Hi there. I am new to this forum, and wondered if anybody would be able to help with some advice. I live in a well-populated town within Dorset, which is particularly relevant to my request for advice. I would like to remain discreet regarding the borough in which I live and my details for what will I hope will be fairly obvious reasons.
My child was diagnosed 15 months ago as ASD, having at the time been a month away from being 4 years old. Early Years Action Plus support was allocated, which meant 15 hours per week of 1:1 support. Myself and my wife applied for a statement of special needs last summer which was rejected by the local LEA. Clearly in these austere times, Councils have difficulties with their finances, however this particular LEA are notorious for being unwilling to issue statements.
My child has since September 2010 been at our local mainstream school. It is a good school, however it is becoming increasingly apparent that on the two days per week where the structured support is not given, there are real problems as little attention is paid to our child. This is not a criticism of the School or the Reception teacher, the reality is there are 29 other children for the teacher and TA to consider. The need for a statement is abundantly clear not only to myself and my wife, but also the school itself.
The mainstream school are currently having to fund the 15 hours’ support my child gets; it is clearly therefore in their interests that a statement is awarded. They have been gathering evidence on an ongoing basis and will be going back to the LEA Multi-Agency Group later this year with a renewed attempt to get a statement. However, given my aforementioned cynicism about the local LEA, I am not optimistic about the outcome. And I feel these are crucial years for my child.
I believe my child could flourish in a mainstream school environment, but only with a statement, and we need that as soon as possible. We are looking into getting separate specialist private tuition, though clearly this will not be cheap and not something we could realistically afford a large quantity of.
Myself and my wife have both lived in the borough in question since we were born. However we are now considering making the desperate move of selling our home to move into a borough which is more sympathetic to the educational needs of children. Would anybody be willing to recommend a borough within the Dorset / Hampshire / Wiltshire area whose LEA has a good history of giving disadvantaged children the opportunity of a fulfilling education? It seems bizarre to sell our home on the off-chance we could get a statement elsewhere, but we fear we may potentially have little choice.
Thank you for reading this and I would be truly grateful for any advice.
