Proposed statement

[Joe's gran]

Hi there,

Back from holiday and received Joe's draft statement today. My daughter and her husband are not happy as it is just so vague. I downloaded and printed the AFASIC doc for them to help and they are hoping to now to get some outside bodies involved (Parents in Partnership, I think it's called).

 

Joe's needs are described very fully and accurately (severe languge disorder and ASD). Everyone involved in Joe's assessment recommends the local language centre (very few places) However the provision mentions no specific extra time at all if he goes to mainstream(at the moment he has 1-2-1 at nursery as his receptive skills are so poor). It is acknowledged in the statement that he needs SLT at least 4 times a week. In the provision part of the statement, SLT comes under non-educational provision (even though it says it should be carried out in school) and is section 6 (AFASIC make no mention of a section 6) and we sort of get the feeling that this will not be covered by the legal part of the statement as it has been placed outside education and that there will be no legal basis to fight for Joe's provision if it is not forthcoming.

 

Has anyone any experience of this section 6 and whether it comes under the legality of the statement? It appears to be the sort of medical implications and mentions his asthma, sleeping problems etc then they slip in SLT... are we just becoming cynical or are we being 'fobbed off'?

Would love some help before we get the 'big guns in'.

Love Joe's gran.

Edited April 6, 2005 by Joe's gran

[nellie]

Joe's gran,

 

Section 6 of the statement is for non educational provision. Speech and Language is only non educational in exceptional circumstances.

 

Speech and Language should be a special educational need under part 2 of the statement. Therefore the provision for S& L should be shown in part 3.

 

Have a look at this link to IPSEA showing case law.

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/caselaw.htm#LancashireJudgement

 

I would advise you to get in touch with the NAS or IPSEA, they will be able to check your statement.

 

Nellie xx

[Helen]

Hi Joe's Gran,

 

I suggest your daughter requests the assistance of an NAS education advocate, for the advocate to scrutinize the proposed Statement. Tel : 0845 070 4002

 

P.S. Happy belated birthday, glad you had such a lovely time in France

[nellie]

Joe's Gran,

 

This is taken from the Code of Practice.

 

 

Case law has established that speech and language therapy can be regarded as either educational or non-educational provision, depending upon the health and developmental history of each child. It could therefore appear in either Part 3 or Part 6 of the statement or in both. However, since communication is so fundamental in learning and progression, addressing speech and language impairment should normally be recorded as educational provision unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so. Para 8:49 Code of Practice.

[Joe's gran]

Thank you so much , both of you. Where would we all be without you.

Love Joe's gran.x

[admum]

Unfortunately its common for leas to do this. They did with us. Ipsea and nas will help. Its important to get all provision very specific so they cant weedle out of provision. They tried the "oh its the health service duty to provide "--we sai " no its education"- "yes but in fact health provide" - -they were still trying to argue it at tribunal and im sure that nhs salt was pressurised to say didnt need provision we were seeking.We had private report and tribunal wrote her recommendations word for word into statement.

[nellie]

Joe's gran,

 

To explain further.

 

It is only if speech therapy is specified as a special educational provision under Part 3 of a statement that your child has a legal right to receive the provision. This is because LEAs have a strict duty to arrange the provision set out in Part 3. They are entitled to get another body, such as the health authority, to actually provide or pay for speech therapists. But if, for whatever reason, the health authority won't or can't make the provision, then the LEA must do so.

[Joe's gran]

Thanks for all the advice. My daughter phoned the NAS legal helpline and we had to p/copy and mail all the docs to a legal representative. We did this yesterday. By the time I arrived at my daughter's with Joe at 4pm this afternoon the legal rep. had phoned my daughter and emailed her recommendations through along with the necessary legal references for back up.

Now ready to begin discussions.

VERY IMPRESSED!!! Thank you.

Joe's gran.x