admum

Im not an expert, but I think it may be best to let them finalise statement omitting asd and then you can appeal. Provided you have given them evidence of the diagnosis it will help in the appeal. Its an importnat fact to be taken into consideration and im sure that a tribunal will not be impressed by the lEa failing to include in part 2 and presumably also explain its impact on your child. Needs identified in part 2 must be met in part 3 and so you will also be presumably appealing part 3 and part 4 (named school). Once they finalise you have to act quickly. Dont accept second best now as the others have said it may be detrimental. If hes been out of school so long a few more months wont matter but a bad school could cause untold damage. A head taecher who thinks they can break a child is clearly inappropriate. You need advice from ipase and the nas advice line. Look at asd schools. You may need to consider boarding. Good luck.

hope you dont mind, Son is 9 and currently looking at schools for secondary transfer/,Son has dx of aspergers adhd and dyspraxia. There are no asd units locally and so have had to consider boarding. Son has high iq but has significant difficulties with maths. We are told however that he should be A level material provided in the right setting. We have looked at baording and saw one this week which he liked- provided that we could solve bedwetting prior to transfer -in just over a year. The school has experience and training of aspergers but is mainly Spld. Can anyone point me in the right direction re social skills training at secondary level for high functioning kids. Im worried that he wont cope as when schools gets too much at present he can come home and have a meltdown.How will his contemporanies view this or will it be too much to "normalise" 24/7. He was quite positive about the idea of boarding but at 10 im worried that he thinks its like harry potter. If he was a bit older i think id be much happier. How have others coped?

Hia Anne. Son is 9 nearly 10 with dx of aspergers, adhd and dyspraxia. Daughter who is 4 is now on a 2 year waiting list for a social comms assessment which was recommended by her paediatrician- the same one who suspected son had asd. My daughter is v different to son but I see some sihns which wory me. Her nursery dont accept it but then they dont think my son appears asd either. Its probably a case that were more tuned in. Ever find yourself in a shop thinking that a child you spot with autistic behaviours. ? Im not sure about the dx for my daughter. We went to paediatrican as Hv thought had dyspraxia - that was ruled out but they thought her play was rigid. Im not sure if she is copying. Good luck. I know how you feel. At least as someone here said to me youre prepared better second time around.

good luck. im a lwayer and still cant sem to get it right for son. The system stinks. Legal aid should be available for the child and not the parent. That would redress the balance. Oh and yes make the Leas pay when they lose at SENDIST as the reality appears to be that its parents not leas winning. I may be mad cant spell anything more complex at this time of night. I wish that I was a specialist in this area. The :eas seem to have it all too easy.

Have just filled it in. It brought back some v unhappy memories of the way we were treated. I do hope that people take notice of what you say. Im afraid I agree that the system actually does push people through the net - to avoid the cost.

Sorry Mosgrove I know how you feel. We too had a school which didnt accept our sons difficulties despite lots of evidence. Its just that for once id love to be wrong or told that right to be concerned but that its all fine and that they were right. Does that make sense? Im not sure that I have energy to fight for two, though I suppose I will.

Thanks. Ive spoken to the local social comms team. The SALT was reassuring that I should put her on the waiting list which is 2 years! We can afterall take her off if we find that she settles down. Or I suppose go private if it gets more obvious. Should I tell the school about our concerns? I feel like im going mad. The socail comm assessment is a full day with paediatrician, pschologist and SALT. This is different to the hopsital we are with our son as his main dx at 6 was ADHD with Aspergers later. She did have an assessment for dyspraxia and was fine. I was ok about that as I was sure that she was ok. I cant face more appointments and the wait- although I accept that she is not a priority. Is that standard - 2 yeras. All i want is someone to say shes fine and im mad! I find it ridiculous that a child with greater needs should have to wait 2 years. I thought a year was bad enough with my son but once we got in the system it was quicker. It seems a postcode lottery.

Ive posted before but im getting increasingly concerned. 4 year old is due to start school this September. After all the hell with local school and son just sort of left it. Missed deadline and kept thinking something will turn up. Told hubbie it was his turn to find school. What did he do - diddly squat! I work full time he is self employed and so could have tried harder. Found school this week which is near sons school but is out of borough but they have one place - so we went. Seems good. v small, bit cramped but 93 kids not 700 like our local primary. DD -she was awful! Confirmed my fears. Im convinced that she has aspergers. She decded it was a good idea to do tae Kwondo moves in heads office! So frightened. Shes bright - already working way through the oxford reading tree - but clearly poor social skills. When she had paed assessment a while back they offered a social communication assessment. Im sticking my head in the sand but Im so dont want my little girl to be labelled. Since had that the paed assessment have worried and now feel as though going down the same road. She hasnt got dyspraxia but I wonder if shes ADD. Should I take her along to sons next psch appointmnet to ask if they feel she has probs? Or should I just se what happens when she starts school. She doesnt tlak, she sort of shouts. She has imagination but the paed had said she was v rigid in her thinking. She can be literal. She is different to my son but then he has a complex diagnosis. If she doesnt have his learning diffs I may be doing her a disservice by following through with the assessment. Please dont take offence at this. She can focus much better than son but does tend to figit - just not as bad as him. But then perhaps all 4 year olds do this. Not having had a "NT" first im so unsure. Its as if the barrier comes down too quickly and she cant assess what is appropriate. She has been in nursery since 2 so she has been with peers and not just brother. We did wonder if it was copying. She does have friends but ive noticed that she can be overbearing. She gets invited to parties but not to tea. But then we dont invite as I work full time and she goes to nursery where I work not where we live. Im rambling now. If I go for the social comms asessment presumably they will inform the school. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mum to DS 9 Dx ADHD, Aspergers and Dyspraxia and DD 4.

Carole, Im also a member of the adders forum. Would you mind if some parents of children with adhd and some with mixed dx came forward. There have been some awful cases on that forum. I feel that Sen children generally are let down. Im aware of a case where the child was permanently but informally excluded for over a year.He effectively missed the first year and half of secondary education. His main dx was adhd but he also had social comm diffs. Parents have now got him into an independent special school. Can I post the AIM email address?

Just an update. Had meeting with school HT and senco. They are really nice people but they are I think naive. They back SALT and will not get her to change report but have said that they accept he does have social skills probs - just he is much better now and doesnt need SLT as that it for children who are much worse. The idiom they relied on is in fact a proverb - so much for her skillls. I checked what idioms he knew and he knew none except pigs might fly - and that sonly because i have told him it so many times. Im not sure what is age appropriate but although hes 9 he has reading age of nearly 13 which they rely on to say thats why mild. They accepted that hes ok in their small calm environment but that in the o/s world he has diffs. Isnt that why he needs input? Is it normal for a 9 year old to make inappropraite comments on a busy city bus to sb sitting next to him? Doesnt that need help? Just because he can play their stuipid games in a small class setting they think he no longer needs input and other children are much worse in their langauge skills - they even claim he has good understanding of facial expression- . I get the feeling that its all a bit self congratulatory - havent we done a good job- yes but he still has problems! They do at lesat believe that still needs a small school with small class sizes as wont cope with social skills needed for a larger setting. They were v defensive about SALT and obviously felt that I had no right to question. I got v emotional as I feel that they are walking into a trap. If we won at tribunal on costings lea cld remove now and send back to mainstream as no longer needs salt? Can I object to them disclosing the report? Or do I just have to write our comments about report and show inaccuracies? At lesat they will support us through tribunal again.

Thanks Carole. I made the same comment re no such thing as mild. She just kept talking about the spectrum. She did at the end accept that what the school was saying to her didnt accord with what they are telling me. I didnt appreciate that I can submit info to say she is wrong just like parental advice. I feel a bit calmer now and will start drafting a document about his needs. She did accept that hasnt ever considered facial expression but only beacuse not mentioned in previous SLT reports - but I pointed out that the hospital reports make a big issue of it and she said well they werent SLTs! No there a leading UK team- are they making it up ? He needs help as that is part of his communication dificulties. She did admit that have stopped SLT but because review is coming up- I pointed out that NAs had told me not allowed as in statement. Im sure shes well meanng. She kept saying I should be pleased at the fantastic progress he has made- I would be if it were real! She does claim Aspergers experience. We have no choice but to get our own report.

Have spoken to Nas who were brilliant. They have told me to look at the ASLTIP website but it says areas of specialism but of course no way of knowing - experience of high functioning must be relevant. Am phoning around to see who has experience. He has a real problem with facial expression. Should he be getting that as part of his package? We bought those CDs but even if has no language disorder as she suggests he still has a communication problems. I cant get over the comment that "as usually goes hand in hand with a deficit in reading comprehension related to acuracy skills" Ive just notoiced that she has looked at an old report and not the most recent ed psch report which said there was a language disorder. Have just talked to her ie SALT. I think im going mad. She said well he only has mild Aspergers! Really so why was he rocking and humming the other night. Why does he say inappropriate things. She only ses him in school in a structured environment. She has been told by his teacher that is grammar school material - when HIs HT told me 6 months ago to forget entering him for any entrance exams as would be too stressful for him! She has him down as going to uni! When his teacher told me that would never catch up with Maths and no point giving instensive help. She was adamant that As kids do not have high levels of comprehension in language. Her report says no concern re socail skills - but she says that doesnt mean that - god shes a slt is she incapable of saying what she means- I asked her if she doesnt accept the dx and she kept saying how mild he is !

Thanks Carole and Nellie. Salt is quantified as being a social skills session. We didnt get language Salt ie looking at literal interpretations as the school SAlt didnt support what our independent one said. This is a private special school and hence why im concerned. The school specialise in Dyslexia and Dyspraxia ( he has dyspraxia and adhd as well). Im not sure if she is asd qualified - how do I check? Think Salt stopped in March but not sure as know one has told us, just report says no longer needed review in a year. Even when in state school was getting SALT. Ill call IPSEA. Im thinking of getting our own asessment.

Help! Son is 9. Has dx of adhd, dyspraxia and aspergers. Attends small special school and gets weekly OT and until v recently SALT. He has a statement providing for SALT but they have stopped and didnt tell us until this week although report in March. Just got SAlt report from school SALT ( nb not a special autism school) and salt says that no social skills probs!" This is so wrong. They have stopped social skills lessons and she says no longer needs SALT. We won on costings at tribunal and review is coming up. Hes in year 5 and review is to look at provision necessary in secondary. Our ed psych told us last year that she didnt rate this SALT and in fact we had an indep SALT report which recommended more help than this SALt recommended and so at tribunal, school only supported their SALT so although won the SALt was reduced to just social skills. I know that this SALT is wrong. She says he has good eye contact! This is rubbish. Yes on a good day in the right environment he can do it. But stressed or in other settings cant and gets more and more autistic in his behaviour. She only sees him in a structured setting in a classroom. He has been ill with headaches and hates playtime as excluded from playing football etc but she writes that has friends - who? Only last night he sat at the table rocking and humming something that he does increasingly - didnt used to as much. Hes a bright kid and on first appearances on a good day looks NT but when stressed ! This SALT is supposed to be on our side for god sake - its like saying to the lea that the autism dx is wrong ! Im so annoyed i could explode - He was dx by a leading specialist centre and seen by many professionals - how can they be wrong and her right? She has assessed him as having no language difficulties - yes ok hes bright but she doesnt accept that he has literal probs etc Her whole report appears to be an attempt to undermine his dx. I dont know where to stat. Do I get a updated indep salt assessment to see if shes wrong. She claims autism experience but our ed pschy disagreed last time with her report and found language difficulties which this SALt denies! On review can I say that we have our own evidence and insist they look at that? Can a SALT be wrong, could she be overlooking his difficulties? Any advice please.

Just a thought - would you consider a specialist dyslexia school? Increasingly they seem to be taking asd children. My son is at such a school that also specilases in dyspraxia. Hes also year 5 and we're looking at the mo and facing his review shortly. His dx is aspergers, adhd and dyspraxia. I dont think he will cope in mainstream and didnt want an lsa next to him all the time. He prefers the small class size - 8 but does get a bit frustrated as his reading ability is way beyond his contemporaries. But his maths is several years behind. the social side is the worst and i cant see hoiw he wouldnt be bullied in a large mainstream secondary. He was in a large mainstream primary and wasnt coping. Have a look at the gabbitas guide for sen. Good luck

Re Education look at the Gabbitas guide as well. There are schools that will cater for both. Also the BDA has lists of schools. Good luck. Im also looking for a school that can cater for a dx of adhd dyspraxia and aspergers.

We only won at tribunal on costs. The mainstream primary claimed that they could organise the salt and ot as recommended although denied he needed it. They are in the statement ( tribunal acepted our evidence)But it was cheaper for him to go to the specilaist school when it was all added together and so we won. If we dont pay trasport ( which we conceded) then he has to go back to mainstream. Which means tribunal fudged the decision in my view. I know that it would be another battle once got to secondary. And the tribunal didnt accept that he was stressed by school per se or that it was because it was a big school the inference being that it stress caused by THAT school which had so obviuosly failed him. I dont think his needs have changed. I think its just increasingly apparent how stressful he finds school and the whole social side. Lunch and playtimes are awful as he is effectively excluded from football which the maj play as hes so bad at it and also the way he interacts. He is happier building with knex. The local state special schools are not apropriate as full of EBD and not working at an appropriate level. The nearest one is awful. There is no specialist asd secondary places. He needs small class sizes and small environment with asd trained staff. And appropriate academic work able to deal with his big discrepancies. I dont want him going somewhere where he wont be able to do gcses if capable which he should be given IQ but perhaps may take longer due to concentration difficulties.

My son has another year to go before transfer to secondary. We fought at tribunal and won and hes been in a small independent special school for Dyslexi and Dyspraxia. His dx is Aspergers, adhd and Dyspraxia. He doesnt have a dx of learning difficulties but has difficulties with maths. He is about 1-2 years behind although it is improving since changed schools. He has a very good reading ability and at 9 is reading his way though the Antony Horowitcz series. THe lea will push for a return to mainstream which im very unsure about. At school he gets weekly ot with an ot 1-1 and daily ot/yoga lesson for co-ordination and stress as a part of a group. He gets salt 1-1 and a social skills group. I suspect that in secondary school this will all disappear. At the present he is v stressed and we are concerned that if he is feeling like that in a small speciliast school how would he cope in a large mainstream secondary. We were looking at xxxxx Academy that takes adhd kids and "mild" ASd. Does anyone know of this school. Can anyone email or message me their views on secondary schools in the london area - private or state that may be appropriate. Ive been told to look at boarding but that will be a fight for lea! Thanks

My son has another year to go before transfer to secondary. We fought at tribunal and won and hes been in a small independent special school for Dyslexi and Dyspraxia. His dx is Aspergers, adhd and Dyspraxia. He doesnt have a dx of learning difficulties but has difficulties with maths. He is about 1-2 years behind although it is improving since changed schools. He has a very good reading ability and at 9 is reading his way though the Antony Horowitcz series. THe lea will push for a return to mainstream which im very unsure about. At school he gets weekly ot with an ot 1-1 and daily ot/yoga lesson for co-ordination and stress as a part of a group. He gets salt 1-1 and a social skills group. I suspect that in secondary school this will all disappear. At the present he is v stressed and we are concerned that if he is feeling like that in a small speciliast school how would he cope in a large mainstream secondary. We were looking at Centre Academy that takes adhd kids and "mild" ASd. Does anyone know of this school. Can anyone email or message me their views on secondary schools in the london area - private or state that may be appropriate. Ive been told to look at boarding but that will be a fight for lea! Thanks

Good luck. Sorry if over the top. A year later I still fume and wonder what I did so wrong. Hope you win

Its shocking isnt it that schools can behave like this. We had a terrible time with our sons previous school which ended up with an lEa investigation which didnt even do its job properly as the appointed independent person did a report and weve not been allowed to see it. Our son had access to an outreach worker at first but only because I called and the school were shamed into it as it had been recommended by his treating doctors. It then disappeared as the child who she was also visiting left the school and we were told that without a statement he couldnt have it ( despite being on SA+) so for his ladst year no support. This was the year when he was attacked by a parent in school and nothing done! When he tried to climb out of the car to avoid going to school! When he got violent headaches (stress)! But it was all in our heads - we are in the leas/schools view just overprotective parents ! And to boot when we got a statement the HT told me that I had caused her sencos breakdown! And I was not allowed to speak to any staff except her! All because I had dared to question why there was no home school book, why there was no help in the playground when they were aware of this and it had been recommended. Why no lsas had ASD training. THey had lied about provision and then tried to cover up but eventually had to admit that hadnt got the provisionin the IEP due to a misunderstanding! THis is a school whose ofsted report glows about SEN provision and that was why we sent our son there. I think their whole attitude was summed up when HT gave evidence against us at tribunal that we had taken our child to OT every week for a year but had done that privately as we were again exaggerating his difficulties - when it was NHS treatement all along and only stopped as we had so many other appts and won tribunal and so got help in new school. Anyone know if my son is entitled to outreach support in new school as its private and not in same borough?

Unfortunately its common for leas to do this. They did with us. Ipsea and nas will help. Its important to get all provision very specific so they cant weedle out of provision. They tried the "oh its the health service duty to provide "--we sai " no its education"- "yes but in fact health provide" - -they were still trying to argue it at tribunal and im sure that nhs salt was pressurised to say didnt need provision we were seeking.We had private report and tribunal wrote her recommendations word for word into statement.

WEll done. Our local Mp ddnt even return call.

Threaten legal action- call your solicitor and ask what the step is or ipsea or nas helpline might be able to help. Im sure that a solicitors letter will do the trick as to enforce the decision it will be through the courts - and then they will have ti pay costs so wont want that. Threaten local press. Thats what a parent did locally to us where she hadnt been in school and was about 6 = funnily enough lea promptly placed her!

Im so sorry. Perhaps your local Mp could intervene with the school. I agree that the system here sucks. I hope that you can appeal. Good luck