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Thanks Sally We have the adult SS assessment for DH and myself next week, so will see what report that provides. Family support worker is back again next week too, so I will just ask her how the conversation with Education went for now. Got a letter from Education this morning saying that they have passed DS case to senior SEN manager as they received the Tribunal papers. Als hat they are not refusing to provide DS a full time eduction but are working to support him to an "appropriate education". As IMO t is "appropriate" for him to have a full time education, I shall be replying that they may not be refusing to provide this, but they are certainly "failing" to provide it, and as it is their legally binding duty, they had better find a solution to such failure... will keep you all updated.

As you may remember, DS has been school refusing for the past 6 months, and the school have removed him from lessons and put him on part time hours following EP advice... We have applied for an independent school, been turned down on financial grounds, and are appealing to Tribunal. Tribunal Date is in January 2013. School have no intention of putting DS back into any peer groups in September afaik. Obviously, this has been a stressful time for the family. There are a number of stress factors at the best of times, and the school refusal did cause a crisis:( I just do not have enough time in the day to deal with DS and all the other children, and DH, and go to work, and keep the house!!! DD2 started showing some classic attention seeking behaviours during last term, including disclosing a variety of complaints about me& DH to her school support worker. Obviously the school has a duty to follow these up, and reported on to social services. We had a number of visits from a social worker, where I asked for support, and she agreed we needed support (again) and them pointed out that she couldn't [provide any of that support...... But she was determined to keep turning up on our doorstep and grilling us about what exactly we are doing and why DD2 is upset that she has been told to tidy her room/go to sleep on time etc After a while, I got bit annoyed, and wrote to SS saying that they were adding to the stress in the family and if they couldn't offer any support then would they kindly F off;) Got a letter back saying the case was being handed over to a senior SW & family support worker - they came to visit me earlier this week and appeared to grasp the situation a little better. The SW asked what would relieve the stress and I said getting DS's schooling sorted would solve all the major issues! FSW volunteered (without prompting) that a Tribunal date of January was too long and could cause long term problems for the whole family which would cost social services a fortune! I agreed, and said I had pointed that out to the LEA, but they didn't care about the SS budget..... When they left, they were intending to contact the Education Dept about this...... Can SS have any input into LEA decisions? Can they bring any pressure to bear? Can they joint fund the independent school placement? Is it worth me trying to get any of the above? Does anyone think there might be a good outcome from SS involvement? Not seen anything useful out of them before TBH..... They did say that hey couldn't get the disabled children team involved as AS does not meet their criteria, but adult disabilities are coming back out to reassess us next week.... Not sure if they can help at all:/

My LEA tried that one on me too - he's not coping in mainstream school A, s we can try mainstream school B or a year, then presumably mainstream school, C, D and E and then he'll be 16 so we don't care! I asked them what school B (C, D or E) could offer that A couldn't? They had not answer. Then I reminded them of all the reasons he went to A in the first place (single building site, smallest school in county, good record of inclusion etc) and the training & experience the staff had with him and that another school would be starting from scratch. To be fair they dropped the idea pretty quickly when challenged and it never even made it onto any written report. We do have the bonus that school is agreeing they can not meet his needs..... In some circumstances, it may be the correct reSponse - if school A is not good at inclusion, if it is a difficult environment for him or if they just aren't bothering! If school B has an autism unit attached or other special services etc. LOng before we got to Statementing stage, we moved my son from mainstream primary A to mainstream primary B because A just refused to speak to us and labelled son as "naughty" - he was 5 years old and on the way to school refusing & a PRU! AlthougH the transition was difficult, school B did manage to include him in the majority of classwork, take him on trips and get him DX'd and Statemented! In that case,moving him from one mainstream school to another was the best decision we ever made:) (although we are now fighting to get him out of mainstream)

This is aimed at adults though. would love him to stay local, that's why we tried so hard with mainstream, and personally visited all the local special schools. but there are no suitable options that I can find:(

ahh, but they have not offered any kind of maintained place other than to say wait and see if he gets better (or, I assume, is sectioned or withdrawn by me). Everyone in our case has agreed that there are no LA schools able to met is need. The LA have refused the place purely on funding grounds so this report might be helpful in my case I hope

Professionally done by a proper Accountancy firm comparing costs f LEA schools vs independent schools for SEN students with complex needs. http://www.nasschools.org.uk/files/NASS%20Cost%20Comparison%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf going to submit as evidence in our Tribunal:)

Assistant Head will state that no mainstream or LA special Sch can meet his needs. He as done a lot of work with DS and I think honestly wants what is best for him. He didn't really become involved until things were starting to go very wrong, so hes only seen it not working! The school received a verbal EP report too -which is when they shortened his days even more and removed him from the few lessons he was attending, much to the SENCo's frustration.

Just an update: The SEN officer admitted there is no EP report - she gave a verbal report to the panel! We are still waiting for the written report SENDIST appeal going in this weekend I have sourced private OT, EP & SLT who will be assessing in a few months time ready for the Tribunal. Mainstream School Assistant Head in charge of SEN said he has been to two Tribunals previously, both of which the LEA lost, and is confident that we should win this one. He offered to attend on our behalf:) Son has attended trial at Independent school - he attended all lessons, accessed the curriculum well,talked to some of the other boys, socialised in the evening (well, played computer games with others, but that IS socialising for an 11 year old ASD boy) and was generally a pleasant and happy child. No major violence of behavioural issues arose during his trail. We have decided to try and speed things up any way possible, in the hope the panel may capitulate before a TRibunal and he may get to start in or at least near to September - therefore, we have written to the lovely Mr Gove, our local MP (also a Tory), Steven Twig, and a number of media outlets..... First report in the local paper today so hopefully it wil be picked up and the LEA will have some answering to do in public..... (Agi has started a separate post on this here: http://http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/28364-attempt-at-media-pressure/page__pid__326813#entry326813 if you are interested)

Go see your GP - explain it is a compulsion and ask for counselling...

Still waiting for the emergency SEN meeting - as I haven't heard anything and although DS has finished his exclusion, he is only in school for a couple of hours a day, and not in class at all until the end of term (I know this counts as an illegal exclusion, but I'm using it as evidence that they can't meet his needs), I wrote to the school on Monday maintaining that he was not being adequately educated and it was unacceptable and detrimental to his long term education and mental health to continue to keep him isolated. I repeated my expectation of an urgent review meeting "to discuss a long term solution". I will ask them what they suggest when that is finally called...... Today we get a phone call saying that Vulnerable Learners have given up and are passing him up to the EP service - which I believe is what I asked for (in writing) several months ago! grrrr! I have taken to writing letters "confirming" every conversation we have now, as all the professionals seem incapable of putting anything in writing! I'm hoping that these will count as written records in a tribunal if required. We're still waiting for the independent school to arrange a trial placement/assessment Getting very frustrated - time is ticking on and soon we'll be into another term:( *sigh* On the plus side - without the stress on attending school, DS has been much nicer at home......

Good luck with this fight Sally - we have tried for years to get SS involved. From my first call (in tears) shortly after DX when I honestly thought I was going to come home to a dead body any day through referral's from CAMHS, Adult SS, and even being reported to SS for abuse! I have consistently failed to get childrens SS to even answer my calls! I did get a carers assessment from adult SS a few years ago (as hubby is disabled) and they passed their report on to the children's team - no response. When Adult SS stopped our direct payments at the start of the "credit crunch" I tried again - no response. When hubby was reported to SS by a neighbour cos DS was "screaming outside for over 20 mins"it STILL took the duty SW a month to respond (although it was one of the funniest conversations anyone has ever had with DS) and guess what? At the end of it we had a report which stated we should receive some support form SS and then no further communication of any kind...... I have a friend who is a social worker (in the next door county) and she said they are all so overworked and understaffed that unless the child is hospitalised or arrested, there is no chance of getting a SW..... sorry to be so negative. I'm sure if you have the energy to keep fighting you may get somewhere eventually......

Just a quick update . I met with the VLS woman again last night and we all agreed that the practises/techniques she had put in place were not working - he was getting worse rather than better:( She agreed that the school was doing everything it was asked to, and that he wasn't currently getting an education there. I said that it was the best choice of mainstream in our LA and she agreed that there was no point looking at moving him to another MS school. I then said that the autism units in neighbouring borough were also not suitable and she agreed that he wouldn't get the academic teaching he needs there. She asked if I had looked at anything else and I said we had been to independent special schools which we thought would be eminently suitable. She said "I don't blame you" which is not the worst answer I s'pose;) As I didn't get any kind of report/minutes etc from the last meeting,I have sent a letter confirming what was discussed this time. So far this term, DS has attended less than 50% of lessons. It was parents evening last week and I asked each subject teacher if they thought he could be educated at that school - all except one said no:( A couple said that they would be will to put that in writing if we wished - trying to decide if I should write to each teacher individually to confirm what they said? He was excluded for 5 days at 9.00am today..... I can't really get much out of as to why (he has explained from is PoV, but what he said wouldn't warrant a 5 day exclusion) - the school has called an emergency SEN team meeting. I assume this is similar/the same as an EMergency review and wonder if they are going to try to push things along a bit?

No - they said to request the change of named school, and when LA contact them they will offer the trial/place. They have spaces atm.....

Is it just Maths, English, ICT? thanks

interesting comment about the twins - the girl didn't speak until she as 6, so therefore is classic Autism, but the boy cold recite the alphabet perfectly at 18 mths - wouldn't that make him Aspergers according to our current dx criteria? Pity the programme didn't mention that - it would really help with some of the misconception of the term Aspergers"

It's only about classic autism, and only in the USA - but it's making me cry:(

DS was sent home from school gain today following several incidents, including a fairly nasty attack on another pupil. the school has not made an issue of it, but TBH, I'm expecting a call from the police tonight - I would call the police if my daughter came home from school saying someone had kicked her to the ground and left a massive bruise across her back:( He actually only managed 10 mins with his class today - he was given time to calm down, then after the attack, he was put into the internal inclusion unit (which he usually likes), where he was still too disruptive for them to deal with, and they called me to collect him. I know this is an illegal exclusion, but I am currently keeping a diary of all times they are "unable to cope" as I will be applying for an independent placement and so I'm not going to argue the exclusion with them at this point as it all adds up in our favour...... The advice I would like is on how I should react to the violence? We have ALWAYS had the rule that the moment he becomes violent, whatever the provocation, he is the one in the wrong and will be punished. He knows this rule, and he admits that he kicked the girl. He accepts that if the same had happened to him, I would expect severe punishment for the perpetrator, and police action..... Should I punish him at home for what happened at school? Normally we try to have a line between the two, but on previous occasions of physical violence we have punished him at home as well, to enforce how serious it is. But he is so unhappy today already, and obviously right on the edge mentally (which is why he reacted so badly, so quickly - he usually shouts a lot first!). The only punishment that he notices is to remove TV/computer - but he needs that to calm down.......... Thanks for any advice

Hi JeanneA My son wasn't actually dx'd until he was 7 - but that was due to the totally obstructive attitude of his school. We spent two years fighting them and arguing with them and dragging information out of them, then just as we were finally getting somewhere I moved him to another school for the start of year 2, and had to start the process again with a new EP etc as it was in a different ward! The move was very traumatic for everyone involved, and was my first "appeal" to the LEA - but by far the best thing we could do at the time. The new school (only 1 mile away) was the opposite of the old one: co-operative, communicative and supportive. DS was dx'd within the first year there. He also can not smile on cue - ie for a photo (he also makes the worst type of grimace), but he does smile and laugh while playing:)

Like Chris, we started to get very concerned when he started school (just a few weeks past 4 years old) - he was obviously behaving differently from all the other children, however, with the benefit of hindsight, the signs were there from the moment he was born - he had sensory issues as a tiny baby (hated being swaddled, or restricted in any way, feeding issues, etc), noticeable developmental issues as a toddler which really ought to have been picked up by the HV, and a "spikey" development profile which pointed to ASD all along.... The ASD gene is quite obvious in the men of my family - in fact my mother took my brother to the dr in 1971 asking about autism due to his obsessive & self-harming behaviours, but was told that as he spoke well and on time, he couldn't be autistic.....

yes:)

I'm looking to get a private OT report for DS as part of our Tribunal appeal that we are sure will have to make to get him into an independent school. Ideally I think he needs both a physical and MH/Neuro assessment - preferably by the same person, or at least the same practise (to save on costs), but certainly both need to be done..... We are based in North Somerset, near Bristol and/or Taunton, but I will be happy to travel to anywhere from the Midlands down to the South coast and across to London/Essex. I would like someone who has some experience of SEN Tribunals if possible, and certainly Statements. Does anyone know of anyone that they can recommend? I've trawled through the internet and searched on the Private OT website, but haven't found anyone who looks suitable yet......

Visted the Priory Group School today - it iwas so much better than the special school:) The other students "looked" like DS would fit in there.... their classrooms looked like a secondary school, rather than a primary. They were all studyng for GCSE's - had a good chat t a couple of teachers, who spoke about their subject as well as the social issues. All of their students are LA funded, so it IS possible. I explained that I was hoping to get the funding BEFORE DS was dx'd with several co-morbidities, which is against the system, but ought to be possible! Next job I guess is to start getting the private reports and to try to get current school on side to say outright that they are not coping with him..... I'm a bit torn between allowing DS to "play up"/refuse school to get the reports, and working with him to keep him in school and learning during the appeal process. atm I'm going to keep working with him as it the best thng for him personally......

A more positive one:) Don't give in to their food fads - start really young and always offer them nutritonally balanced meals. Remind them that their tastes change all the time and encourage them to try foods and retry them all the time. Don't make mealtimes a battle and don't make them a treat...... I am forever thankful that we have stuck by our guns on eating and DS now eats most foods, most of the time - he even has the set meal at school each day:)

To remember that EVERY professional involved has their own agenda and not to trust them to do what is the child's best interests. To do your own research and trust your own instincts. And only cry when you're on your own..... Sorry.....

Vulnerable Learners are just the SEN team really! It's who they send in to assist the school when they don't have a proper EP for one reason or another. Cos we're such a small county, we only have one EP (as far as I can work out) and she was off sick for ages so they are massively behind. I have already made my complaint about the lack of proper EP assessment/report clear - but the VLS woman seemed so confident that she would get everything written into his SM immediately! She did say she would be writing a report - if it doesn't turn up in a wek I will chase/formally complain.. We are booked in to see The Priory School in Frome shortly, and I am also looking at Cambian Group, although they are further away. I have told the LA that we are still only looking at this amended SM as being an interim measure while we research suitable provision in neighbouring counties - which is vague enough but still true:) I think they know we are looking at Independant though - it is the obvious choice for him.... I can't see any hope of getting the placement wthout a full Tribunal The problem with being a small county is that such a placement would take up a large portion of the SEN budget - but the prognosis for him without a decent educational placement would cost a lot more in the long run:(