bensmum2

Hi Sally thanks for that , that is just what i need, this part is really the lea trying to say he needs no OT but it's not all about OT and the tribunal accepted the holistic approach of the school. i did look at ipsea case law but obviously missed that one, so thanks for that it will be a great help. Karen The fees wont' actually decrease even if the Ot provision is changed , but if it stays the sam the lea may have to pay out more when it isn't necessar, thye will also have to attend regular reviews which the dont wnat to do!This is just the lea trying to wriggle out of paying for the independent reports with everything they can think of, its not actually relevant to whether they should pay for the reports or not really, as the final tribunals decision was mostly based on evidence the lea had before i even applied for a statutory assessment. So my arguement is that if they had acted on that evidence , i would not have needed to get the reports, but as they ignored all the advice they forced me into getting them to confirm my sons problems. They have said they weren't necessary as they only said the same thing as their own reports, so i sais i agree but i had to get them cos they ignored their own reports and they forced me into getting further evidence. I have done waht i can now and just await the outcome, thanks again ladies x

Yes it is less, the lea have agreed to chnage it at annula review an i couple of weeks, as it also states the lea have to attend meetings a lot, and they arent willing to do that, but ithey havent mentioned that , and i havent got that in writing.I have told the school i want him included with the others but as the statement is so specific they need to make sure it's done right x

Hi Kathryn , i can see what you are saying , but going to tribunal has cost us loads we almost had to sell our home and i need to try to get some back if i possibly can. The provision he needs is already available in the special school, but it is part of the everyday curriculum with the other children , in a miaistream it would not have been available and so wud have needed to come out of class to have the OT. The statement was written with no named school at first , and so they provision had to suit any school, the lea were ignoring his needs and didnt put any OT in at all,but our side needed it to be there in case he didnt get the special school so his ot needs would eb met. His needs are far more than OT, however the tribunal decided he couldn't cope with the sensory overload at mainstreeam, and i did say several times, he would need less help if he went to the special school as it's all part of the curriculum. i even said it in the tribunal when they asked me what he needed in my opinion. I just reosumed at thta school he woudl go into their programs like the others and with the others, as one of the other problems was he always felt differetn due to being separated from his peers and out of class most of the time and the beauty of this special school is that they all do the same stuff together therapy included, so the one to one in the statement would separate him again. Another example they also put a "time out card" in there ,which he won't need in this school, but would have been essential at mainstream . It has been sorted between the school and LEA, but in reply to my claim for the costs, they are using my email asking them to change the provision so that he isnt segregated and can do OT wiht his peers, they are trying to use it as evidence thta he never needed the OT provision in the first place! Having said that they are also lying to the tribunal saying they were not informed i was going for independant reports, when there is proof that they were told at a case management hearing with me, them and a tribunal judge in May, they are just trying to use anything they can and i'm not going to let them get away with it.If i can't find this case law i will go with what i already have, Thanks again for your advice x

Hi my sosn statement stipulates one hour a month ot and 15 minutes a day ot 1 to 1,he is in a special school (won at tribunal) and they already teach living skils and have their own ot rpograms in place which he would really benefit from in small groups,as i have asked the LEA to change the statement they are trying to use it against me saying he didnt need that much in the first place and we only said he did to get him in the special school.But the statement had to suit a manistream as well and in mainstream he would have needed that. But i dotn want him taken out of class all the time when he can join in with others, i even said this at tribunal, does anyone know of any case law or anything that covers this area, the reason they are doung this is that i am trying to claim costs for the tribunal and they are saying this proves he didnt need the ot in the first place and my reports that i am claiming for were unneccessary so they shouldnt pay for them,.

,Went out to lunch today end of Bens first week tomorow and he's already in love, a bit worried how he will cope with the homework. he never used to do it , he was so stressed eh just cried till either we did it or we gave up trying!!

Thanks everyone,i havent had time to breathe yet though , but i have started training to be a helpline volunteer for ipsea who have helped me loads so that will occupy my mind for a while !! I'm also planning to be a "lady who lunches at least once a week, lol !!

Hi all, My son started hsi enw school yesterday and he loves it, it was a bit of a shock to him i think after so long at home, but he has already been put up a set in maths and ICT, time we had sucj a long fight as a ot of you know and it is so worth it to see him happy and with people like himself. Time and time again we rpove to these LEA's that our children do better with the right help but they still wont listen, but i just wanted to say , it's all worth it in the end so keep on fighting as longas it takes and thanks again to everyone on here who has helped and kept me going through our long battle for this x

Hi sorry i didn't realise that about scotland,but even if it's not the same system i would have thought you could start the process for whatever help he can get yourself, in england we can make a parental request for a statement, which is what i did.speak to someoe like IPSEA or ACE if they can't help because you are in scotland, i'm sure they will point you in the right direction they both have helplines and you can find them on the internet. Good Luck x

Hi , have you spoken to school about statutory assessment? is he on shcool action or school action plus? He would need a statement to go into one of these units and maybe if he had one he would get more help at school anyway and cope better. Talk to school again about statementing,rather than just OT. They told me my son was achieving too high for a statement, but by year 6 school made him so ill and by the middle of year 8 he had missed so much i ended up home schooling through year 9, He has matured and gained more independance in that time but we still fought for the help he needs,we went to tribnunaL in September and we won . He has a place at a special school as the tribunal ruled that whatever help a mainstream could give him academically , he just couldn't cope with the sensory side and he wouldn't be able to learn in such an environment. He starts his new school tomorow, in a class of 7 !! whta i'm saying is , even if eh is bright and clever they are supposed to consider the emotional side as well. During his assesment , i was told by all the professionals that he wouldn't get a statenent for emotional needs, but i argued how he feels about himself and the environment he is in, directly affects his academic performance.When he is calm he achieves more. The LEA argued back but the tribunal accepted it. Good luck x

Hi yes its definately about money, isn't that what all SEN arguements boil down to. FANTASTIC NEWS ANYWAY GUYS SCHOOL TOLD THE LEA IF THEY INSISTED ON SO MANY MEETINGS THEY WOULD HAVE TO ATTEND THEM ALL AND I ASKED FOR A PRIVATE TUTOR UNTIL IT WAS SORTED AS THEY HAVE ALREADY ADMITTED THEY CAN'T PROVIDE ANY OTHER SCHOOL FOR HIM AMD AS HE HAS BEEN REREGISTERED WITH THE LEA SINCE SEPTEMBER THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING AN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION , THEY BACKED DOWN, SCHOOL SIGNED AND ACCEPTED IT AND THEY ARE GOING TO DO AN ANNUAL REVIEW IN A MONTH AND ASK FOR THE CHANGES THEN WHICH THE LEA HAVE AGREED TO CONSIDER AT THAT TIME!!! HE IS STARTING SCHOOL MONDAY 11TH tHANKS TO YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT ONCE AGAIN. NOW WE JUST HAVE TO GET RESIDENTIAL ADDED LOL X

Hi again ladies, i have provided th shcool with all his reports even my private ones as far as i can remember. The original proposed statement had no OT at all and i emailed the school (i have a copy of this ) to say we were going to get OT provision added. They never asked me about it again and as we were thrashing the statement out with changed made almost daily i didnt send them another copy. the tribunal asked them directly about OT and they said they could provide all he needed by buying it in but thta all these things coem out of the fees they charge and they re woudl be no extra charge to the lea. as we coudltn agree on parts 3b and 4 of the working document the tribunal judge went through it nd said what he thought we shoudl leave in or remove, the problem is that if B had been at mainstream he would have needed the extra OT so we had to leave it in just in case , but at the new school they have help with daily living skills and things which otherwise would have had to be provided by an OT and also they have programs already in place but they would not be one to one which his statement specifically states. The termly report states a 2 hour meeting with parents and everyone and a report which is really excessive , as the school is quite far and i cant travel on my own being disabled , my husband would have to take time off work and he has used most of his holidays during our fight with appointments and tribunals. I agree the school have messed up but they havent put anything in writing about not charging extra , but also there s enough oT already there that he could join with and i would be happy with that as it would mean he wasnt segregated again i dont like him being out of class all the time. i only found all thsi out about tea tiem sih so will speak to ipsea ace sendist etc tomorow. But the lea lady had checked her emails from home about 10 tonight and replied "it is a legal dcoument ordered by the tribunal and can not be changed !!" I thought my fight was over i have been crying for ages even when B went to bed i couldnt stop i didnt want him to see me but i just couldnt hold it in any longer.If he doesnt get into this school there is nowhere for him. He's missed so much he will never catch up .

Hi , we won our tribunal and 3 weeks ago we got the decision and the amendments to be made to parts 3 b and 4 of the working document, today the lea sent the new named school (my choice) the new statement. At hte tribunal the school said they could meet ll his OT needs out of their budget without charging any more ot the lea, Now thta they have the finla statement they are saying they only said thta because they thought he didnt need much OT and the statement asks for termly reports, a full hour a month ot and 15 minutes per day one to one ot, the school say thast excessive and they could not do that in the price they quoted pluys it would take my son out of class much more than he should be.(which i agree with) , they do have ot programs for other children and he could be part of that very easily but they say reports once a term are too much and they propose "monitoring" instead , again i agree. The lea flatly refuse to chancge it.If he had been in mainstream school he would have needed these things in place, but with the new school he would fit nicely into their already running sessions but they dont fit with the wording of the statement. A i siad the LEA say its now a legal document and has to remain in force , but the school say if it does they will say they can't meet his needs and then the lea can get their name taken off the statement causing even more problems for my son who should be in year 10, can anyone advise me please ?

Thanks again everyone, i am feeling more positive today as we have been for lunch at the school, my normally quiet,hesitant son was laughing and joking with the others, he played wii on a 50"lcd screen and had a big crowd of girls round him (if you can call it a nig crowd in a school with only 40 pupils) He loved it and was so different because he feels he fits in there, i was watching him with tears in my eyes. Sally we DID get our name cleared as whilst all this was going on he got his diagnosis of Aspergers, and they still forced him to go back to school , but when he ran out i decided enough was enough and we asked the social services to help, they did a report saying although he has complex needs, we are such good parents that we meet all of his needs (which of course means they dont have to help us, but once he's in school i wont need them anyway!!),but once they have said these things and it only ever got as far as an initial secret meeting between people who had never met us, it was just the phone calls to try to "dig some dirt" on us !! Thyey never actually accused us to our face, just said it was being considered,Since i deregistered him tings ahve been much better and now we have won our tribunal, the only thing left for them to do is delay !! While i was writing this i had a call from a lady who is helping me , the lea have todl ehr they will have things in writing by thisweekedn and as long as the school return their copies early next week , they will discuss a start date. so fingers crossed it will be 11thoctober all being well, this ahs been such a long time coming thanks again ladies x

Hi Ladies , thanks for the swift responses, i know they have 5 weeks to amend the statement, but only 2 weeks to amend the named school which is a bit silly cos thats part of the statement, the tribunal told them exactly what to put in the statement so its not rocket science for them lol. There doesnt seem to be a time limit on them actually allowing him to start at the shcool though.#Thanks for all your suggestions, but during the past year i have been refused help from my MP becasue the lea tried to say we were causing our sons problems and they were threatening child protection, despite 4 or 5 doctors letters going back a couple of years, so when i went for help to the mp he said he couldnt help me and i had to "co-operate" with them lea. I emailed and rang the dcsf and wrote to Ed Balls 3 times and got standard replies, the sdcsf did ring the lea once but were told the same about child protection and they said there was nothing they could do. i went to the ombudsman because of the way the lea was treating us and also as they failed to provide an alternative form of education even though my son was unable to go to school due to how ill it made him, they took over a year to decide on the case and in the end i lost!!! so the lea dont see them as a threat anymore cos they are a total waste of space,I have also written and emailed the director of childrens services on many occassions and in fact only wrote to him about an unrelated issue 2 days ago,a previous letter i had sent being answered by accusing me of being a liar. But if you ask me he remebers my name from when the lea tried to say we were abusing our son, so he won't listen to anything i say !! Unfortunately we can ttake legal action either as we dont get legal aid , earleir in the year we had to pay to go to court to get access to our grandson and it floored us financially and on top of that i have had to hoem school my son ofr the whoel of year 9 and pay for 2 college courses and a private tutor for him , plus it has cost over £3,000 for all the private reports for the tribunal and we are still paying that , this has really floored us and if it gets any worse we might have to sell our house !! it seems we will just ahve to wait till theya re ready, i will try the dcsf again tomorow and send, i was even thinking of ringing the education welfare officers, my sons education is non existent right now and being in year 10 he is missing important coursework he hasnt even made any choices for his exasm necasue we didn't now where he would be. The lea know all this but are sill taking as long as they can. I will get onto it again tomorow again , It seems the fight never ends !!!

Having won our tribunal and had our preferred special non maintained out of area school accepted by them, 2 weeks after the decision, the lea are still refusing to name a date for my son to start school and it seems there's nothing i can do. They have these time limits for the lea to do stuff, but if they don't, the tribunal don't actually do anything , you have to go to the dcsf who i have been to several tiems in the past and got nowhere. The lea officer who is dealingw ith it was off for a week, and now she is back she can't amend the statement or send the contract to the new school until next thursday and wont even give me a provisional date until she has doen this, even though the school have held a place for him for 9 months now and transport is already in place for another pupil.Ot wpuldn't be so bad but he is in year 10 and is missing coursework !! any ideas anyone?

Hi the paed is all just part of the assessment my son had 2, one in 2008 when he got a note in lieu and one in 2009 after they ignored the note in lieu and we went for a statutory assessment again, they just ask you questions ,check thhe childs general health, weight , height, have they got asthma etc, and i found both ours really good, as both times their reports summarised all his needs on one report rather than having 5 or 6 different places talking about one part of his complex needs,and when we later needed evidence of all his needs for another reason ,the paed report was short and to the point and included everything , don't worry about this, it will be fine , good luck with the rest of the asessments too x

Thanks all, when i told Ben he just said o can i have macdonalds i am still on a high will keep u updated on events xxx

HI ALL I WANT TO SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS WE GOT THE LETTER TODAY WE WON OUR TRIBUNAL OUR SON GETS THE PLACE HE NEEDS FOR HIS LAST 2 YEARS AT SCHOOL I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT WE HAVE FOUGHT SO LONG AND HARD AND ALMOST GIVEN UP ON SO MANY OCCASSIONS THANKS TO EVERYOEN ON HERE WHO KEPT ME GOING, I DOTN KNOW THE FULL DECISION BUT THEY SAID THE LEA'S SCHOOL CUD NOT MEET HIS NEEDS AND THE NON MAINTAINED SPECIAL SCHOOL CUD AND ALTHOUGH IT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE , IT WAS FELT THAT IT WAS JUSTIFIED EXPENDITURE FROM THE PUBLIC PURSE !!! FOR ANYONE WHO IS FIGHTING ON COSTS OUR SCHOOL WAS ABOUT £12,000 A YEAR MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE LEA ONE!! MY CASE WAS VERY COMPLEX BUT IT JUST SHOWs STAND YOUR GROUND AND KEEP FIGHTING !!!! THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE WITH THE SPARE TIME I HAVE WHEN HE STARTS SCHOOL I AM GOING TO BECOME AN IPSEA VOLUNTEER TRY TO HELP OTHERS LIKE THEY HAVE HELPED ME!!

In my fight for the right placement for my son over the past 6 years, i have heard the words "cope" and manage" manytimes, it is notenought to cope and manage when by law he has the right to enjoy ans achieve both acdemically and socially, and be happy and confident with who he is. This will never happen while he has to "cope and manage" x

well i cant give money as i am still paying off all my private reports, so i will give time instead, they ahve all been so brilliant they have inspired me, and i have been told on severla occassions i have thought of things they woudln't have so i might even be good at it x

Hi Ladies, my ipsea rep was called Sam and he was from liverpool, was a bit apprehensive as he hadnt seen the file until the final bundle from sendist came about a week before the tribunal, and it was 599 page!! on the day he was brilliant, he knew the file back to front, he quoted the law in several places (he is a barrister too)He didnt say all that i wanted him to say even though we were in there from 10 till 4 40 with only half an hour break!! But he definately said enough, i would say his summing up was a bit weak, but the tribunal panel were as familiar with the bundle as he was and that helped.However even after he summed up myself and my husband were asked if we wanted to add anything so we both said a few words. the lea ed psych has always agreed with me and she even came back to see me after the statement was written and told me she was sorry they didnt have to do what she said in her report, it was just recomendations, but when i saw her name on their witnesses i wondered why they were using her!! She said in an ideal world there would be a mainstream where Ben could get everything he needed , but it is not an ideal world. And when they asked her for the disadvantages of both schools, she said she could only list the advantages of the independant one we want!! i cant remember what these were as my mind went into party mode for a few minutes when she said that lol!!!The difference in cost was £12,00o tbh, but the lea had to admit they had not costed all the staff training and would need to take on a new TA, and get outside services in, whereas our school said the fees incuded any and all outside support and staff were already trained and in place !! They were very fair and the lea were unprepared for the questions they were asked. I was trying to point out how many years we had been failed by the lea but they werent interested in anything from the past.even 2 dasy on i cant think of anything thta we shoudl ahve said , "TEAM BEN" came good on the day,the lea were asked if our school could fully meet his needs and they said they had no doubts , they were only arguing that it was not an efficient use of their funds. I am hoping to hear this week or very early next week i will repost a new topic eithe rway. It feels very odd now after the past few years just waiting, but i have made one decision, i am applying to be an IPSEA volunteer, they have doen so much for me !!!

[quote name='julie1' --> when i was at tribunal the pannel said they would not be including travel costs as there was a taxi already going to the school of my choice with space so there would be no extra costs to the LA. hope that helps Hi just to let you know i was very hopeful after reading thsi post, but at our tribuinal , even though the lea accepted thta it wud not cost anymore to send my son in the taxi thta already goes there, the chairman judge knapp, divided the cost between the 2 pupils, both i and my IpSEA rep objected but he didnt reply just wrote down what we said , so we have to wait for the decision now, it just shows,one judge can make a decision and another one can look at things much differently!!

Hi Thanks again for your support and the candle, it was hard going today and we still have no decision , the lea's ed psych was put on the spot several times,and answered in our favour!! At least she was honest!! Someone told me at thier tribunal because another child already went to their preferred school, the judge refused to discuss transport costs so i was very hopeful, however , although at the last minute the lea agreed it wouldnt cost them one penny extra to send my son with the other pupil that already goes, the judge decided to split the cost between the two of them, which both we and our ipsea rep felt was unfair. It just shows it depends on the panel at the ned of the day. We still have no decision but we could nto have doen any more and the panel were very fair apart from that on the transport costs. will repost the result on a new thread when we get the decision x

Thanks again ladies we are just getting our final papers together, just heard from my rep they have been talking more than i thought with the lea , i feel we have a good case,i will post tomorow when we get back its taken us 6 yeasr to get here and i am not going to give in now i will see it right through and od whatever i have to do x

Hi Carol, our tribunal is tomorow i will post the result, you should have sight of the working document now,if not very soon , i had never even heard of a working diocument until 3 weeks ago !!! basically the lea tell you what they want to do and you agree/disagree and argue till the tribunal . we have basically agreed p[arts 2 and 3 aits jusdt the provision we are still arguing about and it will be sorted on the day hopefully,have you had private reports done? ifnot its probably too late there are people on htis forum who know much more than me start a new topic and they will hopefully send you some great replies, they have kept me going over the past year and its crunch time tomorow , although we may have to wait up to 10 days for a decision i am going to request them to do it urgently .xx