'Our disabled son is in limbo without college'

Gift has cerebral palsy and complex needs

A family from Kent said they have been left in limbo for nine months waiting for a council decision about where their disabled son can go to college.

Alfred Onen and Rose Okene's son Gift, 20, was offered a place at Treloar, a specialist college for disabled young people in Hampshire last year.

But in August, just weeks before he was due to start, Kent County Council (KCC) told the family it was looking at other "settings".

KCC said: "Unfortunately, it can take longer to finalise placement decisions where a young person has more complex needs."

The family live in Tunbridge Wells

The family said KCC told them their son's placement at Treloar college was expected to cost more than £120,000 and it would look at colleges closer to their Tunbridge Wells home.

Gift has cerebral palsy and complex needs, which make many local colleges unsuitable.

Nine months on, the family said no suitable offer has been made and Gift has been stuck "bored and frustrated" at home.

Gift said: "I want to go to college to do maths, and Shakespeare and singing."

Ms Okene said the long wait has left her son "suffering so much he cannot sleep at night".

'What did I do wrong?'

Mr Onen said: "He keeps asking, 'Dad when am I going to college?' As a parent, how do I tell him I don't have the answers?"

Ms Okene added: "I keep asking what did I do wrong? What did my son do wrong that means he can not go to college with everyone else, with his friends?

"Because we are not going to be there for him for the rest of his life, he will have to live independently. How will he learn how to do this?"

The family said they visited other colleges but none were suitable for Gift to drive his powerchair and live in assisted accommodation.

Gift said he wanted to study maths, Shakespeare and singing

KCC said it would "always seek to make reasonable adaptations to accommodate each person’s individual needs".

It said decisions were based on social, health and education requirements along with travel considerations.

It said it was "required to balance this individual need against the best use of public funds".

A spokesperson said KCC would "always ensure that a reasonable offer is made to every family and overall cost will not stop a placement decision being made if no alternative is available".