Watch out LEA here I come!!!

[Janey]

Hi All,

 

Well I've finally done it myself. After 2 years on SA+ and still no sign of an ed psych, no SALT and a ridiculously long wait for the specialist teaching service, I have requested a statutory assessment for T.

 

I'm off to find my boxing gloves now ... seconds away, round 1 Janey v LEA!

[rach04]

good luck if i can do it you can

[Clare63]

Janey,

 

I did too....

 

Good luck and leave no stone unturned

 

Clare x x x

[Kathryn]

Good luck Janey!

 

K x

[MichelleW]

Good Luck!

 

I've just managed to get LEA to agree to statement my 3 year old (though still waiting for proposed statement!), but it has given me the confidence to now push for a statement for my 7 year old, who has been on SA+ for nearly 4 years. I don't think J has seen an Ed psych since being at school, or had any further SALT support (he can talk but he can not communicate - unless the subject is his current play station game!)

 

Just one word of advice - if they turn down your initial request - go straight to appeal to SENDIST. My LEA backed down as soon as I put in my appeal - so it was obviously a tactic on their part to put me off!

[ASue67]

Seems it is something we all have to do! I am just about to put in a request for Stat Ass for my 9 year old and have been told to prepare myself to face appeals and battle!!!!

 

Group hugs for us all I think!!!!! <'> <'>

[Janey]

Thanks All,

 

I have been warned to face a battle, which is why I'm starting the process now giving me 2 years before Toby goes to the dreaded High School.

 

There are a few things that worry me, firstly the schools SEN govenor tells me I won't get a statement because Toby has to be 5 years behind his peers and he is only currently about 18 months to 2 years behind, and secondly because outside agencies such as the ed psych has not seen him they may say that SA+ has not been carried out properly.

 

We shall see!

 

Janey

[JsMum]

Hi Janey my son was on SA+ for 4 years and he is now in some litracey behind his peers by five years and he is severely dyslexic too, but still the LEA have not placed it in his statement which we where successful two years ago, of which at the time we kept getting told J wasnt the worse child they had and that he is getting all the help they can offer, wait there it was for half an hour a week!!! school action plus is just a stalling bridge but J needed so much more, even with the statament in place J is still not coping in a mainstream setting because of the enviroment.

 

I would order from the Disability Rights commission the code of practice for schools because your teachers isnt obvously aware of this code, where she said Toby has to be 5 years behind his peers and he is only currently about 18 months to 2 years behind, is wrong, what it says is that they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of those of his age I would say 2 years behind gives the word significant, so I would say that your son has a good chance and the book is free.

 

Js descrepency became wider as he travelled throw the year groups and work became impossible for him to access it because of his severe dyslexia, ADHD, he has always had social and communication difficulties but as the conversations become more complex J is becoming even more distant to verbal conversation and only interacting in physical play that sometimes J looses self control and ends up in trouble.

 

I would research Statementing as much as possible and gather all your sons IEPs and reports, even private assessments are relivant though the LEA say there not interested the SENDIST will be if they dont assess and you appeal, from now on as well keep a diary of any events at school and photocopy everything do not give in anything that is the actual copy, I collected everything I needed in a file and now there is three, all full, all ready to give into sendist.

 

Ipsea, network 81, ACE-ED and NAS and contact a family are all really great at further information.

 

Dont give up, they will try to wear you down but your son has a right to have his Special Educational Needs met and properly.

 

let us know how things go and come back if you need any further help.

 

JsMum

[Janey]

Thanks J's Mum,

 

I have been reserching the statementing processess which this forum has been such a valuable asset. As a result I am quite surprised by the school's lack of knowledge. The acting head did not even know that I could apply myself!

 

IPSEA have been fab infact I have more confidence with them than our local parent partnership probably because their volunteers have all been through the system themselves. (Am I allowed to say that? sorry mods if not!)

 

With regard to this 5 years behind business, I have been reading my own LEA's criteria for the SEN process and sure enough one of their points to gain a statement is at yr 6 to be working at level 1 which in effect is 5 years behind. I too read in The SEN code of practice about having significantly greater difficulty in learning than his peer group which will be my amunition if needed. I have also read that LEA's are not allowed to operate blanket policies, every case should be seen on its own merits. This 5 years behind falls under a blanket policy so that too will if need be be used against them.

 

Having said all that I know what wriggly characters we have making decisions in our LEA's and it does worry me that they will say he's not bad enough.

 

Janey

[JsMum]

I have to add that in our area our local parent partnership are funding by the LEA, mmmm interesting that isnt it, especailly when even the local PP where not very interested in my concerns over my sons education, the pp where incredibly difficult to contact and when I did she had a right go at me saying she is the only one for the entire area!!!!

 

I refer all parents from my area now to IPSEA and the other helplines as I found them more honest.

 

Have you notified IPSEA of your areas blanket policy?

 

I would of loved to have seen your acting head face when you shared with him that you are applying yourself for an assessment of SEN.

 

Your in great hands with IPSEA.

 

JsMum

[Janey]

Hi all,

 

I'm feeling a bit annoyed at the moment. I have written my parental contribution towards the first step of getting Toby's statement and shown it to the Senco giving him time to digest what I'd written and offer any suggestions. I had said that I didn't want anything sending off by them until I had had a chance to read their letter in return. So yesterday evening Senco shows me their letter and stands over me while I read it. Later that evening, after thinking about what has been written I feel that there are some gaps in it. So this morning I go into school to suggest that these gaps are plugged and find that the letter was sent two days ago. I had hoped that they would have given me the same courtesy to make suggestions as I had to them.

 

I'm worried now.

 

Janey

[Janey]

Round 1 to me!!

 

The LA have agreed to carry out a statutory assessment for Toby.

 

Janey

[hedders]

Hi i just applied for stat assessment too, wonder if you can help me

i have sent in my parental views and the school would of recieved there letter on Monday.

What will the lea ask from the school at his point- will they have to send in her school records or gather evidence verbally from them.

Also is there any way the school can change her records of attainment levels??

(to make it look like she is progressing normally)

[BusyLizzie100]

Round 1 to me!!

 

The LA have agreed to carry out a statutory assessment for Toby.

 

Janey

 

Yeh, way to go!!!

 

Well done for getting this far. I know it's not easy, but I like your attitude - go get 'em!!!

 

We (and school) had been asking for more support for DS2 at every annual review of his Statement, but it was only when we appealed to SENDIST that we actually got anywhere - 5 days before the actual tribunal, they agreed to double his support so that he got full time support. I appreciate that every child and therefore case is different, but it just goes to show - why couldn't they come up with the goods initially?

 

Go for it.

 

Hedders, the school should not even consider changing her attainment levels to suit them. I think they have a standardised form from the LEA that they have to fill in, and then can add what comments they feel are necessary.

 

Don't forget that reports from anyone that has contact with your child can also be sent in by you - eg if she attends swimming lessons, drama, Occupational Therapy, etc.

 

Lizzie xx <'>

[Janey]

Don't forget that reports from anyone that has contact with your child can also be sent in by you - eg if she attends swimming lessons, drama, Occupational Therapy, etc.

 

Thanks for that Lizzie I never thought about getting evidence from Toby's swimming teacher, Judo instructor, Cub leader (coincidently recently made redundant by the ed psych dept!)

 

One thing that I'm not happy about going on to the next stage of the assessment is the fact that the LEA will not get any fresh advice from SALT. I have spoken to my named officer about this and she says that the Medical Officer will get in touch with the SALT dept for any information they have on Toby. The only thing they have is from Jan 07 and the LEA already have this information. Can I insist that SALT is reassessed as this is one of the key elements of Toby's problems? I have also been battling to get some OT advice but again this seems to be impossible. Can I insist they do an OT report as well even though he has never been seen by OT?

 

Hedders, I have been reading your posts you're not far behind me in this process. I too wrote loads for my parental contribution. My advice to you is to make sure that you have a copy of the SEN Code of Practice.

 

Janey

[BusyLizzie100]

One thing that I'm not happy about going on to the next stage of the assessment is the fact that the LEA will not get any fresh advice from SALT. I have spoken to my named officer about this and she says that the Medical Officer will get in touch with the SALT dept for any information they have on Toby. The only thing they have is from Jan 07 and the LEA already have this information. Can I insist that SALT is reassessed as this is one of the key elements of Toby's problems? I have also been battling to get some OT advice but again this seems to be impossible. Can I insist they do an OT report as well even though he has never been seen by OT?

 

I can give you my opinion, but we really need someone with expertise for this one - anyone about out there??

 

Has SALT discharged your son? That might explain why there hasn't been input since Jan 07. If not, then it would seem very sensible for SALT to see Toby. Do you have a paediatrician? Could he/she assist by looking into this for you, too? You could always ring the SALT dept yourself.

 

RE: OT, again, I'd suggest contacting the paediatrician, if you have one, or have had one at some stage. If there is huge waiting list, then you may have to be very persuasive - I'm normally quite a shy person but I've had to learn to be very pushy in recent years!

 

There is also the option of getting private assessments and reports done, although this is expensive. We had to do this when we appealed to SENDIST about DS2's Statement recently; assessments can run into hundreds of pounds.

 

Good luck!

 

Lizzie xx

[Flora]

Janey,

 

Regarding OT and SALT. I asked for the LEA to arrange these assessments when my son was going through stat assessment. I also requested OT assessment from CAMHS. They both replied that it wasn't really necessary and there wasn't an OT available to do this. So I paid for him to be assessed by independent OT and SALT. The OT identified significant difficulties, and the SALT identified a need for social use of language intervention. We ended up at tribunal and the needs identified in these two areas doubled the length of my son's statement! If the LEA and/or CAMHS won't carry out these assessments it may be worth your while to have independent assessments done (I know people who could do these at a relatively low price compared to some... obviously depending where you live... ).

 

Flora

[Janey]

Toby has not been discharged from SALT he was due to be seen before Easter but it was cancelled due to maternity cover being cut. I spoke to Toby's Paed about OT and he told me he couldn't refer because they are only allowed to refer children under 8 years old, Toby is 9!!?

 

I think I will probably go down the private route as I'm not getting this far and have the whole case crumble through lack of appropriate advice.

 

I'm normally quite a shy person but I've had to learn to be very pushy in recent years!

 

Me too!!

 

Janey

[LizK]

One thing that I'm not happy about going on to the next stage of the assessment is the fact that the LEA will not get any fresh advice from SALT. I have spoken to my named officer about this and she says that the Medical Officer will get in touch with the SALT dept for any information they have on Toby. The only thing they have is from Jan 07 and the LEA already have this information. Can I insist that SALT is reassessed as this is one of the key elements of Toby's problems? I have also been battling to get some OT advice but again this seems to be impossible. Can I insist they do an OT report as well even though he has never been seen by OT?

 

Hedders, I have been reading your posts you're not far behind me in this process. I too wrote loads for my parental contribution. My advice to you is to make sure that you have a copy of the SEN Code of Practice.

 

Janey

 

When I applied for DS I asked for advice to be given by his nursery as additional evidence and the LEA contacted them on my say so. We had been referred for OT but were on the waiting list for the waiting list and I got a brief snotty letter back from OT saying they had not yet seen him so couldn't contribute to his statement Hardly child-led and assessing his needs but that's how it goes. LEA seemed spectacularly good at ignoring independent advice well certainly in the first instance

 

Lx

 

PS I think we are probably the same LEA!