Speech delay

[sonj186]

Hi all,

 

just wondering about camerons speech delay ive got a few questions - is it just a delay? will it eventualy go away? the fact it is called a delay makes me think he will eventualy catch up! but as i dont know anyone who has had speech issues im not sure! im just worried it will be permanent! and as cute as it may be (at times) to listen to him now i know that other children notice the difference and it will eventualy be used as something to pick on! SALT are involved in school but i dont think it has made much difference!

any thoughts?

 

sonj

[chris54]

I can only speak from personal experience but with our son he hardly had any speech until he was about 4 when all at once the flood gates opened and now we cant shut him up, well when he is at home at least. He is still not very talkative away from home, at school etc or if there are people around he does not know well.

[sonj186]

Cam is very verbal however not many people outside the family can fully understand him! he really struggles with, w as r, and pr, br, cr, t! etc

[tjw]

hi

my son was just over 3 yrs old when he started talking, he is 6 now and his speech is still a little difficult for outsiders to understand him he has the same problems with w, r, b, d cahms have now refered us to speech theoroy and we are waiting for appointments but i no what you mean about other children, quite a few in his class dont understand him so dont realy talk much to him but he hasnt been pick on. we were told it was a delay and hopefully the speech theorpy will help.

theresa

[Mum of 3]

I was thinking about G's speech today, as I was filling out the dla forms .

He has similar problems, with ch,sh, y at the start of words, th, and more. The things he says are really clever alot of the time, but people still just look straight at me for a translation! . I wish people would persevere with him, and tell him when they can't understand, as he isn't really aware that there is a problem, so he's not motivated to do anything about it, He had 6 speech therapy sessions, and now he's had his time, but he won't practice what she showed him (he wouldn't even do it for her!), so he's actually worse now than he was when he started 6months ago! .

How do you get your's to speak more clearly and practice the exercises?

[sonj186]

I struggle with cam! i tend to make him say something clearly before replying or acting on what he has said, he wont do any of the exercises either or read the books we were given

[Special_talent123]

Hi all,

 

just wondering about camerons speech delay ive got a few questions - is it just a delay? will it eventualy go away? the fact it is called a delay makes me think he will eventualy catch up! but as i dont know anyone who has had speech issues im not sure! im just worried it will be permanent! and as cute as it may be (at times) to listen to him now i know that other children notice the difference and it will eventualy be used as something to pick on! SALT are involved in school but i dont think it has made much difference!

any thoughts?

 

sonj

 

Try not to worry about the speech delay, when i was 4 years old i could only say a word i couldnt say a sentence if i saw dolphin i would only say the word 'dolphin'. i had speech therapy to help me communicate better because i was delayed in my speaking which meant i was late at talking but eventually i talked later on and the therapy had helped improve my speech delay.

[Flora]

Does your son have trouble with pronouncing his words or is it a language problem?

 

My youngest son had a significant language delay (although his speech was very clear). He used to echo everything said to him and then when he started trying to have conversations it never made much sense because it was clear that he didn't understand what he was supposed to be conversing about. He was found to have auditory processing problems and had sound therapy for this and within the time of the therapy he made massive developments in his language. At the age of 12 now he never shuts up and has an excellent vocabulory etc. So quite a positive outcome for us.

 

Flora

[sadie]

Sorry to hear about Cam's difficulties and even more sorry to be the bearer of not such a positive outcome as the others.

 

DD, aged 14, still has significant language/ speech problems and I doubt they will improve much now despite considerable speech therapy in the past.

 

DD had initial speech delay and elective mutism at one point : we considered hearing difficulties until I realised she could hear the faintest birdsong but just didn't respond to us.

 

Now I think (nothing has been officially diagnosed) that she has auditory processing disorder as well as some language disorder and also speech and articulation problems. The paediatrician also suggests she has 'odd intonation and prosody'... ... her language is most definitely not fluent and a lot of people have difficulty understanding her or do not have the patience to try to listen to her carefully enough to understand her. Obviously these impairments exacerbate her difficulties in making friends which she has enough difficulties with in any case.

 

With good luck (and help?) Cam's speech problems may improve, and I hope they do, but it can't be assured. Looking on the bright side (if there is one), our DD's language problems meant that she had no difficulty accessing other help which I think a lot of parents have to fight to obtain if they manage to get it at all.

 

Good luck.

 

Sadie

[call me jaded]

We have permanent delay here. No speech at all at 15. I can't remember when we started calling him non-verbal. He does find ways of making his needs known, although as his mother I'm expected to mind-read, but I thought telepathy was in a mum's job description anyway.

[Sally44]

Cam is very verbal however not many people outside the family can fully understand him! he really struggles with, w as r, and pr, br, cr, t! etc

 

Have you raised your concerns with a Speech Therapist? He may need to be assessed to see if his poor articulation is down to difficulty forming the words, or because he 'hears' them differently. Google Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Children can sometimes 'hear' the sounds differently. My son cannot differentiate between 'n' and 'm' or between 'p', 'b' and 'v'. He also misses off sylabells ie 'puter' instead of 'computer' and 'pose' instead of 'suppose'. I also have CAPD and I cannot tell which direction sounds are coming from. I cannot 'hear' if there is other background noise eg. I have to put my finger in my other ear when I answer the phone. In an environment like a pub or club I cannot hold a conversation because my ears have a mind of their own and tune into sounds and words from conversations all around the room.

 

Your child might also benefit from a SALT approach called 'networking' this is when a new word is introduced it is categorised by being associated with other objects. For example if the new word was 'football' he would be told and shown the word and a picture of a football and would be given a brief description of what it was and what it is used for. It would then be associated with 'sport' 'football players' 'team games' 'running' etc so that he remembered and stored it appropriately in his memory.

[sonj186]

We have been through speech therapy with cam and he now recieves it in school, to be honest there has been little or no progress! i am on the case though! im considering looking for a private speech therapist as i think they will be able to give a more rounded assesment of cams speech, unfortunatly SALT in our area are overworked and understaffed or thats what they keep telling me when i ask for extra help! we have cams review tommorow and SALT are as far as i know attending so i will see what they have to say! wish me luck

[Sally44]

In our area SALT are also responsible for social interaction skills. I found that out after 3 years! Whenever they reviewed my son they always filled out a standard form. One of the headings was 'behaviour and play" - and in this section, for 3 years, it said "on this occasion we have not had an opportunity to assess XXX". So I finally asked what this section was about. And it was about any disruptive, anti-social or odd behaviour to spoken language and also about the child's ability to use language to play (ie. join in, initiate conversation, follow another child's game, flexibility in play etc). I was amazed and actually wrote a letter of complaint to the SALT department stating that I was astounded that in three years they still had not found the opportunity to assess my child in one of the core areas of deficit required to get a diagnosis in the first place!

Now he does get alot of input in all the areas of difficulty that we identified by obtaining a private SALT report and by including all her findings into my son's Statement.

If you do go independently you need to get a professional that does not work for the LEA or NHS. This is because the LEA and NHS obviously have budgets and when they assess a child they have in mind the level of service they are presently capable of providing. They do assess within those boundaries which is usually termly reviews (many times just over the phone with the TA), and will put together a programme to be carried out in school by a TA.

A private independent professional is not limited by any budget or LEAs policy. They will assess and make recommendations that they think are needed to meet the child's needs. That may be (and usually is) way above what the LEA or NHS currently provide. But if you have these reports, and especially if they are used to either get or increase the therapy input mentioned in a child's statement, whatever is included will have to be provided by the LEA.

In my son's case we argued that this speech and communication difficulties were severe and therefore a TA was not a suitably qualified person. We negotiated for him to receive weekly sessions from a therapist with the TA observing this session to fully understand what the objectives of the session were. The TA would then carry it out on a daily basis, and the SALT would re-evaluate a week later and make any changes. We argued for this because my son is bright, and some things he will grasp quite quickly and it would be a waste of time for him to have to practice them for a whole term before it was reviewed again. By the SALT being in school every week it means that we quickly go over things he grasps and spend longer on things he struggles with and the weekly therapy helps the therapist quickly identify what the core difficulty is and also find the best way of delivering the session to the child.

I cannot emphasise the huge improvements we have seen with my son.

My opinion regarding speech delay in ASDs is that this is an incorrect use of the word. Speech and communication difficulties are part of an ASD which is an autistic spectrum "DISORDER". Therefore the language difficulties are also "DISORDERS" and not delays. A delay means the person can and has the potential to catch up. Those with ASDs can and do improve in all areas as they mature. But the core deficits remain and are lifelong. I believe they use the word 'delay' because if you use the word 'disorder' it does mean that that difficulty is for life and in my area SALT cannot discharge a child that has a speech disorder.

Although I do acknowledge that some with Aspergers and HFA may achieve such a high level of functioning that Speech Therapy is no longer essential for them. But currently, I think that few children with ASDs receive the level of SALT input they need to both communicate effectively and use/understand the social use of language.

There is an interesting on-going assessment tool called SCERTS that anyone with a child with an ASD might be interested to find out about. It is a way of involving all professionals to be aware of what the child can and cannot do from a language and social communication point of view and it quickly identifies the areas that need to be worked on.

[Karen A]

Hi sonj.I hope the review goes well today.I had a few thoughts.

Does your son have other difficulties with speech identified other than ASD ?

Other forms of speech delay or difficulty can occur and may not be related to ASD .These should also be treated if a child has ASD.So for example Ben had dysfluency [stammer] which was not related to ASD and had speech therapy.If there are other speech difficulties that can be treated then those difficulties or delays may improve.They may be nothing to do with ASD at all.

The other thing I thought worth saying is that all SALTS do not have specialist training in ASD.It may be worth checking whether the SALT is a specialist in ASD.

Ben had weekly intensive speech therapy for 18 months between the age of 3 and 4 and a half.The SALT never identified that he might have ASD despite spending time with Ben for an hour every week.She even taught me the intensive programme of support for dysfluency that I carried out every day and observed practice during play between Ben and myself.

So it would be worth asking for specialist input from a SALT with experience in ASD.Karen.

[Karen A]

Hi.Does Cam have a Stement of SEN ? or is the review a review of the IEPS or a review of progress in school ?

[sonj186]

yes he has a statement, its the review of the statement today.

[chris54]

My opinion regarding speech delay in ASDs is that this is an incorrect use of the word. Speech and communication difficulties are part of an ASD which is an autistic spectrum "DISORDER". Therefore the language difficulties are also "DISORDERS" and not delays. A delay means the person can and has the potential to catch up. Those with ASDs can and do improve in all areas as they mature. But the core deficits remain and are lifelong.

 

I would agree with this.If I think of my own son, often at times of stress he will revert to using gestures. Which is of course frustrating for both of us, I know he has something to tell me but cant.

 

(By stress I mean any situation he does not feel comfortable about, which can be something as simple as being stood in a queue in a shop)

 

 

When my son was having speech therapy his speech problems were seen in isolation. At that time ASD was not in the frame. Only looking back now do we see that it is all part of the bigger picture.

 

 

[Karen A]

yes he has a statement, its the review of the statement today.

 

What time.....how long have I got.

 

[Karen A]

What time.....how long have I got.

 

Ah.You have gone.I will post and hope you get this.

It would be worth being very clear about the provision that you want regarding SALT.

If you are not happy with current arrangements say so clearly.

Ask for increased provision.

Ask for your comments to be minuted.

If the SALT says she thinks provision is ok push the issue.

Ensure that is minuted too.

It is important becuae the AR is your oppurtunity to push for amendments to the Statement.

If amendments are made then you would be able to appeal to tribunal regarding SALT provision.

If the AR goes through without amendments then you would not be able to appeal for [i think ] another year.

Even if you are unable to obtain agreement regarding amendments being needed at the AR the LA has to take not of any concerns that you express when deciding whether to amend the Statement.

So it is worth being brave and assertive.

I hope you get to read this.

Karen.

 

[Karen A]

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1763&a=6741

This link provides more details if you have time to read it. Karen.

[sonj186]

Well thats me just back from camerons review meeting! thanks for your replies Karen but i had already left to be honest we had quite a possitive meeting i took a letter with my views to hand out to everyone (as school didnt ask my views at all!) this is what i wrote

 

To All professionals concerned with Cameron xxxxxx Statement of Special Educational Needs.

 

As Cameron’s parents we have noticed a positive change in his behavior over the last year, this has been achieved with the strategy’s put in place by school, his IEP and the limited support from his one to one. He seems to think about things more now before he acts and has been encouraged to ignore other children who may be acting in a way he would previously have copied. We are aware how much time and hard work has gone into achieving this, and are feeling more positive about Cameron’s behavior. We are not feeling quite so positive about Cameron’s learning we feel that the 7 hour one to one is no longer sufficient and would like to see this increased, he is now in a much larger group of class 1 and class 2 almost twice as many children as when he was awarded 7 hours, he needs things to be explained very clearly to him before he will act on any instructions and as he is a defeatist he will generally give up if he can’t succeed first time, we feel that without more learning support Cameron will struggle in most areas of the curriculum. He is now much more willing to sit and read etc but his progress can be difficult to assess as he will not always demonstrate how much he knows. We feel that most off the targets set out on his IEP are realistic however we feel that Cameron should have access to the playground for all dry breaks and if supervision is required it should always be available, we feel that keeping him in class when there is no outdoor supervision has a detrimental effect on his behavior which we can certainly see at the end of the school day. We also feel a more child friendly IEP would be more suitable as it would involve Cameron more. Where there has been progress in Cameron’s behavior unfortunately we have noticed no progress in his speech and communication, we no longer feel that Cameron has a speech delay but that he has a speech disorder and feel that this is an area in which he really needs some extra support and more input from SALT.

 

 

SALT didnt attend the meeting! shock horror!! however the senco did say she would push for intensive speech therapy for Cam we were all in agreement that he needed more support so hopefully we will get an increase in one to one hours oh and the autism outreach lady agreed that cam didnt have a speech delay but that it is a speech disorder (thanks for that sally) another possitive was that the headmasted didnt atttend! yippeeeeee he is a horrible man who always speaks over me which usualy results in me ending up in tears with frustration no tissues were needed today

we just have to wait for the report from the LEA now to see what they offer us! he gets 7 hours at the mo i want at least 15 but the senco thinks we will be offered 10!

Edited May 15, 2009 by Kathryn

[Karen A]

Well thats me just back from camerons review meeting! thanks for your replies Karen but i had already left to be honest we had quite a possitive meeting i took a letter with my views to hand out to everyone (as school didnt ask my views at all!) this is what i wrote

 

To All professionals concerned with Cameron xxxxx Statement of Special Educational Needs.

 

As Cameron’s parents we have noticed a positive change in his behavior over the last year, this has been achieved with the strategy’s put in place by school, his IEP and the limited support from his one to one. He seems to think about things more now before he acts and has been encouraged to ignore other children who may be acting in a way he would previously have copied. We are aware how much time and hard work has gone into achieving this, and are feeling more positive about Cameron’s behavior. We are not feeling quite so positive about Cameron’s learning we feel that the 7 hour one to one is no longer sufficient and would like to see this increased, he is now in a much larger group of class 1 and class 2 almost twice as many children as when he was awarded 7 hours, he needs things to be explained very clearly to him before he will act on any instructions and as he is a defeatist he will generally give up if he can’t succeed first time, we feel that without more learning support Cameron will struggle in most areas of the curriculum. He is now much more willing to sit and read etc but his progress can be difficult to assess as he will not always demonstrate how much he knows. We feel that most off the targets set out on his IEP are realistic however we feel that Cameron should have access to the playground for all dry breaks and if supervision is required it should always be available, we feel that keeping him in class when there is no outdoor supervision has a detrimental effect on his behavior which we can certainly see at the end of the school day. We also feel a more child friendly IEP would be more suitable as it would involve Cameron more. Where there has been progress in Cameron’s behavior unfortunately we have noticed no progress in his speech and communication, we no longer feel that Cameron has a speech delay but that he has a speech disorder and feel that this is an area in which he really needs some extra support and more input from SALT.

 

 

SALT didnt attend the meeting! shock horror!! however the senco did say she would push for intensive speech therapy for Cam we were all in agreement that he needed more support so hopefully we will get an increase in one to one hours oh and the autism outreach lady agreed that cam didnt have a speech delay but that it is a speech disorder (thanks for that sally) another possitive was that the headmasted didnt atttend! yippeeeeee he is a horrible man who always speaks over me which usualy results in me ending up in tears with frustration no tissues were needed today

we just have to wait for the report from the LEA now to see what they offer us! he gets 7 hours at the mo i want at least 15 but the senco thinks we will be offered 10!

 

Hi.It sounds like you did not need my late advice anyway.

 

.Is that seven hours per week ?

If it is it does not sound like anywhere near enough.

When I worked out for Ben how much support he needed I worked backwards.

I started off with the total number of hours in a school week.I deducted the times when he was not in school [CAMHS appointment].I then deducted any lessons when I thought he would not need support [Not many because Ben could become challenging during any lesson].Ben also needs support at lunch time and break time so I did not deduct these times.

So for Ben there was a need for almost full time support.Ben has excellent spoken language.However he can exhibit challenging behaviour due to AS especially if he becomes anxious at break times or because of minor changes in class routine.Ben also needs help with organisation and self-care.He also has a diagnosis of dyspraxia.

 

I know that children with ASD can be very different.However for a child with unclear speech who may need support in lesson time and who also needs support at breaktimes 7 hours sounds like very little.

In my area I don't even think a Statement would be issued for 7 hours.

Are any speech programmes or other programmes documented in the Statement ?

Ben has programmes in OT,SALT and Self-Care which are all documented in the Statement to be carried out by a named TA under the supervision of professionals.Just those programmes would add up to 7 hours without cover for lessons or break times.

If the LA agree to some amendments it may well be worth appealing for more support if you do not think they are offering enough.Karen.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Kathryn

[Karen A]

Hi again.I thought I would add.The SENCO should consult you regarding the IEP and ensure that you are happy with it.You should also sign it.So do chase them up to ensure the new IEP is more child friendly.

 

Edited to add.Is the SALT included in the Statement ?

If it is provided by the NHS it might be possible to request a review of SALT provision through the NHS separately to the Statement.

Another option might be to see if the SALT will submit some written reports to the LA since she/he did not attend the AR.They probably don't have to respond to your request but it may be worth considering.

You may well be able to write to the senior SEN officer to express your concerns regarding SALT provision.Write stating that the SALT did not attend the AR.You are concerned regarding the current level of SALT provision and would like to have raised the issue with the SALT.As the SALT did not attend you would like the panel to consider your views when they review the Statement.

The most important thing is for at least one amendment to be made to the Statement.If that happens then the LA will have to consult you regarding your views and notify you of your right to appeal.Karen.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Karen A

[Karen A]

Hi.The NAS information states

If you feel you would like to make any further comment about the annual review report after it has been sent, you should write directly to the LA as soon as possible and send a copy of the letter to the school

 

So another option might be to see what the AR report says and then write to the LA regarding SALT provision if needed.Karen.

[sonj186]

Hi.It sounds like you did not need my late advice anyway.

 

.Is that seven hours per week ?

If it is it does not sound like anywhere near enough.

 

 

yip he only gets 7 hours a week! i completly agree its nowhere near enough! im really hoping we get at least 15! however i know the lea are trying to end statements at the mo so i will just have to wait and see !

[smiley1590]

i have AS when younger had SL delay and difficulties with getting how to sound words! i now know after reading up on information on ASD that this one the signs it can show as part of it! i had speech and language therapy like many others like me i also have dyspraxia which can also confuse and mixed yp words get frustrated when reading though my reading normal i stutter and stammer when anxious say when reading to child volunteer work! so SLT may help your son! good luck with everything! my language and communication alot better though still not what could be to others though improving all the time i think anyways jst takes hard work and effort from professionals supporting us and patience!it's a working progress like other skills with ASD baby steps to reach goals! but can be done! i sure your son's very determined and ambitious in life already! ask professionals how he can be properly helped at home with extra homework asked to be referred by GP or CAMHS to an SLT!

 

take care

good luck

XKX

[sonj186]

Hi smiley i asked about camhs today and was told i would be better speaking to the paeditrician about it! i have just had a call from the senco though to say that she made contact with a speech and language therapist today who specialises in disordered speech and they are goingt o try to get her in to assess cam! which is great! cant quite believe the senco is working late on a friday night

[smiley1590]

congrats positive movements going ahead keep me updated i know how hard it is to keep working hard and tough at things day in day out i now have excellent speech and language skills oviously have some difficulties due to my AS and dyspraxia i stutter when say words try rush to get sentences out! and get confused with wording but ive been in further education college for 3 years studying so this proof can work believe me!

 

good luck i understand your daughter's struggles personally but take one day at time with everything but hope the professionals can help her progress steady forward at her own pace and time speed!

 

XKX

[Sally44]

As you have just had a review, it might be worth having the Statement, and any proposed changes looked at by an organisation such as the NAS or IPSEA. They might be able to give you some really good advice that you could use at this stage. I presume that you would be able to do that, and I'm sure others will post if that would be a problem.

I'm so glad a speech disorder has been mentioned. And by having a 'speech disorder' included into the statement that should mean that he cannot be discharged from SALT - but I would double check that.

However, as you said, SALT was not there and you need them to say that and include it in their report.

My position of thinking, as a parent, would be that if my son has a speech disorder he has it throughout the day. Not just for the 7 hours currently in the statement.

However my own son's statement is structured differently. Is your son in a mainstream school?

When I received the Proposed Statement for my son, and we were in discussions with the LEA up to tribunal, they finally stated a minimum of 20 hour support in mainstream school.

When we went to tribunal we got an Enhanced Resource place in a mixed mainstream school and those '20 hours' were removed because the supports the school uses are throughout the day anyway. He does have a named TA who oversees all his speech therapy and who is the person who liaises with me. She would also initially teach my son a skill and then generalise it out to other people and environments. My son gets alot of speech therapy input from a suitably qualified speech therapist and the TA practices that daily in school (in class, playgroup, social skills group etc).

Maybe the NAS or IPSEA could help you get it clear in your mind how to quantify the support in terms of hours would best be achieved in your sons statement.

For example, if he has a speech disorder that will impact on his ability to access whole class learning. Having a speech disorder means that he will not receive, process and understand verbal learning or instructions as the other children do. Does he therefore need to be taught in small groups. If so what size of small group. What kinds of visual supports does he need to reinforce language. Does he always need a TA to check that he understands what he needs to do in every lesson (afterall speech is involved in every lesson). Does he need a social skills group. Does he need to be taught ways to initiate play and interaction.

It would be worth looking at an ongoing assessment process such as SCERTS and talk with the SALT about it. This is a good way of everyone involved knowing what skills your son has and which ones need working on.

If he is not progressing academically then they need to also look at that.

Do you suspect something like dyslexia? If so there is a daily assessment process called Precision Teaching which can be used to monitor how long it takes your child to learn something, and how much daily repetition they need for it to be retained.

Unless they have written evidence through assessments of a reason why your son cannot make average academic progress each year, they need to up the support and strategies and approaches they use to ensure that level of progress happens. They cannot say that poor academic performance is typical of autism. That isn't true. Some do have lower than average IQ, others have average and higher. And there could be reasons, due to his diagnosis, as to why he struggles to learn that are nothing to do with IQ problems. And they also need to look, not just at the learning difficulties, but as you have said the language difficulties and also the sensory issues that might also be involved in becoming barriers to learning.

And as he has a speech disorder you have every right to be pushing for social interaction therapies, groups and supports. The only reason not to do any of this would be if social interaction really upset your son. And if that was the case I don't suppose he would be in his current placement. So his skills need to be worked on for him to remain 'included'. If that support in terms of hours and staffing provision is not forthcoming, then you have every right to ask whether your son will be included academically or socially in that school. LEAs do prefer children to remain mainstream, and if that is working for you and would be better with increased support then push for that. If you feel that as you approach secondary school age that your son just will not cope and will need an alternative educational provision, then the gradual increase of hours of support and therapies etc will be your evidence that a different school environment is needed by that age.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Sally44]

I would also add not to be afraid to ask for things. If it can be provided, the fact that you raised it means that they have to justify why they would refuse it.

For example I started with a very good SALT when my son was around 5. I now know that her input was just way too little to make any real difference. But that is another post!! But then she moved and he had a couple of different SALTs. I started to feel that they were going through a set SALT procedure booklet and were not looking at my son's specific language difficulties and how they impacted on him, and which were also due to his diagnosis. So asked the SALT department who the most senior SALT was who had experience of autistic spectrum disorders and speech disorders. Apparently there is only one! So I phoned her and told her my concerns. She became involved before we went to tribunal, and crucially she totally agreed with the private SALT report I had done. She has since put into place some very good things such as the SCERTS I previously mentioned. She is no longer involved as we have had another change. But I know I can contact her if I have any questions or problems. So don't be afraid to ask. You might end up getting what you ask for.

Also check if SALT is responsible for social interaction skills. If so, I would be asking her what she was wanting to put into place in terms of therapies or supports to improve social interaction to enable him to access social interaction during break times and dinnertimes. He should not be in the classroom because they do not have the staff to support him. That support in terms of hours and staff who would fulfill it should be included in the statement. At the moment they recognise that he is vulnerable and cannot cope. Are they therefore saying that he is unable to access social interaction? Do they have written evidence of that? If not what are they going to do to improve it. Difficulties with social interaction are part of his diagnosis, these difficulties are expected. But there can be alot of improvement. My own son has made alot of progress since his social interaction and play skills have been worked on. LEAs are very big on inclusion. At the moment your son is not being included socially.

[Karen A]

As you have just had a review, it might be worth having the Statement, and any proposed changes looked at by an organisation such as the NAS or IPSEA. They might be able to give you some really good advice that you could use at this stage. I presume that you would be able to do that, and I'm sure others will post if that would be a problem.

I'm so glad a speech disorder has been mentioned. And by having a 'speech disorder' included into the statement that should mean that he cannot be discharged from SALT - but I would double check that.

However, as you said, SALT was not there and you need them to say that and include it in their report.

My position of thinking, as a parent, would be that if my son has a speech disorder he has it throughout the day. Not just for the 7 hours currently in the statement.

 

Hi Sally.

The advice given specifically may well depend on the documented report produced by the LA following the Annual Review.

It is difficult to offer any specific advice until it becomes clear whether the LA have proposed any amendments.

If the LA do not make any amendments following the AR then there may not be a oppurtunity to appeal.The only option then would be to request a reassessment I think.

As regards the 7 hours I think there would need to be a case for increased support to be quantified and documented.

Children with a diagnosis of AS have different needs regarding support at specific times.

An argument that stated that all children with AS have a speeech disorder that requires full time support because they have a disorder that affects them all the time would be a blanket policy.

Even a requirement for full time support would need to be specific regarding the support provided and how the support is used.

For example Ben needs support because he has difficulties with Social Communication which can impact his behaviour.So he actually requires more support during unstructured times.He manages very well in accademic lessons which are predictable.He is accademically ahead of many of his peers.

I think that an individual case needs to be made regarding why an increase in provision is needed.Some LAs do not offer provision via a Statement for all children with an AS diagnosis.

Edited to say.I did not get much sleep last night because Ben was vomiting everywhere.I have lost the ability to follow a thread in detail.So if this does not make sense just ignore it. Karen.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Karen A

[sonj186]

Hi all, the school senco asked me to go in on friday to look over the reports that were to be sent to the LEA, OMG i just love the lady from autism outreach her report was cam down to a t! she was very helpfull at the meeting and really knew her stuff! they have also requested much more input from SALT and the senco knows someone who deals with disordered speech so she is going to push to get them involved! we are hoping to hear the outcome of the meeting shortly after half term! hopefully we will get at least 15 hours as cam has only 7 at the mo and its just not enough for him any more!

I will keep you's posted of and developments fingers crossed its good news

[Karen A]

Hi all, the school senco asked me to go in on friday to look over the reports that were to be sent to the LEA, OMG i just love the lady from autism outreach her report was cam down to a t! she was very helpfull at the meeting and really knew her stuff! they have also requested much more input from SALT and the senco knows someone who deals with disordered speech so she is going to push to get them involved! we are hoping to hear the outcome of the meeting shortly after half term! hopefully we will get at least 15 hours as cam has only 7 at the mo and its just not enough for him any more!

I will keep you's posted of and developments fingers crossed its good news

I will be hoping for good news for you. Karen.

[sonj186]

Hi all, well we have finally recieved the report from the lea re cams review, they have decided to up his hours from 7 to 10! mmmm not too sure i am happy with this as i idealy wanted approx 15! not sure whether to appeal at the mo as im not sure it will do much good!