caci

A bit off topic, but my neice (NT) is in YR 11 at a big mainstream secondary, and her school have decided not to do work experience at all this year. It seems they have done it in previous years, but have now decided it is not justified. I suspect that an incresing number of kids just took the fortnight off as there just aren't enough work experience opportunities for 240+ 15/16 year olds around here.

I requested stat assessment in Jan 2008, and it was initially refused in April, as the school hadn't provided correct paperwork. I applied for a tribunal date and was given one in July 2008. The LEA backed down at 5.00pm the night before tribunal date, however as this was July, we had to wait until school re-opened in Sept to get various details. I think the initial draft statement was recieved in late Oct, but had to go back for amended. That took until Dec 2008 and then was sent back again for further details to be corrected. I think the final statement was March 2009, so actually 14 months in total. Hopefully Justine1 will have a much quicker result.

I agree - don't wait any longer. It seems the minimum time to get a statement agreed is 6 months, but sadly, it is often much longer. Ours took 15 months. Always keep copies of EVERYTHING you send and post everything using recorded delivery.

Justine1 - Where in the country are you ? I am in London Borough Bromley.

I worked as an ISA (individual support assistant) with a child who got her statement part way through year 2. At the end of the year, she stayed in year 2 (and so did I) , and then we moved up each year through the school with the new year group. She transfered to secondary with her new year group and hasn't been expected to skip a year. She is now in year 10 (although based on her age should be year 11) I think it depends on your LEA. Our borough don't encourage it, but do allow it. I know of 2 or 3 other individuals who, for various reasons, are in a lower year group than their age.

I have no experience of this, but could you make your own enquiries about transport costs just to check the figures that are being quoted ? Does the nearer school have several pupils near you who would share a minibus and escort, where as the other school would require a private taxi and escort ? Do you need a special vehicle (wheelchair friendly etc?) or would a minicab be OK ? I think as the whole LEA is based on "best use of resources" (= MONEY), you may have some success if you can prove your school is not as expensive for transport as they are saying it is.

My 11.5 yr old has about 20 toys of various sizes in his bed. He also has a rubber cover from one of the Wii remotes and a rubber toilet plunger !! My only concern is something getting left in the tangle of sheets when I put the covers through the wash.

Jeanne - I think 2.5 weeks is a long time to be ill with a cold type thing. I can usually think in terms of 3 - 5 days here. I think Glenn is probably still feeling unwell, and that is why he is lethargic (sp?). Even if he is over the physical symptoms he is probably still feeling confused as to what happened when he was ill. It must be very scary to have a sore throat, headache etc and not understand that these things are temporary and will go away. Maybe let things carry on for a couple more weeks, and if he is still not showing any signs of doing things, talk to yor GP ?

I think the reason they don't want to come to your house is probably based on the fees they charge. I have no idea how much a lesson is, but if a tutor can be at home and the pupils come to him/her, then the charge would only be for the time of the lesson, whereas if a tutor was travelling they would need to charge for that time too.

Our son is 11yrs (PDD-NOS) and if he is feeling insecure, he will bring a large cuddly toy dog downstairs with him each morning. Normally his cuddly toys are out of sight in his room, but if he is worried, he feels the need to carry one with him. This tends to stop after a while, then comes back. To be honest, I accept this, and let him continue to do it for as long as he needs to (usually a couple of weeks at a time) I suppose the quilt is the same thing, a security blanket. Would you prefer a cuddly toy? If you would, then does your son have any that you could re-introduce ?

I think you made the right choice too Fingers crossed you have a good weekend, and then next week things can get back to normal (before half term !!) Carol

Is there any chance of being moved to another room, maybe in another hall of residence ? I know it is hard to move mid year but there might be a space somewhere.

I've just had another thought, when our son has a blocked nose he really panics as he thinks he can't breathe. He does know, and understand, that it is fine to breathe through your mouth, but at night he really can't cope so he wants to sit up all night rather than lay down. Sorry, not much help but lots of understanding Carol XX

I don't know your son at all, but when our son (11yrs old - PDD-NOS) is ill ,he reverts to liking things for a much younger age group. For example, instead of playing 18 rated games on XBox live, he will happily sit and watch CBeebies on TV. I don't know why this is. Maybe being ill is such hard work that he feels the need not to have to think about anything ? Maybe you could try putting on a DVD that he enjoyed when he was younger and sitting with him to watch it. Carol

We have a Khyam Ontario 8. It is a tunnel tent, so fairly easy to put up and it has bedroom at each end. It is tall enough to stand up in too. If you look on ukcampsite.co.uk you can read lots of reviews of various tents - take your pick.

Is he able to tell you what he thought Beavers would be like ? What he thought Beavers do ? It might be that he imagined a very different thing. Is it posssible he was expecting real beavers (the animals?) - our children can take things SO literally sometimes.

Wellies last very well. I am faily sure I have the same pair now as when I went to Guide camp. I was 51 last birthday !!

If boring green wellies are acceptable, there were still some left in Homebase (Sainsburys?).They were normal pre-snow prices too.

Yes. It's snowing here on the West Kent/East Surrey border

I am assuming this is something "bad"?. I too would like to think everything would be properly recorded, however I have been known to send letters, recorded delivery, and copied to head, class teacher, SENCO and chair of Govenors explaining what I had heard/been told and asking for their comments. (Just in case someone else has been too busy to keep proper records)

I think you will find an Ed phyc report has to be carried out in conjunction with the whole process. In our case, our son had already been seen at school, but a further, more detailed assessment was carried out. I think most schools get a visit from the Ed Pscy once a term, so it might be worth asking if you son can be put on the waiting list to be seen. What yr is your son in ? In this borough the transfer to yr 7 review is carried out in the Summer term of yr 5 (for those with a statement).

I was also told by my son's primary headteacher that he wouldn't get a statement, as he got good results in his SATS. This was in Yr 4. I ignored this "advice" and requested a statutory assessment, and a referal to CAMHS, and OT and SaLT. We also paid for an independant OT report. After a lot of paperwork, the borough agreed to an assessment After a couple of rejected statements we got a reasonable level of suppprt in yr 5 and M now (yr 7) has 1 of only 3 places in a specialist language and communication support group within a special secondary school. Keep pushing. If you feel the school, either this one, or secondary, will not be able to fully need all your son's needs (not just academic ones) then you will need a statement.

I don't know how old your son is, or his level of understanding, but when I worked in the Autitic Unit of a mainstream primary school we used the phrase "finished" together with a makaton? sign . If a child needed to be told to stop whatever it was they were doing/talking about we would say "Kieran, Thomas film is FINISHED" and do the sign. It also applied to talking about dinosaurs ("Sam, talking about dinosaurs is FINISHED") Sometimes you might add the next thing too so " Lucy, playing with dolls is FINISHED. Time for story" . Some children will stop if they know whatever is coming next is an acceptable (to them) alternative to whatever is FINISHED It sounds quite blunt, but sometimes the children can not grasp when to stop without this prompt. Maybe in your case you need something like " Liam, talking to man is FINISHED. Time for walking"

Not much help, but unfortunately true..........I have worked as an ISA with several children in mainstream schools and I have only seen their statements when I have made a point of asking !! I had been an ISA for about 3 years before I started on the process of getting a statement for our son. Only then did I realise what it was all about and how important it is for ALL concerned to have access to the information.

In our case, I got a message on our answerphone at 5.00pm the day before the tribunal saying the LB had now agreed to assess. It was a good job I was at home later that evening to pick up the message, otherwise I may have been at the tribunal waiting....