spoke to lovely, lovely man from LEA

[Sallya]

Have just been on to phone to the acting ed officer, who is dealing with Ds refusal to assess.

 

He wanted a meeting next week.

 

I said no, that I was having an independant report done, and I didnt want to see him until then.

That my appeal would be in place.

 

He said he didnt want to have to do all the paperwork for a tribunal if I could provide evidence that might lead to them reversing their decision to assess.

 

I said I would send a copy of the report before the meeting.

 

He tried to get me to have the meeting a week before the final date I can appeal.

 

I said that Mrs K would be attending, and it would have to be after the holidays.

 

He asked who Mrs K was, I said the head of school and I needed to make sure that she was able to make that date and time. I said I would withdraw the appeal if they sent it to me in writing that they would assess D. Will call back next week to confirm date and time.

 

He seemed slightly taken aback.

 

The independant EP is willing to support us at a tribunal if it should come to that. Just waiting for IPSEA to call me back.

Feel a bit more positive that I did a couple of days ago, when I felt I was just making a mess of everything.

 

Am I doing it right, or is it just one big pigs ear?

[Kathryn]

Hi Sallya,

 

You're doing great. Keep talking to IPSEA: they will keep you on track.

 

It's worth lodging the appeal even whilst you're talking to them, just to indicate that you're serious about it. You can withdraw it at any time and it gives the LEA something to think about. You bet they don't want to do all the paperwork, you can point out that you also have more important things to do . Don't let the deadline slip by, whatever thy tell you they are going to do.

 

K

[Kazzen161]

Yes, you are doing the right thing - if you back down now, they may think you will give up - put the appeal in anyway.

 

Karen

[mossgrove]

Well done Sally.

 

You are absolutely right to press ahead with the appeal until yu have it in writing that they will assess.

 

The LEA have betrayed your trust by not asessing so far, there is no way you should trust the outcome when they take a second look.

 

Simon

[Sallya]

Thanks guys, sorry for being a big woss!

[Jericho]

Well done, Sally!

 

From the sounds of things you are doing a great job.

[Sallya]

On Friday, the head and the SENCO tried to phone around and see if they could find a less expensive EP, and check that the price was right(�550). They were worried that the LEA would not use the evidence and it would be a waste of money.

 

The price included a home and school visit, and a full assessment.

 

Basically, the feedback is that although very sympathetic, that the EP wouldnt be able to find any thing different to what is already in Ds paperwork, and as he has made a bit of progress, and the school are giving him lots of support, it wouldnt achieve anything.

 

The head has said that the LEA EP will be willing to meet with me to discuss D and she has given me a list of dates she can make to see the education officer.

 

She said that if the LEA are going to be this difficult, that when the time comes for him to start middle school would be the best time to get an independant EP, she is sure middle school will want to apply for a statement within the first

month of him being there. She said he is coping well in the playground and classroom and letting it all out at home which is common with ASD children; but it is an educational statement, and that I really needed to focus on getting help at home, and to try and get him on a holiday scheme and after school clubs.

 

D has friends around for tea and is invited back to tea, he goes to the school after school clubs but he doesnt really enjoy them. and would rather come home and play, and just have a bit of peace and quiet rather than more time HAVING to behave.

 

So it seems that the happy little boy I have now, will have to go to middle school and show them he isnt coping before he will get extra help.

 

I really dont want to do this, he was bullied in reception and yr 1, and the school would not accept his dx. So I moved him to another school where he is now. He is surrounded by lovely adults who understand him, and they deal with all his problems very, very well. He has come a long way from the scared ,unhappy little lad he was, but it has been such hard work for him, his teachers and me. I dont want to go backwards just to get help, it shouldnt be that way, should it?

 

 

He has already told me he is worried about middle school, and he thinks he wont be able to do the work. He had to write out his 5x table for homework last week, and he managed 2 lines before he burst into tears and said he couldnt do it.

I had to write out the calculation and then he filled in the answer. Today he asked me what is wrong with him when we tried having dumplings for dinner, and he said he couldnt eat it because he was scared of new food.

 

I feel like I am going around in circles with this statement thing. Just when I think I am getting somewhere, someone comes and slaps me round the face with a wet kipper.

 

Time to get the kids ready for bed, and to try and work out what I do next.

 

 

Sallyann feeling fed up

 

xxx

[Helen]

Hello Sallya,

On Friday, the head and the SENCO tried to phone around and see if they could find a less expensive EP, and check that the price was right(�550). They were worried that the LEA would not use the evidence and it would be a waste of money.

Did the head and Senco have your permission to phone around for an alternative independent EP?

 

It is your business whom you employ, you are the person who is coughing up the dosh, if they didn't have your permission to search for a less expensive EP then they were acting inappropriately - �550 is reasonable for a home and school visit and an assessment. I personally wouldn't consider the head or the Senco's alternative choice of an independent EP.

 

It is possible that some authorities won't accept reports from independent professionals, but there again there are some authorities that willingly accept reports from independent professionals - it saves on their SEN budget.

 

Have you checked out the independent EP's credentials, what he/she specialises in, his/her qualifications and experience? You should be able to access this information from The Directory of Chartered Psychologists - this directory should be available in your local reference library.

Basically, the feedback is that although very sympathetic, that the EP wouldn?t be able to find any thing different to what is already in Ds paperwork, and as he has made a bit of progress, and the school are giving him lots of support, it wouldn?t achieve anything.

Whose opinion is this? Has the school given you this impression? If it has then I guess the school is trying to put you off enlisting the services of your independent EP.

The head has said that the LEA EP will be willing to meet with me to discuss D and she has given me a list of dates she can make to see the education officer.

 

She said that if the LEA are going to be this difficult, that when the time comes for him to start middle school would be the best time to get an independent EP, she is sure middle school will want to apply for a statement within the first

month of him being there.

There isn't any guarantee that the middle school will want to apply for a Statement within the first month - or at any other time. You obviously have serious concerns at this moment in time, you have to decide if you want to pursue this independent assessment.

Edited March 13, 2005 by Helen

[Sallya]

Yes I did say they could phone around; the LEA has given that feedback. Thanks for your pm, will check out EP.

[Kathryn]

Sallyanne,

 

We paid a lot more than this for our independent EP report, and that was just an assessment, so �550 seems reasonable to me with home and school visits included.

 

We never regretted having it done, it has been the chief weapon in our armoury. The EP was experienced in ASD and had a thorough knowledge of all the educational issues. She knew exactly how to word the report for maximum effect, so it was money well spent, even though the LEA spent six months trying to ignore what was in it.

 

Good luck, it's not an easy position to be in. We have had that "wet kipper" feeling many times during this process. In the end you have to go with your gut feeling and do what you think is best: going for it now, or waiting till later. But make sure it's your decision after weighing up all the facts, don't let anyone put you off.

 

K

[Helen]

the LEA has given that feedback.

... so it's the LEA who are trying to put you off from employing your independent EP...your LEA must feel threatened in some way.

 

If you decided to go ahead with employing the EP the school would try to plan ahead for the EP's visit, it wouldn't matter how hard the school would try to mask your son's difficulties in the classroom and in the playground, your experienced EP should be able to see through the facade.

 

The school would try to anticipate your son's behaviour, but what it wouldn't be able to anticipate is the spontaneous behaviour from other children - their behaviour/ actions could possibly impact on your son in some way.

 

Before my EP visited my son's school, I made him aware of everything to do with the school setting.

 

During the visitation, the EP decided to monitor my son during his timetabled 1-2-1 SEN session - it wasn't a 1-2-1 session, it had become a 4-2-1 session. For that lesson my son had the attention of the Senco, the LSA and 2 SEN support teachers. What type of child would normally receive that amount of support???!!! One SEN teacher in particular was trying her best to encourage my son to complete a certain task - the EP could see that she wasn't giving him a moments peace to concentrate on the task - she was basically getting on my son's nerves.

 

Certain staff who were teaching my son the National Curriculum subjects maintained to the EP that my son gave good eye-contact - the EP could see immediately that this wasn't the case.

 

My son had to queue for a snack at break time, the EP could see that my son didn't like anyone coming within close proximity of him, his body language was so obvious, e.g. he was agitated by pupils breathing near him - the pupils were unaware of my son's discomfort.

 

There are many tell-tale signs of a child's SEN, which the school cannot mask.

[mossgrove]

Sally

 

I sounds like the school LEA are, in avery gentle kind of way, telling you to back off and trust that the professionals know what they are doing. Never a good thing IMHO!

 

The comment about your son coping at school and letting it out at home being common with ASD's , but it not really an issue for the statement as that focusses on education is a telling one, and an example of not quite understanding what is happening.

 

Your son lets it out at home because school is stressful. Therefore the solution is to reduce the level of stress in the school environment via visual timetables, time-outs, better support of any one of a number of strategies. This is absolutely an educational issue and MUST be addressed in the statement.

 

The idea that you need to improve your parenting skills and find after-school clubs I find a little scary, and betrays a lack of understanding. The whole point is that he finds the enforced social contact in school can be a bit much, and needs his downtime away from it. To say that he needs more of the same in his downtime as well is to completely misunderstand the dynamic.

 

This re-inforces what I have come to believe inthe past few months, which is that many of the professionals involved with our children , however well-intentioned and helpful, simply do not "get it".

 

Assuming your private EP has a sufficient undertanding of ASD's and you can afford the money I think you should go ahead. The report could prove to be absolutley invaluable.

 

 

Simon

Edited March 14, 2005 by mossgrove

[Sallya]

Thanks Kathryn, Helen and Simon,

 

I looked at the charter, and couldnt find the EP on it, so I called the practise, and sec was very suprised that it wasnt there; she is going to send his cv for me to look at; she said he had worked for an LEA in the past, and was very experienced in asd; but she could say that over the phone til she was blue in the face; best to see for myself; and she said I was wise to check that he was the best person to see.

Have called education officer to set up meeting after the holidays, and he said to make sure I send him the report before the meeting, because he might be able to make a decision before the meeting.

Have decided to go ahead with the assessment, and I left a message with the sec to let head know I had had a chance to rethink over the weekend, and I wanted to go ahead with the assessment. I am going to call parent partnership in the morning to see if they will go with me.

[Helen]

Sallya,

 

Try searching for information on the independent EP via this link: http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a-ps...psychoindex.cfm

[Sallya]

Found him! Thankyou

xxx