And so it begins!!

[Faye83]

Hi all - havent posted for a while but have been avidly lurking in the background!

 

Everyone warned me that the education side was going to be the hard part. I have been very impressed with our Health Services and couldn't ask for better and felt everything was going too well for it to last!

 

A is now 4 and due to start school in September. Everyone (paed, ed psych, HV, key worker, speech therapist etc) has agreed that there is no way he can go to mainstream and have identified a special school that specialises in Autism local to us. Great we thought lets get the ball rolling - that was November last year and we are still no further forward in my mind.

 

We are due a meeting for a review of his IEP with the nursery and everyone else next month so will ask questions there but I am so new to all this Im not sure what to ask or what we should be doing.

 

I have been advised to contact Parent Partnership so that will be our next step and from what I have read the nursery should be applying for a statutory assessment that should then lead on to the statement is that correct?

 

What happens if this is not sorted by Sept - will he be able to stay on at his nursery or will he have to stay home.

 

Feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated by it all - wish I had enough knowledge of the subject to know what I should be pushing for.

 

Will keep you updated on our journey! x x

[lynne]

 

 

Its great to hear you have had good support from your health service. Its also an advantage to have the diagnosis prior to him going to school but most people are not so lucky.

 

 

The only thing that surprises me is that the nursery have not requested a statement. Does your child attend a private nursery or a state nursery?

 

It would be adviseable for you to request the statement, that way it would start the ball rolling. There is a standard letter on this site and on the IPSEA website you just request a statutory assessment and do not need to say the reasons why as you will have this opportunity later

[Faye83]

Thanks Lynne.

 

He attends a private nursery 4 days a week, thanks for the info re the statement I will get on to that this week.

 

We had a diagnosis in Dec 2007 when he was 2 and 9 months old and I do feel fortunate that he had an early dx as he has had access to speech therapy etc from early on.

 

Thanks again for the info x x

[bid]

Hi

 

I found that when we were going through the Statementing process I had to constantly phone to chase and check that everything had been done/sent to the right people, etc.

 

Bid

[call me jaded]

Yes, get the ball rolling for transition - there's a section on it in the SEN Code of Practice. give shout if you can't find it.

 

The other thing to do is to check with the special school that they are expecting him in Sept, just to make sure they don't let that place go. It made it much less stressful for me knowing that the school was onside.

[Sally44]

As well as the Parent Partnership, get in touch with the National Austistic Societies Educational Helpline. They can help you get the wording specific in the Statement. Don't agree to it before an NAS professional as looked at it. The Statementing processes takes 26 weeks. You don't have to agree with it. You can go to Tribunal if you think the Statement does not sufficiently cover your child's needs (in either section 2 - needs, or section 3 - how those needs will be met in school). Again the NAS has a Tribunal service.

If you are in the process of a Statement, then your child should still be able to go the special school. However do you know if there are any places left? Places are premium, and are quickly filled leaving vulnerable children with no other option than mainstream school.

However, lack of educational places is not your problem. By law the LEA has to place him in a suitable school and the Tribunal can force the LEA to make another place, or the LEA has to fund a place at a private school. So don't believe them if they tell you there are no places available and you have to accept an unsatisfactory place. So you must agree to part 4 (placement) on the statement. If you are not happy with it, go to Tribunal (NAS can support you through this).

The Parent Partnership and NAS also hold seminars about the Statementing process, so get in touch to find out when the next one is.

 

[Faye83]

Thanks so much everyone for the advice so far - I will be doing plenty of reading tomorrow and will get OH to make some phone calls while Im at work tomorrow. We have a multi disciplinary meeting on 16 April so will be getting an update on where we are at. I received a letter from the LEA last week which confirmed a place for him at the same mainstream school as my daughter currently attends - it was weird to read as under 'normal' circumstances we would have been over the moon but I know this is best for him - there is no way he would manage in mainstream at this stage maybe in the future but not now.

 

Will keep you updated with any progress we make x x x

[Sally44]

You can also contact the special school recommended to you and visit it and speak with the SENCO. They will tell you straight away if any places are available.

If all professionals agree that your child cannot cope in mainstream, then when you or the nursery (doesn't matter who starts the process) asks for a Statutory Assessment all professionals involved with the child have to produce a report. The difficulty is getting them to actually state that in their report.

You could speak to them by phone to clarify if they will be recommending a special school placement in their report.

But the process should have been started about a year ago, at least.

[Karen A]

Thanks so much everyone for the advice so far - I will be doing plenty of reading tomorrow and will get OH to make some phone calls while Im at work tomorrow. We have a multi disciplinary meeting on 16 April so will be getting an update on where we are at. I received a letter from the LEA last week which confirmed a place for him at the same mainstream school as my daughter currently attends - it was weird to read as under 'normal' circumstances we would have been over the moon but I know this is best for him - there is no way he would manage in mainstream at this stage maybe in the future but not now.

 

Will keep you updated with any progress we make x x x

 

Hi.I hope the multidisciplinary meeting goes well today.I thought this might be helpful information too.

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1763&a=3229

If nobody has applied for Statutary Assessment then I think it may be a good idea to apply yourself.I don't know whether the COP has to be followed by private nurseries.It is possible that they may not be as clued up regarding Specialist primary provision as some of the mainstream nurseries.

Karen.

 

 

[Faye83]

Evening all - thought I would give a quick update as things seem to be progressing slightly. Multi dis meeting went well - agreed his updated IEP and applied for a statutory assessment. Had a letter of the LEA agreeing to this along with a parental report with about a million questions on - looks like thats going to be a nightmare to complete!

 

The Ed Psych is coming to speak to us on the 11 June and is then doing her assessment of A on the 23 June.

 

Pleased things are moving but something tells me that things wont be sorted by the beginning of term in Sept or do you think I am just being pessimistic?!

 

Thanks again everyone for your input - will crack on with completing the parental statement and let you know how the 11th goes x x x

[Karen A]

Hi.The link below might be useful.

http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice-about-educ...-assessment.htm

The LA have six weeks from recieving the request to decide whether to conduct a Statutary Assessment.They have ten weeks from notifying parent of decision to conduct the Statutary Assessment and another two to to notify the parents regarding whether a Statement will be issued.So 18 weeks in total.In our case the final Statement was issued during the summer holidays.So that would give you a rough idea.Karen.

[Sally44]

As you have posted that 'everyone' agrees that he cannot go mainstream. What is the special school the LEA is proposing for your child? You should know by now which one it is. I would phone up the SEN department at your local council and ask them. Places are usually filled very quickly and you may find that your child has not been reserved a place anywhere leaving only mainstream options available, which you state are not suitable. The EP who saw my son in infant mainstream told me that she could reserve a place for him in ER anytime. But when it came to it she couldn't and there were no places left! Don't assume that people are working behind the scenes sorting it all out, because they might not be.

Your LEA may also have more than one special school, and you should go and have a look around what is available to make sure that you feel your son fits in with the other pupils.

Our LEA has a couple of special schools for those whose autism is more severe and who also have learning difficulties. Then there is a mainstream/Enhanced Resource school that has more severe autistic children in the autism unit, but who may come across to mainstream for certain activities or lessons depending on how they cope with that. Then there are children with autism/ASDs/Aspergers etc that are mainstream according to their ability and they too can go across to the unit for certain lessons for for dinner etc.

Looking round the schools will give you a good feel for where your own son would do best. My son is not 'autistic' enough to go into a unit. That is mainly to do with his desire to socialise. But his learning difficulties are such that he needs around the same level of support in the classroom and playground as those in the autism unit.

So there can be alot of flexibility. So don't feel pushed into accepting a placement that you think is unsuitable. For example I was told by the AAT via her report that my son should go into the autism unit. When I queried about his desire to socialise, which I thought would be severely restricted inside the unit, I was told that I had to make a choice. That was not my interpretation of the Code of Practice towards a Statement. It says that every need has to be itemised in section 2 of the statement and the recommendations to meet those needs itemised in section 3. When that happens the decision about placement in section 4 becomes much clearer.

I did go to tribunal to get the level of support my son needed to be in the Enhanced Resource mainstream class. And that included alot of input from SALT to improve his language and social skills. Since September we have seen huge improvements in his confidence and ability.

It is also important to get a clear picture of your child's cognitive ability. The LEA/NHS professionals should carry out assessments using both verbal and non-verbal assessments. There is a big difference between a child that has a lower level of functioning and therefore needs an environment to support him, as opposed to a child that has a higher level of cognitive ability and needs his work differentiating and needs more support (educational and social) to remain in an environment with children of a similar cognitive level. Does that make sense? And carrying out the right assessments will make the options much clearer to you.

 

[Kazzen161]

Whatever schools you think might be suitable - go and visit soon. Don't forget schools close for the summer, so you will not be able to visit them then. They also get very busy towards the end of the summer term, with sports days, etc, so if you want to see a normal day, you will have limited time. Once you get the proposed Statement, the LA will ask for your "preferred" school - you need to be able to tell them. When you visit the schools, ask if they have places for him to start in September. Most children with Statements will have had their places allocated in Feb/March.

 

Has he already been allocated a place at a mainstream school in the standard admissions process?

[Karen A]

Hi.Sorry I did not read through all of the thread last night.I just picked it up again this afternoon.

If you are not sure whether the Statement will be in place for Sepetember and whether an appropriate school place will be sorted in time it might be worth talking with the nursery too.

I think that children do not legally have to start school until the beginning of the new term in the term after their fifth birthday.[statutary School age ].

 

 

So if you are happy with the nursery there might be the possibility of your child remaining at nursery a bit longer if a place at school could be sorted for January for example.It may not be ideal but might be a better option than a school placement that is not appropriate if the Statement cannot be completed in time.

It might also be worth keeping in regular contact with the Statementing officer just so that they are aware of your concern regarding the urgency to get the Statutary Assessment completed.If your child is already known to most of the professionals then that should help as those submitting reports will I hope already have lots of information.

When we requested a Statutary Assessment for Ben we were starting from scratch.He did not have a diagnosis and had never been assessed by any professionals.

As bid said it is worth constantly phoning people to keep the process moving. Karen.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Karen A

[Karen A]

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1068&a=3359

This link might be helpful too.It provides lots of useful ideas for things to think about when choosing a school for a child with ASD.

 

From your earlier post I thought that some professionals had a specific school in mind [that specialises in supporting children with ASD] that they thought might be appropriate.If that is the case it might be worth phoning the school to see if your child is already on a list of possible admissions for the September intake.

It may also be worth talking to Parent Partnership and the LA Statementing officer.

According to the Code of Practice neither the LA nor professionals should pre-empt Statutary Assessment by naming the school in part 4 before the Statutary Asessment has been competed and a draft Statement issued.Once the draft Statement has been issued the parents then have the oppurtunity to state which school they would prefer to be named in part 4.[the ''preferred '' school]

So the LA officer may not be prepared to talk with you about specific schools at this stage.However you could explain that you are concerned about whether a place has been reserved at a particular school in view of the tight deadlines and see what response you get.I found that although the LA would not name a specific school they were able to suggest schools in general terms that we might like to look at where they knew children with similar needs to Ben were well supported Karen.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Karen A

[Karen A]

Hi again.I have just realised the time line I gave you last night is missing the last section.The LA has eighteen weeks to issue the draft Statement as I said.However there is then another allowance of a further eight weeks allowed for consultation on the draft Statement,changes to the draft Statement .Also time is allowed for parents to name the choice of school and the LA to consult with the named school.

So it is actually 26 weeks that are allowed in total from the request to assess to the issue of the Final Statement.

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/3724/SENCodeOfPractice.pdf

[see 8:134 for a time line].

So the LA are going to have to put their skates on. Karen.

[Faye83]

Thank you so much everyone for your detailed replies - they are much appreciated!

 

A school local to us has been identified which is a special school for mild to moderate learning difficulties but I am concerned that there will not be any places available - I will get on to them to see if he has been identified to them yet and speak to the LEA too.

 

He has been allocated a place at the mainstream that my daughter attends through the standard system but the nursery have confirmed that he will be able to remain there if he hasnt been allocated anywhere in time for term starting which I am pleased about. I really want to get the right school for him as he has made such great progress in the last 12 months and is now talking and I am really worried I'll make the wrong decision and set him back.

 

Assuming that he is allocated a suitable school, what is the normal procedure for the transition? I dont even know how on earth I will get him out the car but I suppose the teachers have experienced that before!

 

Thanks again everyone for your invaluable advice x x

[Karen A]

Hi Faye.I had a quick look on the NAS web site to see if I could find any information specifically regarding transition to primary school but couldn't.

I am sure they will have lots of helpful information.It may be worth phoning the help line.They may well be able to send out printed information.

Different schools have different plans for new pupils.In specialist provision or where a child is identified as being likely to find transition difficult [as in having ASD or SEN] it is worth having an individual plan.The plan might include :-

 

Several meetings with the school to ensure appropriate support is in place.[TA appointed and trained with experience in ASD,Plan regarding how Statement of SEN will be put into practice].

Whole school training in ASD for staff perhaps with specific guidance regarding how information relates to your child's individual needs.

Visual reminders [pictures,maps] of what the new school will be like.

A social story about starting school.

School visits for the child.Perhaps several for short periods.

Perhaps a plan for gradual start to school...short periods building up to full time over a period of time.

 

These are some ideas off the top of my head.I have never done primary transition with a child with ASD because Ben was only diagnosed last year and he is 10.I am currently planning secondary school transition though .

I hope that if you obtain a place in Specialist provision that you will find that the SENCO and staff team are used to planning support for children and parents who are new starters.

If you plan to visit a school before naming them as your preferred option it might be worth asking them what the arrangements for new starters with SEN [or ASD] are.The reply might be very informative. Karen.

[Karen A]

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1766

Hi.I thought this link might be useful too.It details ideas for common areas of difficulty for children with ASD in school and ideas to provide support.

There may also be a book for parents of children with ASD who are starting primary school.I was able to find one for secondary.Karen.

Edited May 10, 2009 by Karen A

[Sally44]

I don't know if this helps at all, and this is only my personal views.

Firstly I would visit any relevant schools to see the head and SENCO and get a good feeling for the type of pupils at the school and see how they teach children with ASDs and see them on a typical day.

Then, with my own son, I looked at him specifically regarding his personality and how ASD affected him. Certain things I considered with my own son went as follows. Is he very anxious by nature, or will the lack of structure and predictability make him very anxious. Can he learn in the same way as mainstream children or will he need his work highly differentiated and is the differentiation needed associated with his diagnosis. That helped me make the decision between whether he would cope mainstream only, and I decided he wouldn't from past experience. I also thought that he needed teachers/TAs who had experience and expertise in teaching children with ASDs.

I considered how he was doing in the 'triad of impairments'. Eg. his speech, language comprehension etc is classed as moderate to severe so that gave me an indication of the level of therapies and support he would need. But the fact that he was verbal straight away ruled out some placements, but the fact that he is echolalic and has other speech disorders means that whole class teaching is not possible so he needs to be taught in small groups. His social interaction skills are obviously affected for him to get a diagnosis. But he does want to play and interact and gets frustrated that he doesn't know how. This helped me decide that an autism unit was not suitable because I didn't feel that his social skills would be stretched, but I knew he would need alot of support in an ER environment because left to his own devices he would usually walk up and down the fence line repeating TV dialogue to himself. Regarding needing structure and routine he does need that to learn. And he can get upset sometimes over unpredictable changes. But compared with other children with autism that I know, he is less affected in this area. Therefore I believed he would be able to cope in an enhanced resource environment.

When my son moved to the ER school there was another child in his class who I considered to be slightly more 'autistic' than my son. After some time this other child was moved to the autism unit. Academically this child was more able than my son ie. he could read and write but without any understanding behind it. My son is completely the opposite, not reading and writing but with understanding behind the meaning of pictures. This other child also got upset at anyone approaching him socially. My son tends to join in when asked. So I could see that this other child needed the unit whereas mine doesn't.

Your child hasn't started school yet, and from around 3+ that is when their social side begins to emerge. So you are bound not to have a very clear picture of how your son will progress. But I would take the advice of the professionals on board and go with a special school place. It is much more likely that if you feel your son is making good steady progress and you think that he could cope in a mixed or mainstream environment that the LEA would agree to that (afterall that usually involves less cost to them). If you accept the mainstream place because nothing else is available, then you might find it harder to move placement at a later date because the LEA may argue that he is coping mainstream and you will have to prove that he isn't and the NHS and LEA professionals would have to write reports to that effect as well.

[Faye83]

Hi everyone, again thank you so much for your advice, views and experiences. I dont know anyone else in 'real life' who has gone through this procedure so all your help is very welcome and appreciated.

 

We had our meeting with Parent Partnership on Friday to go through the parental statement forms with us. We are mcuh clearer now on what to include and that has to be in by the beginning of July so we are going to get that completed and in as quick as we can. She has said if we need anymore help or advice at the next stage to get back in touch.

 

We are going to try to arrange a visit of the school that we have in mind next.

 

I'll keep you all updated with progress x x x x

[Faye83]

Hi all, just a quick update.

 

Things seem to be moving a bit as everyone has been phoning/writing to make appointments with us before 10th July - I presume for their reports to be submitted.

 

We have ed psych on 11 and 23 June, paed on 06 July and speech therapist on the 01 July. Nursery have already done their part and we are in the process of completing our part.

 

As ever will update when anything happens x x

[Faye83]

Evening everyone, just an update from me. We have had DS provisinal statement through and in the covering letter the LEA have commented that the school we want would be most suitable for him. It lists all his needs and what additional help he will require and asking us to name a school.

 

Still no idea of when he will start but at least things are moving on x x x

[Kathryn]

Well that sounds positive so far - thanks for the update. I hope you do get the school you want.

 

K x

[Faye83]

Thank you Kathryn.

 

They phoned yesterday (Tues) to say it was the last day of term so if we wanted to view it while the children were still there we could go down. I was in work and couldnt get out so OH went, filled in all the forms and loved it. We are going back on Friday when it is empty with DS which I am dreading - god knows what he is going to do!

 

He is going to be in a class with 7 other children, 1 teacher and 2 teaching assistants. Their classes are divided on their needs and he is going to be in the social communication group with extra speech therapy and focus on the social and speaking part of life. So so glad we got the school, but still stressing about the transition! x x

Edited July 22, 2009 by Faye83

[Faye83]

Hi all, thought I would give a quick update

 

Statement has now been finalised and A started at his special school on the 3rd Sept. He settled fairly quickly all things considered. There are a total of 6 children in his class, 2 teachers (job share) and 2 teaching assistants and he has speech therapy at the school once a week.

 

His transport started on Monday just gone which he seems to like so long as he sits in the same place every day - no problems as all the other kids want to sit in the same place too and I couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

 

We didn't find out for definite that he was starting until the day before schools went back so I was getting a but panicky but thankfully all came good in the end.

 

Thank you again to everyone who posted links, advice and help - it is very much appreciated. x x x x

[Kathryn]

Thanks for he update, Faye, and glad to hear it's all going well so far.

 

K x

[Sally44]

Sounds like your son is in a supportive environment. That makes progress more likely, and lifts the weight of worry off your shoulders. Hope all continues to go well.