statment hours

[bluefish]

Hi, still awaiting result after assesment for statment to see if we have one and if so how many hours are offered.

Just wondered what in your opinion( I know this is hard to judge) would be a realistic amount that I should not appeal? ed p said I could hope for between 5 and 15 max ...although this is the same person who tried to talk me out of requesting assesment as said I had no chance and it would be better to just see how he gets on in reception! then we could try to get one on real problems rather than perceived ones....

As a parent I want full time one to one! but am begining to realise from reading many posts this is probably unrealistic.

Just wondered how many hours your children have and if you as parents feel there needs are met?

DS will be 5 soon after he starts reception,my worries are more to do with safety and his all round well being at this point rather than education. I think as he gets older he will need 1 to 1 with the education side but not as much with safety.

 

any advice?

thanks

[sueeltringham]

Well we were told similar by our ed psych and autism specialist teacher.

We were first told he wouldn't get a statement.

I ignored all the advice and requested assessment.

We heard we had been turned down initially, but for some reason they then decided to assess (?I think because me and the HT kicked up a huge fuss?).

We expected between 5 and 15 hours and came out with 16!

It wasn't an easy ride, but I'd documented everything, including keeping a diary of all the anxiety attacks at home. I do feel J' s needs are met at the moment as he's functioning really well and achieving. It's taken us over 2 years to get this though. I think the deciding factor was that an autism specialist teacher came into school for the whole of the summer term for several hours a week. J functioned so much better when he was given specialist help and the teacher was able to demonstrate techniques and the subtleties of his anxiety.

It might be worth thinking about the times you think he might need the most help, eg. breaktimes, lunchtimes, PE, assemblies (the difficult times for J) and work from there to calculate the amount of support you think he'll need.

 

Sue

[teachermum1]

J was 3 when first statemented, pre-diagnosis of any sort as CAMHS had to dx and wouldn't see him until he was 5. Pead gave tentative dx of ADHD but the needs were so obvious that I didn't push for the label at that stage. His first statement was made just in time for him to go to school and he was awarded 17 classtime hours and 5 lunchtime hours per week. The LEA Ed Psych said we wouldn't get a statement because of his age. I wouldn't trust an EP at all!

 

I was told 'that's the most you'll get' but nursery had had to provide full time one to one for safety reasons (J bites, kicks, throws, hits, scratches, slaps and runs off when in meltdown mode, and also was in a lovely obsession phase with toilets and locks at the time) and so I was v unhappy. But bear in mind this was after a year long battle to actually get the damn statement in the first place, after being told he wasn't eligible blah blah blah and then having to write to my MP and appeal to SENDIST. They gave in before Tribunal and agreed to assess, but yeah, only for 22 hours worth of support. The eventual ADHD dx at 4 didn't alter the amount of hours.

 

Luckily we had a v good school who recognised that only full time support would be safe...but it's taken 3 years and piles and piles of evidence from CAMHS, school, OT and me to convince the LEA to actually write that full-time support into his statement, and I've only fought that fight because he moves up to Juniors next year and they couldn't/ wouldn't fund the extra 10 hours themselves, so it had to be done. I think the autism dx and high ADOS score helped make up the LEA's mind that they had a very bright child here but with very complex problems, so if he was to make it in mainstream rather than me asking for a specialist placement (which they don't have, so they'd have to pay loads for an out-of-county placement), they'd have to fund it properly. More importantly, they knew I had the evidence to win my 2nd proposed SENDIST tribunal, so figured that it was easier to give in.

 

J is v v bright and above average in all subjects but the combination of ADHD and autism makes him very difficult to manage in mainstream and I'm not sure he'll remain in mainstream beyond primary school if I'm being honest.

 

But at least the current statement now gives him the best possible chance for that to happen: it includes 33 hours (which covers the whole school day and is wholly funded by the LEA) of one-to-one support and regular consultancy from the local autism outreach team. Also OT and SALT.

 

It IS possible to get full time, but it IS rare and, in my experience, reserved for those who are like J and are a danger to themselves/ others and cannot be left unsupervised. Also for severe physical disabilities.

 

But the point is that the Statement should reflect the child's needs, by law, and not reflect what the LEA feels like spending. You need to tot up the number of hours in a day that he needs extra support and write down why (and then add 5, to give you room for bargaining). The thing is, no statutory assessment documents ever seem to recommend an actual number of hours, so that leaves LEAs room just to make it up and choose as little as they can get away with. If you can clearly prove how much is needed and why (and hopefully get professionals to back you up), then theoretically ANY amount is realistic.

 

I would certainly say that a very high level of support is needed for the first term while children settle in. I think J's statement allowed for more hours in the first half-term anyway for that very reason. Good luck. Just be firm on what you will and won't accept and why.

[jomica]

At 4.5, when he started in the reception class, DS had 31 statemented hours (ie every minute of every school day, in and out of lessons). He's now down to 17 hours in year 6. We fought long and hard for them. No other child in our school has had as many hours before or since.

 

He has a diagnosis of HFA, non-verbal learning disorder and has hypermobility of fingers and wrists.

[JsMum]

Bluefish, what are your sons actual difficulties in school, what is the reason for 1-1, write all your concerns down and try as much as possible to have evidence to show that your son will fail if not given 1-1 support, use words like the school can not meet his needs on such a provision of 5 hours a week, ect... if at the end of the day you feel he requires full time 1-1 to have his needs met in a mainstream then appeal if they disagree with your opinion and go to tribunal where they can look at part 2,3,4 of his statement, I wished I had of done this, J is 11 now and severely behind all because he wasnt given adequate support in primary years.

 

Your going to need to prove that your requires full time 1-1 support, but from my experience whats also essential is spersific support, and who provides the support, so look into all areas of his development and what if you had a magic wand what spersific support would you wish for your son and the reasons why and how it would benefit your son.

 

It may need to go to Tribunal but the panel looks at the childs Educational Needs in detail and there is further assessments that can be carried out and determin just what are your sons special needs.

 

Good Luck, IPSEA, NAS Educational Helpline, Ace, Network 81, Contact a Family, ADDISS have further leaflets, booklets, information on the process of Statementing.

 

J was told he wouldnt get a statement, when he did it was 16 hours, but when I look throw the recent assessments of severe Dyslexia and the three triads of Autism it clearly wasnt enough, but I felt relieved getting something, and at the time I thought he was lucky getting a statement, a year on I am going to Tribunal to request a spersific special school where J can access provisions, resourses, enviroment, and the right specific support.

 

LEA think he will be ok in secondary, he can not read, write and his social skills are that of a seven year old, his communication and understanding is of a six year old and he has severe distractability, impulsive actions and restlessness and after 2 hours of a classroom enviroment he is ready to burst.

 

 

so you can guess from my other posts I have very different views of how I want J educated.

 

In september he has no education to access at all until his tribunal date and I dont know that yet, so septemeber is the unknown teratory.

 

 

JsMum

[LizK]

My son (yr1) has 25 hours on his statement but actually gets fulltime support as he needs input dfuring playtime and lunchtime. So it si possible if you think you son needs it. Obviously depends what his needs are. A lot of autistic children find unstructured times like lunch and play very difficult so worth considering what will happen then

 

Lx