social services say i cant have a carers assessment cos M has AS

[JenRose]

just got a letter today from the childrens disabilities team.

they are of the view that M does not meet the criteria for the team, they say that they know he is out of school but wish me well in resolving our difficulties with the LEA. .

 

they say they would have recommended that we seek help from CAMHS but note that CAMHS have discharged M.

They are using our independant psysh,s dx of AS to deny help, they tried to use this to deny him being referred to the disabilities team in the first place.

 

its not fair, M is at home with me 24/7 cos the LEA refuse to pay for a specialist school place and we are going to tribunal in june for that, in the meantime we get no respite-nothing.

 

Is there anything i can do about this cos im not well up on social services criteria.

 

thanks

[baddad]

I don't know what this rubbish is about ASD not being a disability to some SS departments, but obviously (given the DSM criteria) it IS...

I'm not sure if there's new legislation behind this, or just department/LEA policy or what, but I think you just have to badger them to ask specifically why they are disenfranchising certain disabled people in this way and for the grounds IN WRITING on which they base that decision, and take it from there...

I know others on the forum are facing the same problems, so hopefully there will be someone along shortly who can offer something more definite in the way of advice, but in the mean time, as i said in anohther recent thread on the same issue - If your child receives DLA he/she MUST - by definition - have a disability...

L&P

BD

[darky]

Ive had a similar problem and got success. What you have to do is ask ss to tell you their criteria for the disability team. I bet it will be "A substantial and long term disability" or something like that. Ask if they have a list of disabilities they do help with, i bet they cant tell you!!

 

THEN look up the relevant section of disability discrimination act. The legal definition of a disability, is to have a disability that is "substantial" MEANING neither minor nor trivial, and long term, meaning has lasted for more than 12 months and is expected to last more than 12 months. Point out to them that your child meets the legal definition of having a disability, so therefore you request, demand, that they assess him under that team.

 

Tell them that if they do not, you will go to DRC. As failing to aknowledge your son as having a disability, is denying him the rights to the apropriate services. It worked for me!!

 

I went from being disharged, to getting an interim of 4 hours respite a week whilst a full core assessment is being carried out under child health and disability team.

 

Put it all in writing to them though, and state your case as a stage one complaint, if they dont waiver, inform them of your intent to raise the complaint to a stage two. Its amazing how fast they will act!! oh and refuse a meeting to, unless they have answered all the points you have raised with them IN WRITING. good luck!!

[JenRose]

so if i put something like this (im rubbish at writing letters)

 

we write regarding your letter of 02april.

in it you stated that you are discharging m from your service as his disability does not meet the criteria needed to access your service.

we therefore request that you tell us the criteria needed to access your service and also a list of acceptable disabilties.

 

will that be good enough for the first letter or should i put more?

thanks

[darky]

yes, that sounds fine to me!! keep it simple and to the point. "list of acceptable disabilties who DO meet your criteria" If they answer that one, it could be argued they are restricting services and operating blanket policies. Each case should be assessed on need.

[darky]

They might answer that question with examples, (The sw told me "things like cerebal palsy") So i asked her if they got a stick out and measured the children's disabilities. I told her you can't measure it. I told her that even in cases of cerebral palsy, a child can be affected to a minimal degree which has a limited affect on their daily lives and milestones, i told her it was not right to steriotype conditions, its how the child is affected and the impact on the family lives. She went on to say, that maybe the service would be resricted to profoundly autistic children that were non verbal. I told her, that just because my child can talk, does that make her more or less disabled? Less obviously

 

I argued, my childs ability, is her biggest disability as the understanding and ignorance around her is astonishing. The amount of times i have heard "oh my goodness, isnt she a good reader" SO WHAT, so she can read! What about get dressed, eat her food, clean her teeth, bath, play, walk outside, be independant, stay safe in and out the house?

 

Anyway, i have waffled there. It does make me cross though. These people want to try living with it!! <'>

[Bambi]

Awww its sad that this is happening to you <'> ><

 

Im guessing ur son's dx is a private one? i was going to go down that road to get T dx as i was fed up with his needs being ignored but NAS put me straight on that one if i did that then the LA had a right to ignore it! how wrong is that?! it makes me sick that does because whether a private dx or not its syill a dx of a life long disability and no professional would give that to a child if it wasnt the case. All about the LA having control of every little thing regarding their funding and manpower for special needs kids/adults, not good enough!

 

My son is not in school either and thats another battle i still have on my hands, it never ends!

 

I wish u all the best with getting all the help M needs and do keep us updated when u can, thinking of u

 

Bambi x

[curra]

Hi JenRose,

No it's not right but unfortunately councils can have different criteria to give support.

 

I think you could get advice if you contact this website:

 

http://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_40...80a_2006972039g

 

You could also ask your GP to give you a referral and with that, write a letter to your council.

 

Best of luck!

 

Curra

[butterfingersbimbo]

i got told that too.......

[JenRose]

oh forgot to add that in the letter they state that "We do not have the resources to meet the needs of persons with Asperger,s Syndrome"

Surely this is them operating a blanket policy?