babnye1

I think school are trying to get me to refuse the TA so they can say to the LA we were prepared to send the TA but parent stopped it. I think this is a very disappointing attitude as they clearly don't want to send the TA but don't want to say no and will use me. It's not even a school in the same county as the LA

Thanks Sally - and thanks for always answering so helpfully. It is really appreciated.

Thanks Sally. I agree, there is nothing to lose for them in just stringing things out. We have not said we want long-term home education, only that, at the moment, tutors at home are working so this should be reflected in a package which is put in the statement. The school placement has broken down and the LA have nothing to offer and we have not found any schools suitable. It seems to us to be not only the best but the only option. I think the guidance is clear. However, it does suggest that LAs can avoid the duty arising for them to provide the education themselves but only if there is suitable education already being offered by school, and they have to be convinced it is suitable after taking the guidance into account. This is not the same as forcing the school to do something that the LA think is suitable against the school's will because the LA has already paid the school for a TA. Interestingly, the statutory guidance obliges the LA to set out a policy on this and have a named person dealing with it and to tell parents about this.

Thanks Sally. We have threatened to issue judicial review proceedings if they don't put something in place by the end of the week. The problem has been that they have tried to force school to offer a TA. School doesn't want to so hasn't reached agreement. LA are writing to lawyer and pretending that it is in place. Their cover has been blown now but I think even if they persuade school to offer a TA, this is not enough.

Thanks. I'm really sorry to hear about your problems too. It's a nightmare. There's no question that they know he is off for medical reasons as they have admitted this in writing.

Son is out of school. Accepted medical grounds because he has AS and anxiety. As far as I can see this entitles children to access home tuition. LA are trying to make school send TA out. But the statutory guidance suggests he is entitled to an educatiin which is equivalent to the one he would receive in school. This is surely not TA support. http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/health%20needs%20guidance%20%20-%20revised%20may%202013%20final.pdf

Thanks Sally. The law does not say a consultant needs to sign a child off. The LA has accepted they will provide some home education (they have not said what) while they hold a meeting and refer to CAMHS with a view to reintegrating. But the school has already said they will not do this and all professionals at the meeting in the summer accepted it would not be in my son's best interests to force him back to school. My lawyer is acting pro bono and is preparing a pre-action protocol letter. We have previously spoken to counsel on this so we are good to go and will get legal aid. The problem the LA has is that there is no provision locally for primary school children of my sons profile even at independent SS level. Further, in terms of education otherwise than at school, the law permits this under s 319 of Education Act. There is no need for case law on it. It just falls in to the range of possible provision available if it is appropriate to meet the needs of the child. It is becoming increasingly widely used for children of on AS profile who need a more flexible approach to schooling. My LA is a dinosaur - and a vicious one. They don't give a damn about my son or his needs. I don't know how these people live with themselves. I would rather clean toilets than do what they do to kids,

No Sally. He is signed off medically and has been since May by the GP. But because his anxiety relates to school, CAMHS say this means education have to work out where he is best placed. This is a matter for an educational psychologist. I think anxiety and CAMHS is largely a red herring/diversion to be honest. If a child spends all his time at school outside theclass because he can't cope with being in the class, then this is should be standard fodder for an educational psychologist. It is an issue for schools, EPs and children with ASD and one all parties should be well capable of addressing. So the question is not just - should he be signed off medically but is this the right placement for him? Is it capable of offering him a suitable education? What is the purpose of re-integration for a child who will inevitably end up sitting outside the class in reception or the staff room all year? In terms of evidence that re-integration won't work, well we have been trying that since February will all parties involvement including the EP and no one has come up with anything. How on earth would CAMHS change this?

No one is accusing me of not educating him. Sorry if I am confusing thing. I am having to take action against them for not providing an education.

I have been educating him myself effectively since I started to post on here. We have even paid for some tutor sessions. I work and I need to factor that in too. I have nothing against HE but not sure why the LA shouldn't stump up for some of the funding. It's not elective when there is nowhere else for him to go.

He has been out of school since May with no educational provision put in place and no amendments to his statement so he is not receiving any education. That is the basis of the JR.

Just an update. After holding two meetings last term with all professionals involved, it was agreed that my son should not to return to school and an education out of school package should be put in place. LA did nothing but it went to SEN Panel last week and they have said they want him 're-integrated' back to school and have asked CAMHS to do an assessment. This is despite the clear recommendations from everyone at the meeting including school that it is not in my son's interests for him to return. CAMHS have already said TWICE that they do not need to be involved as my son does not have an anxiety disorder (he is fine out of school) he just needs his educational placement sorting. They discharged him after all professionals agreed on a package. So we are now facing a judicial review for failing to educate.

Sorry, but I can cope with my son. It is the stress of being constantly shafted by LAs and the NHS that gets me down.

I have just started my own blog and I am trying to create a space for parents to 'tell it like it is'. Let me know if you would like to add any of your stories. I am using it as a campaigning tool and tweeting too!! Just message me.

I think it may also be because our children are all different so they will need different things. My frustration is that system does not really accomodate that at any level. DIY I think. I get sick and tired of spending money and energy to fight to get provision in a form or by a person who hasn't the first clue about my son but works on a knowledge of 'types'., May as well expend time and money pursuing an option we have control over,. School is to be got through. I will concentrate on his life.

I also think there is so much generic provision out there for 'ASD kids' when the variability on their needs is so great that this can be damaging as expectations may not meet reality leading to frustration and provision may not meet need. I have already had one head of a Indy SS seek to tell me what was best for my son when she has never even met him. I couldn't deal with 6 years of that. My son can withdraw very deeply into his shell and can be hard to fathom. I know ALL the progress he has made in life thus far is down to us. It has been in spite of and not because of school.

That's how I read your post Mel - I don't see what this obsession is about school teaching life skills. It teaches school skills - how to cope with school. School isn't life. I can teach my son more life skills in a day than he'd learn in a month at a school - whatever school - with a package of 'social skills' lessons aimed at 'children with ASD' which he may or may not be able to generalise to real life. School teaches you to be at school and cope with kids. My son copes well out of school with adults. School destroys his confidence and self-esteem. This much I know.

I feel for you Mel, I really do because it is so hard. If you can get them through education with some semblance of a sense of self and that is alright to be 'me' than that is so important. But it is not easy to know how to achieve that. I feel, with my son, following his lead about what works might be the best way forward and he is learning and growing out of school.

My son just learns and develops better out of school than in. Simple as that really. I am coming to the conclusion that school is just not for everyone. It may make life more convenient and it does provide child care, but educating a child with AS for a changing world, one where compliance, routine and being able to work 9-5 hours etc are not necessarily important. I want him to follow his talents, work at his own pace, feel good about himself. I think this about my other child too but he actually gets a lot from school in terms of social engagement. It's like the Ken Robinson thing about schools killing creativity and I think this is even more important and relevant with my son. Also, we spend so much time applying provision like OT just to get them to fit into a system and 'normalise' them. Why? I'm thinking the whole system just doesn't accommodate him and he'd be better off out of it, being himself, than being trained to be a cog.

Absolutely agree with you bed about the importance of the academic side for our sons. This is what will give my son his best life chances. He excels at history and literacy (interestingly working memory problems make maths much harder). But he is ground down by school life - especially mainstream life. I feel he doesn't need 6 years of cooking, art therapy, OT to make him be able to sit in class and social skills groups. He needs to pursue his interests to the best of his ability, feel good about himself, pass exams and learn real life skills in the real world e.g going and shopping for himself etc. I cannot see the point, save for child care reasons, in pursuing a Tribunal for a 60k placement at a school whose intake is so wide and varied that it will not challenge him academically.

Mmm, I started it and then stopped because, for me, it is not my child's diagnosis but the effect of it - the lies, deceits and battles with organisations who consistently fail him that is traumatic. I didn't want to input scores which may present a false picture. For me, the trauma of autism comes from my dealings with the local authority who fought to try and ensure my son did not get the help he needs and their NHS partners in crime. Taking on two massive public bodies to fight for your child's basic needs carries an enormous personal and financial cost and I have had to two it three times in two years. This is what traumatises me and many parents like me. My son is who he is. The system is a disgrace and ruins lives and marriages.

I agree and as our useless OT said 'you can't expect LAs to provide provision just for a few kids'. Mmm, so where are they supposed to go?

I think you are right bed. The schools might be out there but I'm not prepared to pack him off, he is just too vulnerable for that. All the schools we have looked at are residential as well as day schools. Mel - your poor son! What does he want to do?

But I don't see that environment in AS specialist schools either. I see curriculums top heavy with cooking, arts, photography and D&T. I see low GCSE results with the occasional child achieving several passes. I don't think mainstream is right. But I have not seen an Indy SS that looks right either within our area. SpLD schools all reject him as too complex, AS schools seem to cover a culture of low academic expectation with art and life skills. I can't possibly understand how some of them get away with charging 60k for that. My son has already rejected mainstream so I will have to create my own package. I can't see him getting anything particularly beneficial from school.

But that worries me - the approach 'we have some capable of sitting GCSEs'. Does this not mean they are the exception rather than the rule? I worry how experienced teachers are in teaching to that level in those circumstances. I don't hold out much hope for finding an appropriate specialist placement based on what I have seen so far. I think also that DS changes as he grows so a more flexible, creative approach might be needed.