Hectorshouse

Ksasnic Hi .... I think I maybe able to offer a bit of advice, but it is also imperative that you get the assistance from one or all of these ACE - IPSEA - NAS advocacy. Firstly, a statement is a legally binding document, therefore the provision that is stated and the school have to be adhered too. With regard to the school, the new LEA would have to prove that maintiaining a place at the current named school would be an inefficient use of resources or be inappropriate to do so if it was too far a distance as to be viable. The Code of Practice refers to this directly in para 8:114, this section 8:111 to 8:115 is extremely relevant to your case, I don't have time to put it up, maybe someone will be kind enough to do that for me. I also recommend that if you haven't already got a copy of the DfES SEN Code of Practice that get one asap, its FREE. Have you been intouch with you new PPS they may also be able to advise you on this, but different areas have better ones than other so bear this in mind, as they may also not be entirely impartial. The transport issue, might be something that you can negotiate, say for instance the LEA say that continued placement is an inefficient use of resources due to travel expenses, you can offer to meet them half way if they maintain the placement. Do look at my posts, as there is loads of info in them, the thread is called 'New Area, New Problems'. If you want to ask me anything feel free, good luck, HHxx

A big well done for my T, he has been taking part in the Christmas Production at school they were doing the X-Factor and T was Louis, he has had a fab time, learnt his lines, performed to the whole of yr 7 & 8. I didn't see it but it has been videoed. After his performance he saw the HT and asked him what he thought and the HT shoke his hand and said 'well done young man', I have a very happy and proud T, and I am a very happy and proud mum. Bless my T, he might not cope with many things but give that boy a stage and the worlds his oyster. HHxx (just wanted to share)

Thanks Nellie, I will do this and I shall email him my request as well, and wait and see ... HHxx

Hi Nellie, unfortunately PP won't talk to me, ever since he told me that I should be grateful for the banding T got as many parents he know have been trying to get even a statement would be grateful of anything, also after I spoke to my SEN officers gatekeeper it became startling clear that a conversation that I thought was confidential with my PP had been relayed to her and that I was to stop being so pushy (or words to that effect). And since the transport issue came up (since resolved) he hasn't returned any of my calls. HH = top awkward parent avoid at all costs communication unless absolutely necessary. .... HH slinking away and back to digging on the website.

Working in a Pub has its benefits ... I now know a man that fix my car on the cheap and has saved me loads of ���'s lately, another person is getting me a christmas tree from where he works, I've meet a couple of very useful contacts now as far as DCC goes Found out yesterday when chatting with my boss about what I've been doing as in the Paper story etc ... and it turns out that not only does my MP frequent my Pub regulary doing the summer, but also the Director of Education also comes in and my boss knows him and next time he comes in he will point him out, also my local councillor is a regular ... I can see this being all very useful .... I bet none of these poor lovelies (except the MP that is) didn't have any idea that the person serving them was *that* pain in the ar*e mum ... HHxx

Thanks Phas for highlighting this, I've been rushed off my feet at work etc .. but I can add that the paper are publishing the comments in the paper so if anyone wants to continue to add to this debate it would great. The sad thing I noticed was the lack of response from other parents in Devon, this isn't a criticism, more a reflection, in discussions with other parents there is this fear that if they say anything and add there name to their comments this will in some way affect the provision they have from the LEA i.e. they will be seen as a bulshy parent and have provision changed or ceased. Thats what saddens me, that LEA's have the power to silence parents through fear, this is not democracy this is infact a dictatorship affect. The fact that the voices of parents and children are silenced this way in what is the 21st century has really had an effect on how I think about things, I did use to feel this, scared that if I rocked the boat I might come unstuck ... a case of don't sh*t in your own basket syndrom ... but actually I have come to realise that this is my right, and people as in the LEA are accountable. I don't relish the fact that I am No 1 pain in the ar*e parent in the eyes of the LEA but I no longer daunted by it, they now know I mean business, and now they have to follow everything they do with regard to T and myself very carefully, as the moment they act inappropriately I will bring it to a lot of peoples attention. HHxx

Well done LKS ... you have truely stuck to your guns HHxx

... hmmm this has got me digging again, can't find anything on the DCC website, went through same process as Z as well, still couldn't find anything, found other stuff though bit out of date .. but might be useful for research purposes ... I need a better digger than me ... I would love to know what DCC's criteria is

... phew ... atleast the panto horse outfit wasn't a waste then ... ... who'll be my back legs ?

I'm with Z on this one, is this 'really' the school she wants her child to attend ...? I would be extremely wary of anyone who was as obtuse as this HT, if he feels the need to make excuses such as these then there could well be problems ahead, what other schools are available locally? what about independent schools? (a battle I know but a lot of parents get the LEA's to cough up the dosh if the right pressure is put on them, we considered it for T, but he hated the school so that was that .... saved me a battle and an expensive bill for uniform that he hated, and plus he now love where he is .. sorry I digress ) If you can get the HT to confirm that he feels that placement is inappropriate (which I doubt cos of inclusion bull sh*t) then this could help the parents with the LEA ... sorry rambling a bit this morning. HHxx

I think that everyone should write to their MP, after all they are 'meant' to be our advocates, imagine if we all hassled our MP's in all our boroughs, when they meet up for a cosy coffee in old parliament house they can share they're woes of being contacted by blumming ASD parents ... and them all you going ... 'what you as well?!? .... must be a conspiracy' or they might actually do something about it ... Just a thought ... HHxx

I know DCC must hate me (but do I care .... oh no!!!!) but my MP wrote to them and called (hence the U-turn in the transport arrangements) and today I got a copy of DCC's response to the MP, its the naffest piece of writing I've ever seen, they even wrote the MP's name by hand (anyway admin criticisms aside ) the blatant lies are unbelieveable (or perhaps not) .... Thank you for your letter of 22 November concerning Mrs XXXX and her son. My understanding is that Mrs XXXX did not accept the offer from the County Special Education Team to consult with schools in Exeter regarding admission. It was explained to Mrs XXXX that there would be no entitlement to free transport if she chose XXXX school. However, an exception to County transport policy has been made in this case and Mrs XXXX's son is being provided with transport. I should point out that the Local Authority's Inclusive Education Strategy applies to all children and that we made no distinction between types of disability. I enclose a copy of the strategy which you may find of interest. What a load of *(^&^%$$%�*(&*(& ING!!!! BULL .... what offer from the CSET? blumming news to me, and as for the transport thing irrelevant now, and we all know why they changed their minds Anyway in my usual style I emailed my MP straight back with my thoughts ... I hope you don't mind and I haven't bored you to death yet but I would like to share them here ... Dear Mr B, Firstly I would like to thank you for taking the time to pursue my queries that I raised at our meeting. Thankfully yes DCC have now supplied T with the transport to enable him to access education at XXXX in XXXX, which is a huge relief and has made both of our lives much easier and less stressful. In response to Mr XXXX's letter to you, I would like to point out that someone is blatantly misleading you, the letter states that is was Mr XXXX's understanding that Ms XXXX did not accept the offer from the CSET to consult with schools in Exeter regarding admission. This I have to sadly say is a blatant mistruth, like I said to you at our initial meeting, I visited or spoke to every SENCO in every school in Exeter, NONE felt it would be appropriate or that they would be able to meet his needs in their schools. I did not chose XXXX it was the only school that felt it 'might' be able to meet his needs. Neither was I given the opportunity to visit alternative provision (i.e. XXXX School) by the LEA because of their inclusive policy, which denied me the opportunity to seek provision in a special school had I deemed it appropriate. I am sorry to say, that DCC are misleading you and this is quite obviously them trying to cover their tracks, when faced with the discrimination that my Son was a victim of. The main purpose of my visit to you was to highlight the problems my Son had in accessing appropriate and suitable education according to his specific educational needs and disability (Asperger's Syndrome), and that his story is not unfamiliar in Devon (or in fact in many LEA's across the country). Like I said in our meeting, the lack of ASD provision within Exeter's secondary schools is startling considering the �100 million that has just been spent on the rebuild, I was also told by DCC that I should've checked what provision was available before I moved to Devon. This comment is ridiculous, Exeter is the premier town of Devon, why isn't that provision available locally to me, if I lived in the middle of Dartmoor I might've understood DCC position, but I live in Exeter. The lack of serious ASD provision in Devon is also very poor and when you consider how many children have a diagnosis of ASD this is a problem that is not going to go away it is going to get worse. I have friends who work in PRU's in Devon and they are already experiencing a serious increase in the number of children with ASD that have been let down by the system, and ending up in a PRU as a last resort, early intervention is meant to be part of The Every Child Matters campaign, but this is NOT happening in Devon. Devon has the opportunity to do something about this, but unless pressure is put on them to acknowledge ASD and the growing problem of providing for this vulnerable group of children many of them are going to be a pressure on the state for many many years to come, they are going to need the help of the Mental Health Service to overcome the emotional and behavioural problems they have because of the failure of provision being available to them, abuse and ignorance, and an inability to fully access work and become a fully contributing adult, many chidlren with ASD can be independent with the right help and support but if they are ignored or considered beyond help then there is little help for them. I have also attached the Schools Forum Documentation which highlights how Devon will be altering its SEN funding in 2006, this is very worrying as it appears from this that there will be a cease to maintain policy for children with SEN under a certain banding and an ever increasing difficulty for parents to apply for a statement, it also does not go in hand with the letter that was sent to all CEO's in all LEA's from the DfES warning them about blanket policies and refusing to assess a copy of which is also attached. This letter was taken from IPSEA's website. With regard to the schools forum, there has been no parent consultation, and as such as you are my MP I think it extremely pertinent that you be aware of this. http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/your_council...ort_sf0515.html Sorry for the reply via email, but I felt that I had to get this information to you as quickly as possible, I would be delighted to talk to you in more detail if you like to. Sorry for the long post guys ... but you can imagine my reaction when I opened the post this morning .. HHxx

Many thanks to those of you have already commented on T's story in the local rag, they have now publshed my response (thanks Phas for finding the link) on their website, please can I ask you again if you have time to add you comments. I'm trying to keep the pressure up so as the LEA have to give a response and hopefully a leading paper will pick it up (my contact at the times is following it at the moment). HHxx http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode....&folderPk=79957 HHxx (eternally grateful for all your support)

I have emailed IPSEA with this document and asked for their advice, I will keep you updated with any response, and am now keeping a very close eye on the DCC schools forum meetings and agendas HHxx

.... hmmmm 'tame parent' .... thats an interesting term, and not one that has been applied to me before HHxx

TM I hope everything is OK <'> <'> HHxx

Nope not seen it .. where down south? do you have a link? HHxx

Thank god its not just me .... HH releases a huge sigh of relief do plan to start this week.... honest HHxx

It just gets better it turns out my DCC manager's partner also works with children in care and a lot of AS children, she is going to dig out loads of research etc that she has, and having passed them T's story and newspaper cuttings they are chomping at the bit to talk to me more ... so this really does look like a golden opportunity, and I am definitely going to take it with both hands. First though, I know I can tell it like it is from my perspective as a parent to T, but is that enough? I know that I'll be able to talk about the difficulties of accessing the SEN system (mild understatement I know ) and the difficulties we face when dealing with professionals etc ... any advice or tips? HHxx

thank you phas didn 't even think to check to see if they had published my full response to the story on their website. HHxx

Yep I agree with z as well, having the required knowledge doesn't mean it will necessarily be guaranteed, but it does help. Rarely I have I met a parent and child, that has actually been through the process and come out all smiles and happy about the provision etc ... I didn't mean to be flippant, I suppose I'm just battle hardened, where as two years ago it all made me now its more of a case of with a bring it on approach, with and added shovel of cynicism to boot. HHxx

Thanks for the replies, I will smile very nicely and go and ask my questions next week, I think its bit over the top personally and like you Carole I have trouble remembering what I was doing 48 hours ago or even what I'm meant to be doing tomorrow Barefoot cynical us? HHxx

The postmans just dropped a letter from school Dear Mrs XXX I am writing to let you know that unfortunately T has been reported by Mr XXX for refusing to do what he was asked during the lesson on 2nd December 2005 during Science. Also to let you know that three such occurences will result in a detention. We hope that you will take the opportunity to discuss what happened with T so that, together, we can help prevent such incidents in future. Yours blah blah OK I remember posting about T going back to old ways, and got on the old social story trail, which has been going remarkably well. I have checked his home school diary for the 2nd as well and there is no mention in there about any problems with science, he did have a wobbly day but from the diary it appears he managed to regain control in all incidents and apologized to his TA ... so where this has come from I don't know. T's new school are fab, but I think perhaps this letter is a bit overboard, if I raise this now with T after such a period of time 1) he won't remember it at all 2) he'll then get seriously stressed and hey presto there goes the w/end. I have many questions to ask after this letter has come - 1 - why wasn't this incident recorded in the home school diary? 2 - what actually was T refusing to do? 3 - did he actually understand what was required of him? 4 - had the work been differentiated for him? I don't want to split hairs with them, but if I mention detentions and the like to T well I'm sure you can imagine the result ... any advice? HHxx

As usual with nothing more important to do ... glances around whilst still sat in my dressing gown and realises that house looks like a bomb ... oh well!!! Anyway, digging on the DCC website trying to find if they have an update on their Strategy & Provision for Pupils with needs on the Autistic Spectrum (sept 03) and I came across this ... http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/your_council...ort_sf0515.html What it seems that they are doing is stopping the issue of statements for children below 0.6 fte (T gets 0.8 + lunch time assistance exceptional support to give an idea which basically means f/time support) and delegating funds directly to the schools ... I would be interested what others think of their proposals for SEN funding due to be initiated in April 06. HHxx

... HH arrives too late again .. having missed the party and chasing celebs, darn and blast it ... Robbie I'll get you next time ... having sent off for her special xmassie lycra outfit realised that she had missed typed the instructions to the supplier it must be catching as her new outfit is a customized version of the panto horse fully lycra loaded and extra support .... Darn that name its Hectors House ... not Horsey ... tosses her flowing mane and throws her head back ... and canters off ... kicking the box aside, maybe I could be 'Pegasus' ... still not sure who I'm going to get to go in the back end ... I was hoping to bag Robbie or even old Seany ... then the sad realisation dawns, what looked like cantering now looks extremely bizarre, with saggy lycra trailing behind as the two empty back legs and tail drag miserably behind ...