statement

[bluefish]

Hi, I requested an assessment for statement as did school.I received a letter to say they will do the assesment.I have sent in parent evidence, school have sent their evidence, HV has sent very suportive letter and ed psych has been in to do assesment. speach report was very disapointing as although did mention some problems seemed to make him sound far more able with his communication than he is and was based on a very breif one to one.he is due assesment tomorrow at school by someone?and of course I guess they get report from pead and cdc and clinical psych? Just wondered if we have got to this stage how likley is it we could get statment? I was told by ed psych that a dx is only a pointer and will not have much bearing on result? If we do not get statment or if not enough hours offered the appeal prosses sounds rather daunting... It was also pointed out to me by ed psyhc that if I disagree with amount of hours( if any given)while I appeal no help will be in place!! I feel so strongly that ds will need lots of support that if no help or not enough help offered I would want to keep him at home to educate.. so my questions are

 

anyone got any idea how likely it is we will get statement? (or is this impossible to gauge?)

 

If we dont, can I keep him off while I appeal?

 

how do I find out about home education or asd units in schools

 

He is not due to start reception till september but has made so much progress at nursery with small class,visual timetable,iep and wonderful, caring ,understanding staff that I am terrified all the hard work will be undone in a class of 30 if he does not have the support.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice or comments

[Clare63]

If they have agreed to do the assessment then I think you have a dam good chance you'll get a statement, well this was our personal experience.

 

If you disagree the amount of support and you go to appeal and win then its the law that the specified amount of support is provided.

 

Good luck I hope your childs needs are recognised and he gets the appropriate support.

 

Clare x x x

[Kathryn]

anyone got any idea how likely it is we will get statement? (or is this impossible to gauge?)

 

Although nothing's guaranteed, it's likely you will get a statement: whether it will be a good one (i.e. with all the support specified and quantified) is another matter. It depends to some extent on which LEA you're in and whether or not they have a policy of trying to do away with statements by delegating all the SEN funds to schools.

 

If we dont, can I keep him off while I appeal?

An appeal takes about 4 months from start to finish. In my opinion it would be better to keep him in school if you can, then more evidence can be gathered about his needs, especially as he does not have any school history yet. But you'll have to judge for yourself how well he will cope with the situation - depending on what support he gets in the meantime.

 

If you don't get a statement, or get less than your son needs, don't be put off appealing. There's help available to guide you through the process and if you have solid evidence you stand a good chance of success.

 

Good luck, you're through the first barrier already, getting an assessment. I hope you get the statement at the end of it.

 

K x

[Suze]

Hi I agree with Kathryn, I was told an assessment costs about �3000 pounds to do , LEAS don,t spend this money unless they have too , wether or not its a good and adequate statement remains to be seen .I,d start looking at schools etc now so you have an idea of what environment will suit your boy.We were initially awarded 5 hrs and specialist literacy and typing tuition............this just covered lunch time support ..........we were prepared to go to tribunal but thankfully we saw the lea and they awarded 15hrs............Then it all went pear shaped with the lsa the school found ...........you can,t win sometimes

 

..............have you read through the evidence school have sent in??...................does it state that they feel they can,t meet your sons needs...?........or can they with full time support for him?..........comments like this are "helpful".......as they will prove that your boy needs over and above what they school can normally offer through SA+.........and this would mean a statement of SEN.Best of luck with it all, suzex

[Karen A]

Bluefish.I was wondering whether the SALT that did the speech report was trained/experienced in ASD.Ben had weekly speech therapy for over a year for Dysfluency however the SALT did not recognise that he had Social Communication Difficulties.So if the SALT that sent the report is not a specialist it may well be worth asking for further assessment if possible...it would be unfortunate to miss out on Speech Therapy within the Statement because the person who assessed was not trained to pick up specificaly on AS.Karen.

Edited March 19, 2008 by Karen A

[bluefish]

Hi thanks for replies.

I dont know if SALT has experience in asd? I just assumed so as she also works at cdc? But her report suggests she does not understand ds communication problems. When I read the report it was like it was describing another child! The problem is he speaks very very clearly(sounds very posh!)and uses learnt responses to questions.You really have to spend time with him to see this.He also reapeats everything and wants a certain reply to his question that he has already decided upon...In my opinion his comunication and understanding of language are probably the thing that affects him most.

Do I approach the lea with a request for him to have another SALT to assess him? or is it best to contact the one that did the assesment and disscuss my concerns????

 

Really pleased to hear that as they are doing assessment its a good sign for statment.......

 

I must admit I had NO idea how exhausting this all was going to be. I found writting the parent evidence very very upsetting and difficult to do. It took about a week for me to manage to get down what I wanted to say, then broke my heart when I had finished it.

 

I actually(stupidly) thought it would all be atomatic!!!!!! child needs extra help=child gets extra help!!!! We live and learn

[purplehaze]

Hello bluefish, Everyone has made some really good comments.

 

The LEA usually give a statement when they have decided to assess and it is rarer to give a note in lieu which is what they give if they decided against the statement. You should discuss your concerns with the SALT and if you are still not happy contact the LEA and they will write down your opinions.

It is right that the right support will not be in place if you apeal but usually LEA's have to try and get things moving quicjky so children don't miss out, it depends on how supportive your LEA are. In my case the LEA have been supportive. Do you have a set amount of hrs in mind of what you think is needed and did you say this in your parental advice? Keep posting to let us know how its going X

[bluefish]

Hi I received a copy of th ed psych report on thursday. It is good(if good is having all the things your child can not manage on paper! ) but good as far as our need for a statement goes!It clearly states ds is capable of learning in a mainstream envioroment BUT is unable or unwilling to respond to to basic commands, that he displays repetative behavior,he does not have any social interaction with his peers does not respond to general instuction, shows no interest in activities that the other children enjoy ,seems to have his own agenda, becomes distressed when any change is made to his routine etc etc I was pleased with the report and also very upset. Everything was true ad I am pleased this will go toward his statment but so sad he wrote all those things having only seen ds for very breif assessments.

It is such a mixed emotion....I want the reports to show he needs the help but at the same time hate what they say If that makes sence????I guess in some ways I am fighting for him to have the help but when I read what they see it makes it real?!!

Its that catch 22 I guess I desperatly want them to see his problems but am almost shocked when they do as that makes it true??!! will keep you posted when we hear any news oabout statement

[Clare63]

Bluefish ~ <'> <'> <'>

 

Bitter sweet !

 

Clare x x x

[Karen A]

Hi thanks for replies.

I dont know if SALT has experience in asd? I just assumed so as she also works at cdc? But her report suggests she does not understand ds communication problems. When I read the report it was like it was describing another child! The problem is he speaks very very clearly(sounds very posh!)and uses learnt responses to questions.You really have to spend time with him to see this.He also reapeats everything and wants a certain reply to his question that he has already decided upon...In my opinion his comunication and understanding of language are probably the thing that affects him most.

Do I approach the lea with a request for him to have another SALT to assess him? or is it best to contact the one that did the assesment and disscuss my concerns????

 

Really pleased to hear that as they are doing assessment its a good sign for statment.......

 

I must admit I had NO idea how exhausting this all was going to be. I found writting the parent evidence very very upsetting and difficult to do. It took about a week for me to manage to get down what I wanted to say, then broke my heart when I had finished it.

 

I actually(stupidly) thought it would all be atomatic!!!!!! child needs extra help=child gets extra help!!!! We live and learn

 

 

Bluefish <'> <'> it is a time of mixed feelings.

I am sorry I missed picking up this post until today.

I certainly think it is worth either going back to the SALT or speaking to the LEA.

It is purely a personal opinion but I think if the SALT is not trained or experienced in ASD then they may be missled by the clear speech and may miss out on more subtle difficulties in Social Communication.

It is worth attempting to access a specialist SALT assessment for input into the Statement as a none specialist SALT may provide input into the assesment process that could impact on the provision that is offered in the Statement.

Ben copes very well in structured class times but finds unstructured times and changes in routine very difficult....so the provision for Social Communication Difficulties is very significant for him.

Access to ASD outreach for children in mainstream may also depend on documentation of Social Communication Difficulties within the Statement too.

It will be helpful for you that the EP has obviously picked up well on your DSs difficulties but it may still be worth pushing for further SALT assessment.

I hope I am not too late in posting to be helpful. Karen.