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There didn't seem to be an appropriate option for our son. As he is extremely passive, he will rarely do anything unless he is guided by someone else. Has never shown any aggressive or violent behavior. Although in the past he has hit himself on the head or banged his head on the wall. Thankfully he didn't do it often and i haven't seen him do that for long while. He is only 3, and we hope he will always keep his calm and easy going personality but would love him to show more interest in things and other people!

Hi there we are 2 days away from hearing whether the LA agree to a statement and we now have problems with our landlord as we haven't had any heating for 2 months and he has made no effort to sort it out, so we are looking to move house asap, but most of the suitable available houses are in another county. If we move to another county how does this affect the statement process and if we have to appeal or finalise the statement where do we stand. A and A

Looks like too many people are giving up! It's helped one boy, why cant it help others? I think we all know that every child is different and responds to different things. I for one will not stop searching or hoping there is way to help my son.

Hi there we have a ds aged 3 who has been diagnosed with asd last october, he sometimes takes a while to go to sleep and we frequently have disturbed nights with him and it takes him about an hour sometimes longer to go back to sleep, we have had chats with the specialist health visitor and she has said that when we see the paediatrician in 2 weeks time to discuss the use of melatonin with him as he is happy to prescribe this. we would like advice from parents who have used this and how effective is it and what are the doses used. A and A

Hi there thanks for the reply, the diet you started how did you decide what foods did you have any help in sorting out what foods were ok. Liam is currently on a dairy free diet and reduced gluten intake would it still be worth doing the test. A and A

Hi there that helps alot thank you, we are keen to get Liam tested do you have any contact details for sunderland research centre and Paul Shattock. Thanks Anna and Anthony

Hi we have a 3 year old son diagnosed with asd and I have been reading other parents posts and the sunderland research unit is mentioned frequently we would like to hear from other families who have been in contact with this unit about what they do. A and A

Hi there we have a 3 year old son who was diagnosed with asd in october 09 and he is due to start a specialised nursery for children with a range of disabilities. He is going from 9am till 3pm one day a week so will need to take a pack lunch with him,can anyone give me any ideas of what to put in his pack lunch that is gluten and dairy free. A and A

Hi there Sally, Liam was assessed at the child development centre to establish a diagnosis which was given as Liam being a child with ASD, Liam was assessed for 3 weeks in a specialised nursery by the following people, Speech and Language therapist, Occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychologist,educational psychologist, health vistitor, community paediatrician, nursery nurse. The staff at the cdc have been brilliant and have offered lots of support and we are to have further appointments with the paediatrician and we also have regular visits and conatct with the specialist health visitor for children with special needs. A and A

Yes very sad it is too, that's why more money needs to go to education and SEN to prevent the next gen going that way. The majority in prison are still your everyday person who decided to take what they thought was an easy option rather than work their way through their problems. Most of them are let out then they re offend. Wasted money! Better spent educating and spotting those with problems in their school years than on those that are in the prison system who are beyond help or dont want to be helped.

Are we to expect whole new list of appointments for the assessment or are they more likely to contact the professionals that have already assessed him. Having just gone through and MDT it would seem silly to have to go through all that again.

Yes that may be true in some cases, but most of them would have known difference between right and wrong. I'm sure there are many, many more people who have been failed by the system and not become criminals or addicts.

Yes! result, the LEA have agreed to do an assessment. No need to appeal. A step in the right direction at last, now will look up how long they have to do the assessment.

Hi Nicky, and good luck with your appeal, it looks like we may have to go down the appeal route very soon. Is good to know that we can request the appeal date to be brought forward. The whole precess is way too long, and too easy for the LEA to drag it out to it's maximum. We should be able sue LEA's who drag out the process and then throw in the towel at the last minute. What can we do to stop them taking all the time their allowed when they know they cant win?

It is infuriating, and makes the future very uncertain. We have to deal with all the red tape and bureaucracy, and add to that LEA''s that bend rules. It makes me very angry when we throw money at people like criminals, addicts and the like. Giving them second, third and fourth chances all at the tax payers expense, while we with our son who is as innocent as a child can be, have to fight for every scrap we can get! Wonder if they can refuse us for a 3rd time?

The SEN officer was trying to tell me that some how our second request for assessment was part of the first and that we had gone over time to appeal and we would have to wait 6 months before we could again. I think when we started demanding reasons why it was refused, they realised we weren't going to give up that easily.

It's not an ASD specialist provision, and we do not not a need a statement for it. It's just the nursery part of the school that is for SEN. We have spoken to the head of the nursery and she said as it was likely he would be accepted and once he was attending they apply for an assessment as well. It's quite possible they are delaying it, because of the early intervention side of things. Also Anna spoke on the phone to SEN officer before i did, and she mentioned the paediatricians support and she was told that he was new and didn't know how the LEA works. Sounds like they may a policy to refuse everything until threat of appeal.

would it be this one?? 7:25pm on More4 125 mins This double Emmy-winning film, part of the More4 Arts season, follows one woman's pledge to lead a group of autistic children to write, rehearse and perform their own full-length musical.

Hi Karen, when we told the peadiatrician we were requesting an assessment he wrote a letter to LEA, he said he would support us on this. Obviously that didnt sway the panel either. The LEA have put our son forward for a meeting to go to a special school, we have accepted this, but have said that will not be enough to gain him the progress we think can make before he reaches school age. We are also looking at other possible schools in our area, there is a school specifically for autistic children not far away, but it's in another county. We literally live on the border of two counties. Our youngest goes to nursery in one county and the oldest goes to school in another.

I have spoken to our LEA's SEN officer this afternoon and they have decided to let our sons case be seen by the panel again tomorrow, and the next letter they send will have the rights to appeal on it. Just to fill you in on the story. We was first refused begining of july and was told they would aramge an ed psyc to assess him. The ed psyc saw him at nursery on sep 9 th. We then asked how long before the report would be ready and was told in two weeks. So we then decided to request an assessment again, thinking this report would be ready well in time for the panel meeting. Plus we had some new reports from other professionals. During this period we had MDT assessments and a diagnosis of ASD. Once the ed psyc had found about the MDT she decided not to finish her report until after the final MDT meeting. So the report was not ready until 2 days after the panel meeting. We were not pleased at this. but still thought we had enough evidence for an assessment. This request was tuned down again last week. Also i've just spoken a lady from ipsea and she had found out that if you are refused an assessment you can request another assessment a month after and every month after each refusal. The six month wait is only if you've had an assessment that was refused. I can only think the LEA thought we would accept the dicision and not kick up a fuss.

he was 3 on Halloween, we already had several reports saying significant global delay, and a couple of days before his birthday we got diagnosis of ASD. We should get the full reports from MDT over the next couple of weeks. The sen code of practice says "The LEA will then assess the evidence and decide whether the child's difficulties or developmental delays are likely to be addressed only though a statement of special educational needs. Where a child's educational needs appear to be sufficiently severe or complex as to require attention for much of the child's school life, or that the evidence points to the need for specialist early intervention that cannot be provided in the current setting, then the LEA is likely to conclude that an assessment is necessary.” Considering our son is yet to speak, has no other way of really communicating. He does not play with any toys or seek interaction with anybody else unless it involves food or drink. All the reports we have say that. I don't think it can get much more severe and complex than that, and we know it's definitely going to affect all his school life. So what what more do the LEA want? But do we still have a right to appeal this second time?

My mistake, they send us a the second time, and yes they did follow procedure first time.

No i don't think they did, they just sent the form to fill out for the request. We had to phoned them to make sure they were actually reviewing it and were told the date of the panel meeting.

We the parents initially requested an assessment towards the end of may this year, and it got turned. WE weren't surprised as at that time we didn't have as much evidence. Now he has been assessed by several, so we requested an assessment again and it was refused again by the panel last week. It was said he didnt meet the criteria the first time, and second time it just said decision unchanged.