it - obviously there's nerves and he'll be up and down, but he finally knows he has a future again."
Back in March 2022, Joshua's parents Oliver and Rebecca were feeling like they'd been failed by schools in Leeds. Joshua was feeling increasingly isolated away from the social environments of school, but had been turned down by four schools with provisions for children with autism in the Leeds local authority area.
He was due to start assessment at a school in North Yorkshire to see if they were able to accommodate his needs. That assessment process began in the spring, and was initially difficult for Joshua.
Oliver said: "The first day he attended it was quite stressful because he'd not been in school for so long. He was nervous and we ended up picking him up after he got distressed. It was realised quite quickly a longer assessment time would be needed.
"He felt like he'd blown it after that first day with the school but they rang us up and told us not to worry - they knew there would be issues. We'd never had that before and it felt like they knew what they were doing. And Joshua wasn't deterred from trying again despite him struggling with anxiety."
Joshua spent the next several weeks going in and out of the school for assessment periods to see if they would be able to meet his needs.
"After a few sessions he did make a friend, and that was so important to him," Oliver said.
"He got better each time he went. When he had finished the assessment the headmaster got in touch with us and told us Joshua was at year one or two level. He's 11 years old - that's how affected his education has been. But they said they were prepared to give us that chance to get him back to school.
"It was really emotional for us that they understood the situation Joshua was in and what he'd gone through."
Joshua was diagnosed with autism with elements of demand avoidance when he was around year three age. PDA is not a widely accepted diagnosis, and Oliver said lots of places in the UK don't recognise it. It has many similarities with autism, and the National Autistic Society describes it as an extreme avoidance of everyday demands and expectations due to them causing extreme anxiety.
He moved out of mainstream education in 2019 as his parents felt it was best to stop him being discriminated against or bullied. The local authority attempted to get Joshua placed in a school, but Oliver said his mental health really struggled and he was "trying to jump out of windows".
Joshua moved to home schooling, and went on to be rejected by four schools with provision for autistic children who said they couldn't meet his needs.
"Our local authority - Leeds - will be providing him with transport to the new school since it's up in North Yorkshire," Oliver added.
"But I think Joshua's situation has exposed the massive hole in the education system for kids like him with complex autism. What is there for them is very limited.
"It shouldn't get to the point it did with Joshua. There needs to be a place for these kids. So many families have been left in similar situations and feel like they're being pushed and left behind.
"It makes it hard to trust the system."
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Whilst we are not able to comment on individual cases, the local authority is committed to work in partnership with parents and in the best interests of children. We strive to meet the provision needs of children with SEND and aspirations of parents and we take the concerns of parents seriously.
“PDA is a clinical diagnosis and therefore we are led by our clinical partners in their use of diagnostic terminology. Our statutory processes, consultation with specialist and mainstream settings and provision offer is not restricted by a diagnostic framework.
“We endeavour to work restoratively with all families to ensure children with SEND meet their aspirations and outcomes.”
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