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Colin_and_Shelagh

Special needs children 'suffering'

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Many thanks for this.

 

"It would appear that Department of Health practitioners are unwilling to prescribe precise clinical provision for any one child, despite the statutory requirement that this should be 'quantified, detailed and specific', as they do not wish to place the Department for Education in a situation where they may be unable to provide the specific care outlined in the statement because of financial constraints," says the report.

 

I agree. As Simon commented earlier health professionals are giving 'Tactical Diagnosis'. They are not documenting the needs of the child in their reports, which are needed as evidence in the statementing process.

 

Nellie xx

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I understand whgere the committee in the article is coming from, but I am very concerned about the implications.

 

SEN provision is increasingly being delegated further down the supply chain to the point where the vast majority of cases are intended to be dealt with via delegated SEN funding without recourse to a statement. The thinking goes that this means parents can access the services more easily without the red tape, expense and uncertainty of the statementing process.

 

The problems with withdrawing the use of statements are:

 

Many schools are unwilling to put the support in place, particularly if they feel that they have already spent the delgated SEN funding.

 

Statements are legally enforcable, it is much less clear how the right to support can be enforces when there is no statement.

 

Many times the school will simply refuse to acknowledge that the child has issues, For example: Despite reports from a clinical pyschologist, two consultant Pediatricians, his Portage worker, CAMHS support workers, two clinical psychologists and several other people our 5 year old's primary school were adamant he did not have any issues. In the view of his parents and ALL the professionals involved he was unable to cope full time in mainstream, in the view of the primary school his behavioral issues were due to the parents refusal to send him full time and they were in the process of referring us to social services for refusal to send our child to school full time before we got letters that contradicted their view. I could go on.

 

The point I am trying to make is that the only people involved in his care who had no qualifications or training in dealing with children with special needs would, without a statementing process, make all the decisions about what care he should have, and in all probability, have failed to deliver it anyway.

 

There has been a lot of talk about abandoning the statementing system, but if it is not replaced with something with more safeguards not less it will be a grim day for children with special needs in this country. I fear we are moving towards a wholly-delegated model where children are forced into mainstream and only only get the help the school says they can have.

 

The thing that worries me about the various bodies that are criticising the statementing system is that they will give the Government the green light to dismantle what we have and to replace it with something with no safeguards, so organisations need to be very careful about what they say.

 

I also think they may not have a complete picture about what health professionals are prepared to do. In our area, they will give the diagnosis that will unlock the most support not the least.

 

Sorry to rant, but I am very worried, and think that the report may have the opposite effect to the one the authors intended.

 

Simon

Edited by mossgrove

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Simon I totally agree with you and I would say that you are right to be concerned and this is why.

 

When we were meeting with Lord Filkin and the DFES they made it clear time and time again that 'they' were no longer the people to raise our concerns with. By this I do not mean that they have washed their hands of SEN and schools, but I fear that it is coming close to this point. When we pointed out that there needed to be a change in the way things were being done this was the reply we received

 

Hear what you say about parents wanting change now. Afraid I can't promise that - schools and LEAs have their duties to meet children's SEN and there is a system for appeals and complaints to the Secretary of State in individual cases. The SEN strategy Removing Barriers to Achievement (www.teachernet.gov.uk/senstrategy) is designed to improve the SEN system and give parents more confidence that the appropriate provision will be made for their children. As part of the strategy a team of National SEN advisers have been appointed to give advice to LEAs about their SEN arrangements. They are not there to take up individual complaints from parents but they can give advice to LEAs on what they think are weaknesses in the LEA's arrangements.

 

They feel that they have put all of the mechanisms and strategies into place to make the system work. Sadly I do not agree and even sader they believe their own spin here. It is going to become harder and harder to pin the tail on the Donkey when things do not work out for children with SEN.

 

Also it is worrying that people like Dr Ladyman, who was chair of the APPGA, makes statements like 'it is down to parents to police their LEA's to make sure they are providing the correct provision for their children'.

 

My opinion is that parents who have children with SEN are being punished. Do we not have enough to do with out policing LEA's?

 

Another nail in the coffin will be if HFA and AS are being left out of the SEN audit. I am trying to get the press to bite on this one - but so far nothing.

 

Carole

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Do we not have enough to do with out policing LEA's?

 

This is the fundamental flaw in the current system. SENDIST is the only port of call. The Parent Partnership Service needs to be given a bit more clout in making the LEA more accountable. The PPS is undergoing evaluation and I'm waiting to hear from the researchers whether my LEA is part of the study.

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We need to declare a day of action and close the units/classes for that day, and then keep doing it until our kids support is identified and met. LEA's are not complying with the law, diagnosis/assessment is unlinked, even witheld from schools, why after diagnosis isn't immediate assessment done then ? There's no links between schools, consultants, or anyone else half the time. There IS a policy of deliberate confusion, to avoid services being set up. A child receives a diagnosis, a need is identified, recommendations made, so why do we have to go on for YEARS afterwards to get LEA's to recognise it, and then years again to get them to meet their legal requirement ? either a special needs system exists or it doesn't. My view is we don't yet have one that works, the few that do, manage despite the system not because of it.

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AIM brought up the question of LEA's not responding to any advice that is given to them by professionals working in health. Sometimes they are given solid advice and recommendations by these people.This was with the DFES and Lord Filkin and this was the response from the DFES.

 

On the point about advice from health professionals to LEAs - if this is advice during the statementing process then LEAs are under a duty to take it into account but they are not bound by it. I understand that some LEAs are concerned that some health professionals are going beyond their area of competence and not just giving advice about health but also about the education they should receive.

 

That left us feeling like this :wallbash: In theory all of this should change when Authorities have a Director for Childrens Services, because they are all 'meant' to work together and form links which make things better for parents? This is a spin off from 'Every Child Matters' but in practice I wonder if it will only serve to make them more aware of the budget restraints that other Services are facing and so they will work together with more understanding of their budgets and not the services that are required. Hope that makes sense?

 

Carole

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This is the extract from the DFES SEN Update Issue 17

 

WORKING WITH PARENTS

 

The Department for Education and Skills has commissioned a project to evaluate the coverage and effectiveness of Parent Partnership Services (PPS). The work is being carried out by Christ Church University College, Canterbury and will end in September.

 

The project will support the future development of PPS work; highlight effective practice in specific areas; and identify bridges and barriers to achieving service goals. This work will also contribute to the Delivering Improvements in Partnershipagenda highlighted in the SEN Strategy.

 

The aim of the Parent Partnership Services is to ensure that parents of children with SEN receive good advice and information. Their role is set out in Chapter 2 of the SEN Code of Practiceand includes:

 

 

 

To provide practical support to parents either individually or in groups to help them in their discussions with schools, LEAs and other statutory agencies

To provide training to teachers, governors and local authority staff on good communication and relationships with parents

To work with schools, LEA officers and other agencies to help them develop positive relationships with parents

To ensure that parents' views are heard and understood, and inform and influence the development of local SEN policy and practice.

The evaluation will, amongst other things:

 

Research the views and experience of those involved in PPS

Review the existing literature on the subject

Analyse anonymised data collected by the National Parenting Partnership Network

Undertake a series of case studies.

Work to date includes an extensive analysis of the PPS, information on local authority websites and discussion with a sample of LEAs, parent partnerships, schools and parents.

 

From which I looked up the university website and found an email contact for the professor heading the research. He responded (this week) and will be in touch again. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

The SEN Update email is well worth subscribing to. It's available here under Latest News:

 

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/s...2d-926c12add5ce

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Yes, I see where you?re coming from Carol. I think joint action may change health?s position, they are now working with the other services. I?m not sure this change is for the better, especially if it means writing reports to suit education or social services rather than their patient.

 

My authority is a Children?s trust pathfinder, education, social services, health, parents and the voluntary sector are working jointly to put together an ASD development plan for the future. I feel fairly positive about this plan but I can see their hope is to reduce the need for statementing. This in a perfect world would be great, unfortunately this is not a perfect world, parents will always need a system where their rights are protected by law.

 

 

This is the link to Children's trust pathfinders for those who would like it.

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/strate...ustpathfinders/

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