fallgyrl

Hi vicbee Nice to see someone else from my neck o the woods. Please feel free to PM if you want to chat / maybe meet up. I dont get chance to go to many support groups as I work most days, but the next meeting in Skem is on my day off (2nd October) so will try to get to that. Vicky

Hi Sara I'd really advise you push for a statement. My ds is on the school's G&T register after tests in Yr 1 put him in 99 percentile for numeracy and reading. He also has a statement for 32 hours given his problems with socialisation, concentration and anger management. In his case, high academic ability was seen as a postive thing by the school when battling for a statement - they successfully argued with the LEA that without statement support our J would 'not fulfill his potential' and even risked exclusion. Hope you get the school to see that high ability doesnt count for much if a child is too stressed in the classroom environment to learn. Vicky

Hi Av This really does sound like a good move - at least the LA are openly discussing and acknowledging existing problems in dealing with these complex cases. However, as with other areas of 'multi agency' working, sucess is really dependent on proper financial and management control. Its all very well to have a multi agency team, but if they only come together for a few hours each week and this team work is seen as an extra to their existing workload, then things may not change as fast as they really should. My own LA has a very good multi dis team but also a very long waiting list as they can only do this 'extra' work one day a week! In an ideal world one authority / organisation would directly employ and manage the lot of them for a truelly co-ordinated service but I realise thats probably only in my dreams... Vicky

Well done you. Its hard work banging heads together but worth it in the end. Keep fighting for that statement though, your lad doesnt need to be behind academically, mine certainly isnt, but AS kids still face huge obtacles in the school environment through lack of socialisation, understanding instructions and the like, all of which can put their education at risk. Hopefully with diagnosis will come more understanding and assistance Vicky

Hi Skye Sending you big big hugs and hope you finally got some sleep <'> <'> <'> I felt the same when I finally realised my ds had Aspergers and he wasnt just going to grow out of it. I found it a huge turning point though, and knowing he has AS has given me a lot more strength and ability to cope - before I was sooo stressed out about what seemed to be bad behaviour but was just J's difficulties in coping with everybody else's 'norm'. Sure we still have problems to deal with but its a hell of a lot easier without the pressure of thinking it could be your own bad parenting. I'm sure someone else on this forum once said that knowledge is power, and this was true for me as I am now well armed with as much info as I can get to help my son. Vicky

Hi Karen Not sure if my experience is usual but, despite J's recent diagnosis, I have no experience whatsoever of CAHMS. They seem to be treated as a bit of an irrelevence where we are with Social Communication assessment process instead carried out by PCT's multi disciplinary team. The down side (I thought) was that it took what seemed ages to get through all the observations and meetings, but at least J was seen in a range of different environments and by a number of professionals. For me, this was the most important thing, as I was never reliant on the subjective judgement and potential dismissive attitude of just one person. Apparantly the Cahms have a 12 month waiting list for general mental health issues, but dont have much expertise in Autism anyway (as admitted by one of Clinical pschologists we saw). There is no after diagnosis support here, and a lack of access to support programmes such as anger management sessions. Cahms MAY?? be able to provide some info on general behaviour management direct to the school and our SALT is currently investigating this, but I'm not sure it will add much to the info we now have given that there has been so much intervention and involvement now from other professionals. Vicky

Hi Peaches I think if you have the support of the Ed Psych then its one less hurdle. I really dont think we would have had a statement without such support as it directly influences school and LEA making the battle so much easier. As for a statement for 'exceptional cases' its my understanding that this means exceptional needs, i.e. cant be met by lesser non statemented funding such as ESAP. That being the case, diagnosis, or even childs background should not make a difference. Given that your Ed Psych has recommended the school to go for a statement (just as ours did), I would hope that they think you have every chance of succeeding. Good luck and hopefully it wont be too much of a bumpy ride Vicky

Thanks everyone for all your kind words. I know that this is nothing new and so many others must have already gone through this and come through with sanity almost intact After initial doubts and hoping against hope that J would just 'grow out of it' - as if!, I've accepted for a long while now that he has Aspergers. In fact I would have been extremely peed off if the assessment team hadnt had the gumption to at long last make the diagnosis. Im feeling much brighter and positive today (hope it lasts!) , not normally so maudlin. I think whats really hit me is that I normally confide everything in my Mum but she's just had a stroke and still in hospital, so got other worries to contend with. On the positive side, J had another really good day at school today, nearly finalised the statement with school and LEA and so tribunal now pulled, Mum feeling a bit better, my DH has just come in with a glass of wine and dark chocolate bounty - my favourite... Off to enjoy Vicky

At the end of what seems like a very long road, we now have confirmation that J has Aspergers. I knew that this would be the outcome but still wasnt prepared to feel so low. Now off for an early night. Vicky

Well the draft statement finally arrived this week and on first reading doesnt look too bad at all and provides for 32 hours Will now have to spend sometime going through the finer detail but Ive put it on hold for now so that we can just enjoy the half term break without having bloomin statement/school/diagnosis etc etc getting in the way if thats at all possible. We also got the SALT report through, which was done after the assessment process so isnt included in the statement, but Ive passed it in to LEA who say they will now add it in. The SALT report makes it pretty clear that J has huge communication problems and gives a number of test results which are "indicative of ASD". This was the final piece of the diagnosis jigsaw and we are now booked in for the meeting to confirm diagnosis on 3rd Nov, the day after we get back from holiday. ...I will really try to switch off and de stress until then. Hope its a good break for everyone else too Vicky

This is dreadful, so sorry to hear this Alison. I'll PM later Vicky

Hi Sorry to hear the school seem to be making such a hash of things. I think we have the same LEA??? so hope my experiences can help. Just wondered whether the school gets ESAP funding for your son to support his inclusion? If not why not - there is no excuse as it can be in place in less than a month and is a useful backstop whilst any further investigations / potential statement investigated. The ESAP will also fund expert advice from LEIS and this has been invaluable for us. The LEIS officer has observed J in school on a number of occaisions, has helped put support strategies in place and organised autism awareness training for TAs. Her reports have also supported the schools request for statement. Does your son have an IEP? sounds as if he really should have, and this should be reviewed with you present and you can ask for the Ed Pscych to attend to discus your concerns - again my experience of the Ed Phsychs is very positive, couldnt be more supportive and very knowledgable about autism / aspergers. Also, just to confirm diagnosis is not necessary - J doesnt have a DX yet but has had ESAP since Reception and just about to get a statement Sad to say, but a poor school can really wreck a child's education. If you really dont relish the battle then maybe the best option is to look for another school. After all if they are so unaccepting of your lad's behaviour (and potential diagnosis)now, what on earth are they going to be like in Yr 5/6 when the going may really get tough. At least now you are prepared when you look at other schools, and can ask to see SENCO, ask about inclusion and get a feel for how the SEN kids are supported. Feel free to PM me if you need more info Vicky

I just want to add to everyone elses thoughts and say yes, just go for it as youve nothing to loose and everything to gain. Ive just threatened our LEA with appeal and theyve just backed down so theres always hope theyll see the error of their ways. Found that any suggestion of exclusion seemed to scare our LEA rigid - seems they'd rather shell out on providing statement funding than deal with the fall out from permanently excluded kids, and quite right too. So maybe this is a tactic to use with your LEA as I cant believe that they think your child's need are being met when he has already missed so much school through stress. Fingers crossed <'> Vicky

Had our meeting with LEA yesterday to discus why we are appealing against Note in Lieu. To cut a long story short, they are now going to write statement and for 32hours! Lady for LEA was in agreement with all our info, not defensive at all, and she even said she'd start of assessment for IT equiptment (even though this isnt a huge problem yet and we werent pushing that hard.) The meeting was held at school so the poor woman was surrounded what with me, HT,SENCO and J's teacher. I know I cant count all the chickens until the statement arrives in my mits, but given way the meeting went Im really confident they should deliver what theyve said. Such a relief, I still cant believe it after the last 2 months of worry Vicky

Hi and wellcome Vicky

Thanks for the advice Kathryn - the appeal is now signed, sealed and delivered Just to update, I had meeting with the school yesterday to discus our 'plan of action'. J has been doing really well since Feb half term and has adjusted into Yr 2 with new teacher, new classroom etc with no major upsets but we all know that this is with a load more support on top of that provided by LEA through ESAP. The HT and SENCO are just brilliant and very supportive. They are pretty annoyed with the LEA (understatement of the year), particularly as they were advised to go for statement by the LEA's Ed Psych. SENCO has contacted the Ed Psych, who has always been very supportive and apparantly she is also very suprised at the decision not to provide a statement. School want to host the meeting with LEA officer, so heres hoping the LEA back down under combined pressure Also had meeting with ParentPartnership Officer last week and although I was initially suspicious (after all they are funded by LEA), the lady I saw provided me with loads of info and was also very supportive. Actually said, after looking through case notes, that LEA position was really shaky, that lots of other LEAs provide statement for a lot less support than J currently gets through ESAP, that ESAP only meant to be temp so shouldnt be used for longterm conditions such as ASD etc. Anyway, gave me loads of ideas and confidence in going forward with the appeal. Everyone I've talked to so far says that it shouldnt even get as far as appeal as LEA should concede by the time it gets to the Disagreement Resolution meeting. Well I've not got through to LEA officer yet so hope to God they're right. Will post again when we finally get meeting with LEA sorted. Heres hoping it will still be positive news... Vicky

Thanks Anne Ive now calmed down just a bit. Not quite so mad but just as determined to make sure my lad gets the support he needs. I contacted the LEA today and have provisionally arranged meeting with their Senior Assessment Officer (who was I think key to making the decision not to provide a statement) for mid September prior to the Appeal deadline. Will be meeting up with school before then so hopefully will start to build up more evidence of why school cant cope with existing funding. Someone from Parent Partnership should be getting in touch within next few weeks and I'll also contact Ipsea after the bank holiday. Thanks for the advice about noting everything down - J is also currently going through diagnostic pathway and its very easy to loose track of exactly who is doing what and why Hope your own appeal goes well. You're right to fight on given that vague statements just dont seem to be worth the paper theyre written on Vicky

Just got back from holiday (peed it down all week) to a letter from LEA saying that following J's assessment they think a statement is not necessary It seems they agree with all the evidence from us, school, ed pscych, inclusion service etc that J has special needs but they believe his needs can be met from resources already in place. I feel so mad Although J in Yr 1 got 1 to 1 provision including lunch and break supervision, only 18 hours a week came from ESAP (or WPN 2 as mentioned by one of the reports - what is this?). I really dont know how the school funds the rest of the provision and can only assume that as J moves up to Yr 2, support from other TAs will be harder to come by as most support is concentrated in the Reception and Yr 1 classes. It was the school that actually began the statementing process following near crisis back in February when J's levels of stess and agression got so high he was faced with potential suspension. Instead, they put all the extra support in place and its worked ! J was far more settled during his last term and for once had hardly any incidents of agression against the other kids. Trouble is what gaurantee do we have that the school will continue to support him in this way (think I already know the answer to that one ) Its so frustrating and given that this decision has been made right in the middle of the school hols, cant contact the school yet for their feedback. I feel next move would be a meeting with them before deciding whether or not to appeal as it seems as if any appeal we make would rely on evidence from them, so can only wait now until term starts. We've got untill 9 Oct to appeal so hopefully will still be enough time. Feeling pretty low right now. Does anyone else know of cases where it was the school who successfully appealed against non provision of a statement? Vicky

Hi and welcome Vicky

Hi and welcome

Hi Diane and welcome. As others have said, it can take a while for it all to sink in. We first went down DX process over 3 years ago when J was 3 but agreed to hang fire a bit when J started school given that some of his problems seemed to have settled down. I suppose I hoped he would 'grow out of it' but of course he hasnt Now back down the DX path, no confirmation as yet but we just know that its Aspergers. Funny thing is, this realisation feels like a weight has been lifted off our family - I no longer beat myself up for being a 'bad mum' who cant control her kid. With more knowledge comes a much greater understanding of Js needs and just why he does what he does - sure sometimes there is no excuse for some bad behaviour but at least I seem to be able to deal with it without stessing out and thats best for J as well. Hope you get to feel positive soon Vicky

Hi and welcome. My lad is 6 and also waiting for DX. Hope things start to speed up for you. Vicky

Hi and welcome

Hi and welcome. Hope you find some answers here

Just reading through this thread, and as a relatively new member its left me feeling rather sad and a bit confused. I know ive probably not read a lot of the posts you must be refering to, but the ones I have read all seem so incredably supportive, informative, helpful, challenging - I dont think its possible to be on a forum like this without having strong views, its a forum for ASD for gawd sakes, just thinkimg about what we all go through on a daily basis is enough to make the Pope swear (sorry no offence meant I just think it would be a great shame if long standing members with such a lot of experience and insight where suddenly to leave... and just when Ive joined. Dont go or I'll take it personally Vicky