daniels-mum

Welcome to the forum Daniels, its fab and I have passed many an hour on here! Great name by the way

Hi Mich, my son is just finishing his first year at Secondary and on the whole it has gone well. He has settled well and actually likes the school more than primary. He is somewhat oblivious to the other children and doesnt really realise if he is been picked on or laughed at, that seems to go over his head which is just as well I suppose, He has a statement and a TA about 60% of the time, the staff do look out for him and I feel they have a good understanding of his needs and personality. It hasnt been easy though and I took the LA to tribunal in January over their failure to issue a statement, which I won, the SENCO was called as a witness against me and I dont think this really helped our relationship but touchwood, things have settled down now and I am happy with how the year has gone. I realise we are lucky and probably the exception to the rule and I dont take things for granted, I am only speaking from personal experience but just wanted to give some hope that things can work out xx

Thank you very much for posting My DS school not on, hurray!!!!!!

Hi, I can only speak from personal experience but I would say having a diagnosis will help things alot. If nothing else it is a simpler way of explaining things and getting school to understand her difficulties. It may also help to access services that would be otherwise not available to her. Also it may make it easier if you need to look at resourced provision aloth further down the line, although I am not for a minute saying she will need that, its just you never know how things will progress. I still havent got an NHS diagnosis for my son at 12 yrs, both his schools, Paedtrician, Ed Psyc plus all my family think he is on the spectrum but CAMHS (who are the ones that count in my area, when it comes to diagnosis) have decided he doesnt, although they agree he has autistic traits. He has a CAMHS diagnosis of Dyspraxia, Sensory Processing Disorder, Significant Social & Communication Difficulties, Auditory Prcoessing but still no diagnosis of AS. They have however said that they will keep reviewing him over the next few years so this isnt set in stone. I am sure it would have been easier to get a statement for my son with an AS diagnosis in addition to the others, I did get there in the end, but only after a year of stress and a full tribunal hearing. So if there is any way you can get back in touch with the psychologist who offered the diagnosis I would take her up on it, you only need to disclose it to who you decide and if it turns out she can get by without it all the better, thats great, but if not I think it will make the coming years easier for you if she does have a diagnosis. Good luck, I am sure whatever you decide it will be the right decision as you know your child better than anyone xx

Slightly off topic of academies but I have been googling conservatives and special needs and found this, http://www.conservatives.com/pdf/specialneedsreport2007.pdf Its an interesting read but long (10/15 mins) I am going to write to the new Education Minister to ask what there policy is on special needs, all I have heard them talk about is academies, I havent heard any mention of special needs at all. I just feel like I need to do something and dont really know what. I am terrified of sen budgets been cut, these should be untouchable as far as I am concerned, I can just about handle a pay freeze, vat rise, NI rise etc but cuts to sen budgets would be unforgiveable.

My son is YR 7 now at Mainstream Secondary, he has settled well, better than I would have imagined. He is average academic ability, although I think he is starting to strugle with the work as it has stepped up a gear in last month or two, this is something I need to keep an eye on. Has statement with TA roughly 50-60% of time. The fact he has settled so well largley down to the TA who is lovely. He is still isolated and school confirm he makes no attempts to socialise but that has been the case all his life so nothing new there. I did go and look round a Resourced Unit which was amazing to see and such a fabulous place, however I knew that he it wasnt right for him at this time, he wants to stay where he is which I suppose speaks for itself. I do however realise that it may not be like this all the time and I dont take anything for granted. If things changed in the future I would have to think about things, but for us its been quite a positive experience, although I would say its far from easy dealing with SENCO's, LAs etc etc.

Thank you everyone who has replied, I havnt had chance to do anything about it this week due to family illness, I have drafted a complaint letter, if anyone has time to read it I would welcome any comments, good or bad, this is all new to me!! Before I send it I am going to ring SENCO at school tomorrow to see if they have received a final statement, if they have I know it is just me, but if they havnt received its obviously a problem with the LA. Strangley I received a letter from school on Friday inviting me to annual statement review on 8th Jun, even though havnt even got the statement yet, I am assuming its a typing error and really its just a progress review. Anyway here is the draft complaint letter, "I am writing to make a formal complaint about the way my sons case has been handled by the SEN Statutory Assessment and Provision Section of ***LEA. The caseworker throughout has been *****. The circumstances of my sons case are as follows, D is 12 yrs old and is in Yr 7 at ***** High School, after transferring there from ***** Primary School in September 2009. Last year I requested a Statutory Assessment of D's special educational needs. This was supported by ***** where he was at the time, a Yr6 pupil. *****LEA agreed to proceed with the Statutory Assessment, but decided not to issue a statement, however, instead issued a Note in Lieu. I disagreed with *****LEA decision and submitted an appeal to SENDIST. The hearing took place in January this year and the tribunal panel upheld my appeal and ordered *****LEA to make a statement. Despite my not agreeing with LEA*****’ original decision, I do respect that you were within your right to refuse to make a statement and my complaint is not about this decision. I am however, appalled at how D's case has been handled since the decision of the tribunal in January. The tribunal hearing was on 21st January and written confirmation of their decision to uphold my appeal was received by *****LEA on 1st Feb. Approximately three weeks later I received a draft statement through the post which had *****Primary School named in Part 4. This was firstly a breach of chapter 8.42 of the Code of Practice and secondly very unprofessional as he had left there 6 months earlier. I can only assume the proposed statement was a cut and paste of the Note in Lieu which had not even been proof read as it was practically identical. As requested I completed and sent the SEN23 form back within 15 days, ticking the box I did not accept the proposed statement and requesting further information from *****LEA. I also stated that I was unsure of the placement at that point. This was because I was awaiting a visit to the Resourced Unit at ***** in the following week and would make my decision then, regarding Part 4. I fully admit, at this point I did not realise I had to send my proposed changes with the SEN23, I had intended submitting them the following week at the same time as I would decide where I would be requesting to be named on Part 4 of the statement. On 10th March the following week I visited the resourced unit at *****, this was invaluable and helped me reach the decision that, at this time the best place for D was his current school, *****, and therefore I would not be seeking any changes to part 4. Caseworkers assistant, phoned me the next day, requesting that I submit any changes I was requesting by email as the statement needed finalising as soon as possible. I did ask what would happen if *****LEA disagreed with the changes I was requesting, and Caseworkers assistant assured me that Caseworker would contact me to discuss this, should it be the case. On Friday 12th March I emailed Caseworker the changes I would like making to Ds draft statement. I received an out of office notification saying Caseworker would be back in the office on Monday 15th March. After my conversation the previous day, I was of the understanding that the statement would be finalised with my changes, and if this wasn’t possible someone would be contacting me to explain why and discuss my requests in further detail. I have received no further communication by letter, email or phone since 12th March. I still have no idea if the statement has even been finalised. On 23rd April I emailed Caseworker again, enquiring about the status of D’s statement. I again received an Out of Office email stating Caseworker would be back in the office on Monday 26th April. At the date of writing this letter, I still have not received any reply by email, letter or phone. In its handling of my sons case, *****LEA has shown a complete disregard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, Chapter 2, Working in Partnership with Parents. I make particular reference to Paragraph 2.7, Professionals should recognise the personal and emotional investment of parents and be aware of their feelings, and Paragraph 2.13, LEA’s need to ensure that they are accessible, welcoming and value the views and involvement of parents. Clearly *****LEA has had very little regard for the above when dealing with my sons case. Due to the fact the statement is now overdue and no one has contacted me to discuss otherwise, I request that it be finalised incorporating my proposed changes in the next 10 days. I hope to receive D's finalised statement in the post very shortly. If this does not happen I will be obtaining legal advice with regards to requesting a Judicial Review of the way my sons case has been handled. I have enclosed copies of emails I have sent to Caseworker and copies of the Out of Office notifications received, I also enclose a copy of the tribunals decision from January this year. Throughout this whole process I have been nothing but reasonable and polite in my dealings with *****LEA, but am simply at the end of my tether now. Yours Sincerley"

Hello all, I hope everyone is well, havnt posted for a while as lots of family stuff going on, I have a question that I was hoping for some advice with, My situation is that I applied for a statement for my son last year, this was refused and a note in lieu was issued. I appealed this and it finally went to tribunal in January this year. The tribunal found in my favour and ordered the LA to issue a statement. The final decision was sent to myself and the LA around the end of Jan, this gave the LA 5 weeks to issue the proposed statement. The LA sent a proposed statement dated 18th Feb. This was rubbish and basically just a cut and paste of the note in lieu, it was even writen as DS was still at primary school, even though he transfered to high school in Sept last year, he is yr7 now. As per the normal timescales I had 15 days to reply and send any objections. I sent the inital form back saying I didnt accept the statement about a week later, although I cant remember the exact date, and on 12th Mar I sent an email with all the changes I want to part 2, 3a and 3b. I have more or less re written the whole thing as theirs was rubbish and I said in the email that what I had sent was how I wanted parts 2, 3a and 3b to read and if we could agree these changes I was happy to finalise the statement. None of the changes I have requested are uneasonable, the SENCO at DS school is aware of them, and whilst not particularly overjoyed with them she has no problems with what I have asked for, I should probably add at this point that I am leaving DS where he is at this time as he seems to have settled there, although still requiring much support, so part 4 isnt a issue. This was all sent by email to Responisble Officer on 12th March, later that day I received an out of office notification from said person and that they would be back in the office on Monday 15th March, fair enough I thought, I will probably hear something next week. Fast forward to 23rd April and I havnt heard a thing, no letters, emails or phonecalls. On this date I send another email to responsible officer asking what is happening. A few hours later I get an out of office reply saying they will be back in the office Monday 26th April. Okay I think, they will surely be in touch next week. Fast forward again until today 8th May, still no letters, emails or phonecalls. Am a right in thinking they should have finalised the statement by now, or at least been in touch to discuss the changes I have requested. I have heard nothing whatsoever since I sent my changes in on 12th march apart from the out of office notifications. I am considering writing a formal complaint to the head of LA, but I just wanted to check where I stand before this, as I dont want to be accusing them of breaching any legislation, codes of practice etc if they aren't. Sorry for such a long post!!!!

Well it looks like a hung parliment, my area has stayed Lib Dem. I am probably been a bit emotional but personally I am worried sick about our kids under the cuts proposed by a Tory government. I am so upset at the result but realise it is a personal thing and fully respect that others may have different opinions. I dont know what others thoughts are x

I am so pleased for you, I remember that feeling, unless you understand the system I dont think people realise how bigger deal it actually is, but everyone on this forum does. Even just knowing you are prepared to go to tribunal will have the LA on their toes!! Well done you xx

Im sure you will have done when applying for Tax Credits but just to make sure did you tell them that you get DLA, because that can increase Tax Credits by quite alot. I think it is called the disabled child premium. You may also be able to claim a free laptop and warm front grant depending on your circs. I would contact the Citizens Advice Bureau and they should be able to check for you x

I did DS application online and it went through fine, you just need to send any supporting evidence then through the post but they give you the address and reference number etc. I thought it was a good system, it was the forst time I applied.

That made me laugh so much,

I completely agree with Sally and Jsmum, I think this will backfire on the LA. It is a really good idea to say you feel intimidated at the offset as that will set the tone for the hearing and the panel will take this into account. They also asked me if I had a photo of D which I dint, so I would take the sweetest photo you have of your daughter!! I dont think the panel will like the fact the LA has a barrister and called two witnesses. It is also very good advice to contact IPSEA aswell, also the NAS can provide representation at tribunal in certain cirumstances but I am not sure of the criteria and how available it is. When I went to tribunal in Jan the LA called the SENCO and Ed Psyc as witnesses and this backfired as they both said things to help my case, unwittingley in some instances!! Before we went in to the hearing I saw them all sat in their waiting area (as this was seperate area to where we were) and they looked like the hadnt a care in the world, they didnt look like that when they came out! I honestly think they thought it was goin to be a walk in the park and the hearing was just a formality. The SENCO particularly got a really rough ride, I have spoken to her since and she said it was her first tribunal and she is not in a hurry to go to any more, she said she certainly wasnt expecting any of that. I think once you are actually in there and the hearing is underway it wont be as bad as you are expecting, I thought it would be like a courtroom and the witnesses would all be cross examing me and trying to catch me out, but it wasnt like that at all, I actually did very little talking. The majority of exchanges were between the panel and the SENCO. The panel wouldnt let you be intimidated either. And the other side wouldnt dare disagree with anything you say relating to your daughter at home as that would be the same as accusing you as lying and that would backfire on them spectacularly. The panel were very nice people and I really did think that they had DS interests at heart, they asked very intelligent and relevant questions, I was impressed that they had obviously read the full bundle of papers before so knew the case very well, and I am sure that will be the case for all hearings. When the head of the panel summed up at the end it more or less comes down to one thing, does D require more resources that would be available from a mainstream schools normal resources, if so, a statement should be made. Individual LA assesment criterias are irrelevant, as the law is the law. People told me I wouldnt get a stat assesment, then they told me I wouldnt get a statement, and I didnt have a barrister, but we won the tribunal and I am now waiting for the final statement to come through after I rejected the first useless draft statement. I know it is easy to say dont worry but keep strong xx

For what it is worth I went to tribunal in January as my LA refused to issue a statement. SALT and OT, but particularly SALT were a crucial issue to the panel and they did get into a heated debate with the SENCO over the issue of SALT. The SENCO said DS wasnt seen as a priority for their allocation of SALT visits, and the panel were very annoyed about this as they said "a child who cant socialise will grow into an adult who cant socialise". I had a report from the SALT which I had already forwarded to the tribunal and this stated he required termly input, which he hasnt been getting. Even the EP who had been called as a witness for the LA said he should be getting SALT input. OT was a similar concern, DS is also on 1st centile for manual dexterity and 2nd centile for speed of handwriting. Even now at 12 yrs he really struggles with laces, cant open a cheese string or yoghurt drink. He also shakes his hand after writing a paragragh as it hurts. It is only recently that he got a diagnosis of DCD and SID from CAMHS. The OT said she couldnt diagnose Dyspraxia as he had mild learning difficulties, which I dont really understand. Her report was very useful though, and I have asked for another OT assessment in school as he has not had one since starting High School. The panel were very astute and there was a point where I just thought "they really get where I am coming from", and they were asking very intelligent and relevant questions". I was so pleased I had the SALT report and I think it really did help, even though it said he didnt meet the LA Stat Asses criteria. I got the impression that the tribunal are not bothered about individual LA's criteria, it just came down to one thing which was can the school be expected to provide support from its own resources, simple as that. And we won the tribunal by the way if thats any consolation xx