Waiting for decision on diagnosis

[daniels-mum]

Hello everyone, I was just wanting some advice, my son is in the long winding assessment road and the next stage is a SALT from Camhs going to school to assess him there, and I think after that we should be getting somewhere near a decision as Camhs are hoping to go to the panel in October. I am increasingly worried about the outcome of the assesment, my biggest fear is that they will not diagnose Daniel and put me back to square one. Has anyone got any experience of Camhs in the Leeds area and how willing they are to diagnose, the only thing that stops me from feeling overwhelmed is that I keep thinking that I will try and get a private diagnosis but I really dont want it to come to that as I dont know if it will be officially recognised in schools, although surely it should be if it by a psycologist who works in NHS as well as private clients. I am sorry to ramble, I am just thinking about this all more and more as the decision is approaching and am finding myself increasingly preoccupied with the whole thing.

 

He currently gets E Band Level 2 funding and the SENCO at his school says he gets 6 units. Does anyone know what this should roughly equate to as I just get the feeling that they will happily take however much money this equates to but I dont think he gets the amount of support he should, from what I manage to get out of him when he gets home, he has no "one to one" help, just working in small groups sometimes. My partners mother is a teacher of many years and she thinks that he should have support for around half of the time with the amount of funding he is getting.

 

Any advice or tips on how to handle the appeal process if it all goes wrong would be much appreciated, I am finding that arming myself with as much information as I can helps me keep focused. Thanks everyone.

[Karen A]

Hi I just read your post on my thread and so understand we are waiting together.I have a few hints that might be helpful.

Any assessment of SEN should be based on just that...the specific educational needs.So the level of funding should not be dependant on a Diagnosis.I know in practice this does not always happen.However Ben does have funding for full time supprt and a very good package of support including Autism outreach without having had a diagnosis of AS yet so it can be done.

The levels of funding delegated and the actual amount of money that relates to a particular band does I think vary very much depending on local practice.However if you contact the SEN department of the local authority then you should be able to obtain information regarding how much money a specific band of funding equates to.So you may be able to get a rough idea of how much TA support is being funded.

Unfortunately if your son does not have a statement which clearly states how much TA support is to be provided and whether it is specifically 1:1 it is difficult to challenge the use of provision.

Ben's school have previously used numerous methods to creatively use his TA support even with a clear statement.

One other option may be to ask the SENCO to provide a timetable demonstrating at which points during the week support is being provided.Then examine the timetable to see whether the time support is being used tallies with the SEN your child has.Again this is much easier with a clear Statement.

The school should have informed you at what level SEN is recorded on the SEN register for your child.It is likely that if you do not have a Statement but outside professionals such as CAMHS are involved your child should be on School Action Plus.

You should also have an IEP which outlines the specific targets for your child and a plan regarding how to meet those targets and in what time-span.Although it is early in the school year and you may not yet have an IEP I would think it reasonable that you should have had some contact with the SENCO or class teacher to plan documenting it.Karen.

[Karen A]

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=418

I thought this thread might help.Karen.

[dooday24]

i am also in limbo at the mo... but we have seen camhs and peadetrician who diagnosed reece with moderate learning disabilitys in may but hav still not had the report Grrrrrr... i am fighting them about a asd diagnosis at the moment with camhs and the peadatrician as they r not willing to assess him for this at the mo i have a emergency meeting with camhs on tues.. as in my post why!!!! u will see why????

i have got no faith in any proffessionals at the mo as they have all let us down....

 

karen reece used to have someone from the asd outreach team see him at school but she only saw him a few times and we were told she wud not be seeing him anymore as he had no diagnosis

 

and i have also thought of goin down the lines of having a private diagnosis done but really cant afford to do this

 

goodluck everyone

 

love donnaxxxxxxx

[Flora]

karen reece used to have someone from the asd outreach team see him at school but she only saw him a few times and we were told she wud not be seeing him anymore as he had no diagnosis

 

If the parents are actively seeking a diagnosis then the asd outreach can still be involved. I'm not sure where I picked up this little snippet... maybe another parent... but apparently this is the case. If there are difficulties at school that could be related to asd, and the parents are seeking assessment, then outreach can still be brought in.

 

Flora

[daniels-mum]

Thanks to all who replied, it has clarified things, I think if Daniel does not get the diagnosis I am hoping for, I am going to ask for a statement assesment (although I know it will go down like a lead balloon) He is to start secondary school next Sept and I am keen to try and get things clarified more before then, I do understand how you feel Karen, I think I am becoming obsessed!! I just all the professionals had done what they should have done years ago. When I look back, knowing what I know now it makes me so mad and I really wish I had kicked up more of a fuss, but I was a young single parent and didnt have anything other children to compare Dan with as none of my friends had children, so I probably got fobbed off by school, it was only when they realised they may get some funding that there interest seemed to perk up... sorry i am ranting now!!!