Faye83

Hi all, thought I would give a quick update Statement has now been finalised and A started at his special school on the 3rd Sept. He settled fairly quickly all things considered. There are a total of 6 children in his class, 2 teachers (job share) and 2 teaching assistants and he has speech therapy at the school once a week. His transport started on Monday just gone which he seems to like so long as he sits in the same place every day - no problems as all the other kids want to sit in the same place too and I couldn't have wished for a better outcome. We didn't find out for definite that he was starting until the day before schools went back so I was getting a but panicky but thankfully all came good in the end. Thank you again to everyone who posted links, advice and help - it is very much appreciated. x x x x

Thank you Kathryn. They phoned yesterday (Tues) to say it was the last day of term so if we wanted to view it while the children were still there we could go down. I was in work and couldnt get out so OH went, filled in all the forms and loved it. We are going back on Friday when it is empty with DS which I am dreading - god knows what he is going to do! He is going to be in a class with 7 other children, 1 teacher and 2 teaching assistants. Their classes are divided on their needs and he is going to be in the social communication group with extra speech therapy and focus on the social and speaking part of life. So so glad we got the school, but still stressing about the transition! x x

Evening everyone, just an update from me. We have had DS provisinal statement through and in the covering letter the LEA have commented that the school we want would be most suitable for him. It lists all his needs and what additional help he will require and asking us to name a school. Still no idea of when he will start but at least things are moving on x x x

Hi all, just a quick update. Things seem to be moving a bit as everyone has been phoning/writing to make appointments with us before 10th July - I presume for their reports to be submitted. We have ed psych on 11 and 23 June, paed on 06 July and speech therapist on the 01 July. Nursery have already done their part and we are in the process of completing our part. As ever will update when anything happens x x

Hi everyone, again thank you so much for your advice, views and experiences. I dont know anyone else in 'real life' who has gone through this procedure so all your help is very welcome and appreciated. We had our meeting with Parent Partnership on Friday to go through the parental statement forms with us. We are mcuh clearer now on what to include and that has to be in by the beginning of July so we are going to get that completed and in as quick as we can. She has said if we need anymore help or advice at the next stage to get back in touch. We are going to try to arrange a visit of the school that we have in mind next. I'll keep you all updated with progress x x x x

Thank you so much everyone for your detailed replies - they are much appreciated! A school local to us has been identified which is a special school for mild to moderate learning difficulties but I am concerned that there will not be any places available - I will get on to them to see if he has been identified to them yet and speak to the LEA too. He has been allocated a place at the mainstream that my daughter attends through the standard system but the nursery have confirmed that he will be able to remain there if he hasnt been allocated anywhere in time for term starting which I am pleased about. I really want to get the right school for him as he has made such great progress in the last 12 months and is now talking and I am really worried I'll make the wrong decision and set him back. Assuming that he is allocated a suitable school, what is the normal procedure for the transition? I dont even know how on earth I will get him out the car but I suppose the teachers have experienced that before! Thanks again everyone for your invaluable advice x x

Evening all - thought I would give a quick update as things seem to be progressing slightly. Multi dis meeting went well - agreed his updated IEP and applied for a statutory assessment. Had a letter of the LEA agreeing to this along with a parental report with about a million questions on - looks like thats going to be a nightmare to complete! The Ed Psych is coming to speak to us on the 11 June and is then doing her assessment of A on the 23 June. Pleased things are moving but something tells me that things wont be sorted by the beginning of term in Sept or do you think I am just being pessimistic?! Thanks again everyone for your input - will crack on with completing the parental statement and let you know how the 11th goes x x x

Thanks so much everyone for the advice so far - I will be doing plenty of reading tomorrow and will get OH to make some phone calls while Im at work tomorrow. We have a multi disciplinary meeting on 16 April so will be getting an update on where we are at. I received a letter from the LEA last week which confirmed a place for him at the same mainstream school as my daughter currently attends - it was weird to read as under 'normal' circumstances we would have been over the moon but I know this is best for him - there is no way he would manage in mainstream at this stage maybe in the future but not now. Will keep you updated with any progress we make x x x

Thanks Lynne. He attends a private nursery 4 days a week, thanks for the info re the statement I will get on to that this week. We had a diagnosis in Dec 2007 when he was 2 and 9 months old and I do feel fortunate that he had an early dx as he has had access to speech therapy etc from early on. Thanks again for the info x x

Hi all - havent posted for a while but have been avidly lurking in the background! Everyone warned me that the education side was going to be the hard part. I have been very impressed with our Health Services and couldn't ask for better and felt everything was going too well for it to last! A is now 4 and due to start school in September. Everyone (paed, ed psych, HV, key worker, speech therapist etc) has agreed that there is no way he can go to mainstream and have identified a special school that specialises in Autism local to us. Great we thought lets get the ball rolling - that was November last year and we are still no further forward in my mind. We are due a meeting for a review of his IEP with the nursery and everyone else next month so will ask questions there but I am so new to all this Im not sure what to ask or what we should be doing. I have been advised to contact Parent Partnership so that will be our next step and from what I have read the nursery should be applying for a statutory assessment that should then lead on to the statement is that correct? What happens if this is not sorted by Sept - will he be able to stay on at his nursery or will he have to stay home. Feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated by it all - wish I had enough knowledge of the subject to know what I should be pushing for. Will keep you updated on our journey! x x

I work full time as a Civil Servant and OH works full time nights - its a nightmare! I come home from a full day as OH leaves for work. My daughter (NT) is 5 and my son (Autistic) is 3 - I think I run on nervous energy! x x x

Ok I admit defeat - how on earth do I get my 3 year old Autistic son into his car seat? He point blank refuses to get in one. If by some miracle we manage to get him in his car seat he is out of it within seconds. He doesnt have the understanding for reward charts/bribery etc and it is really starting to limit our travel especially now the summer is here and we want to go further afield. Does anyone have any bright ideas? Thanks in advance. x x

Referred by HV on 14/09/07 - dx by paed on 27/12/07. V quick -x x x

Hi everyone. Well it is 10 weeks since dx and things are moving along pretty quickly. We have speech therapy and physio in place as well as an appt for another development review with the paed. Next thing up is a multi disciplinary meeting on Tues with the nursery, speech therapist and the pead. Can anyone tell me what to expect? I am new to all this so have never had to do anything lke this before. We are discussing an IEP for him and he was observed last week for the day so that report is gping to be taken into account as well. Thanks in advance x x x x

My little man was diagnosed at 2 and 9 months. TBH I have been very impressed with everyone I have encountered in our area (Wirral). The HV referred him at his 2 and 6 month check for a hearing test, speech therapy, physio and to the paed. His hearing teat came back fine, his speech therapy is progressing (although he has to have it from underneath a table as he hides!) his physio said he is double jointed hence the 'funny' walk and the paed dx him as Autistic after a 3 hour appt. We are now having a meeting with the paed, his nursery and speech therapist in the next 2 weeks for his IEP and he is being assessed next week. Big thumbs up to the Wirral NHS so far! x x x