jen

just keep calm and present your case jen

What does you educational psy say? Does she have an up to date statement? If the ed psy supports your case and your child psychatry support your case then you needs a reassessment of her needs. If your childs statement is not up to date eg all her diagnosises then you can ask for your statement to be amended. This does take 6 months from start to finish. If you are not happy with the finalised statement then you can go to tribunal questioning her placement. Do the school feel her needs are being met if not then her statement needs to be changed. You need to ask for updates assessments from everyone involved with your child and get everything in writing, Keep detailed records of any problems your child is having at school and at the LEA. Jen

my friend was also having the same problem with her two boys. They would not go to sleep or they kept waking up in the night. She has taken everything out of the room and justed left a bed in and plain curtain, she has repainted the walls is a soft relaxing colour. With the help of the melatonin both boys now go to bed at 8pm with a book and they are asleep within 30 minutes. She can not believe the difference. Jen

In my sons old infant school we had a headmistress who believed ASD children were just naughty, a SENCO who always dressed up to the T for review meetings (to impress the male visitors) and was useless at being a SENCO. One day we were talking and I told the Senco GOD had sent my son to their school to make them look at what they were doing so they could become better teachers!!! Jen

Apparently it is called an SEN budget an AEN (Additional Educational needs) ARRANGEMENTS FOR FUNDING FOR PROVISION FOR PUPILS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 2005-06 IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS Following recent Fair Funding consultation, I am now able to give you further details about how funding for special needs provision will be arranged from April 2005. 1. Pupils Without Statements - Provision at School Action and School Action Plus It is already the case that children with special needs are entitled to the same level of educational provision as any other child in your school. In addition for 2005/06, over ?3m of additional funding has been allocated through the SEN Audit formula factor of the Fair Funding Formula. Other funding from Standards Fund grants for 2005/06 continue to include Vulnerable Children's Grant and Behavioural Improvement Programme Grant Makes you wonder where it all went!! Jen

in our area it is difficult to move a child from mainstream school to special school. Jen

On the edge - you are funny. We do not have a large amount of Irish people in the area to work out why the majority are RC Jen

What does that mean? Jen

I was wondering how many of our children have support if so how much? Are certain LEAs more generous with the support. Is the child in mainsteam school or special. Are the school happy with the support. Is the child statemented. Have you been or going to tribunal My child has a statement. My child is aged 8 years in mainstream school LSA for 25 hours. School would like more increase in hours. Been to tribunal once and in the process of going again. Jen

We were discussing religion in our ASD support group. 90% of the parents in the group are RC. It this a coincidence or what Jen

I would ask for a meeting with the headteacher (senco) and class teacher to discuss the issue. Take parent parnership with you. I would say you are not happy with the way the situation was handled because part of his disability is he is not able to concentrate. I would ask how they are going to deal with this situation when it arises again (because it will). Depending on how they answer I would say they are discriminating against your sons special needs and if this happens again you will be making a claim. Ask the teacher he she has the knowledge and experience to teach your child if she does not then she should get some training. Jen

Schools do not pay for ed psy visits or VTS/SSS. As I have said before the school can use it for resources or to support the special needs children. Teachers are payed out of there normal pay. There is a budget for the SENCO and this is to give her time to contact people and complete paper work. You can always telephone your LEA and ask for a breakdown of the local budget given to children for SEN budget and what extra payment they get for specials needs children. There is the freedom of information act so you are entitled to this information. Obviously schools will not state what they have because parents will actually challenge them about using the money to support specail needs children. Jen

I would go into school and ask the teachers if they can recall how your child was in year 1(teachers tend to have sort memories from my personal experience). Go over what she was like then state at the moment she is going into school happy and unless the VST/SSS suggest otherwise you will continue doing the same thing. Your priority is to get your child to go into school happy and confident changing what you do will have a negative effect on her. Remind the staff lots of ASD children can not cope with the playground first thing in the morning. Jen

In our local special school the escorts go into the school for the last 15minutes of the day to see what the children are like in school and also to pass messages onto parents at the other end. Jen

During half term week I took my son(ASD) to MACD (normally he goes 2 or 3 times a year). Next day my older son took my son (ASD) to the shops and they stopped and got a MACD but I was not aware of it. For the whole week he was terrible he was short tempered had meltdowns and concentration was poor. Needless to say we will not be visiting there again even for a treat. Jen

If your daughter leaves you and goes to line up when the bell rings than this is not a problem. You are responsible for her until she leaves your side so if you wish to wait with your daughter than this should not be an issue. My son would go into the playground and then we would have to sit in the quiet area because it was too much for him, as soon as the bell went he use to go to line up (on most occasions). Does your child have SSS going in to see her if so contact them, you can get the number from the LEA or school (some schools are reluctant to give you the number).Then explain the schools concerns I am sure it will not be a concern of the SSS they can then tell the school and your problem is sorted. If I had concerns about my child and the teachers I would always speak to the SSS or Ed psy who use to go into school and sort out the problem. That way you are not upsetting anyone and your childs needs are being addressed. Jen

That is correct the school can spend it any way they see fit. But it should be used to support children so it could be used in the playground, extra TA in a class for a few hours. We are going to tribunal against the LEA for my childs statement. Now the LEA have offered 25 hours and his school have offered 5 hours to support him at dinner time from the SA+ budget Jen

If you child has wondered off and got into the car park then this is a safety hazard. What have the school done about this. If nothing put it in writing to the school governors and LEA stating it is a safety risk and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Then something will be done. Jen

M has a problem and regardless weather you or someone puts a name to it or there are discussions what to call it the child should come first. I would write to the school and the LEA stating the child has problems and regardless what you call it or do not call it his problems need to be addressed. Having a private diagnosis will help also ask the LEA for a second opinion but ask how the first one came to his conclusion what assessement criteria did he use. Jen

Caroling, you may find once he is in a mainstream school it will be difficult to move him to a special schools. LEA believe if the child can manage in a mainstream school than they stay there because it is cheaper. Jen

They will probably start off with different textures then expand from there. I suppose different substance have different temperatures. But it will be interesting to know I will ask my sons sensory OT on Friday. Jen

10 hours out of a school budget is generous. But you need to make an appointment and ask how this 10 hours is going to be divided. Ask the questions you have asked here and see what the answer is. Even with statements some children will get 4, 8 ,10 hours so it does not mean having a statement will guaranty you more hours. If you go to tribunal some people on panels believe if a child needs more than 12 hours support they should be going to a special school because it is using funding inappropiately. Other people on panels will award full time LSA support at mainstream school. If your child is in year 1, is there a classroom assistant in the class for part of the day. If so he could have the 2 hours support when the classroom assistant is not there. It is not easy saying how many hours a child needs but it is essental to monitor your child and ask is he accessing the curriculum. I could always tell when my child iwas having difficulties because he would have meltdowns at school. It can take several years to get the right support. You can always ask for a statement it is your right, however lots of LEA discourage you from obtaining one. Jen

I have just been told by my advisor that if children are on action plus then the school automatically get funding for 5 hours added to there school budget. Did any one else know this. Obviously the school are reluctant to spend it on the child. Jen

I think its about challenging her sensory to a high level she can cope with. Sometimes the OT goes too far and meltdowns occur other times she does not go far enough. It also depends what mood and how the child is feeling when they go to the OT. The OT should also have activities your child can participate in to reduce sensory input. Jen

A poem is about emotion yours made me cry Jen