SENDIST appeal letter

[daniels-mum]

Evening everyone. This is fairly long so please feel free to ignore..

 

I am just wondering for those that have been through tribunal if they had any tips what to put in my appeal letter.

 

The backgound is that D is 11yrs, finishing primary this week and starting high school in Sept.

I requested a Stat Asses in Feb this year, this was agreed and went ahead but they decided not to issue a statement and a note in lieu instead.

I have had a mediation meeting with the LA, senior Ed Psych, D's school teacher and the SENCO who is also the head. The school have been supportive of my request, particularly D's class teacher. The mediation didnt really achieve that much apart from a written version of minutes. The LA are not disputing that D needs 1:1, as his teacher has stressed this, but what they are saying is that the high school should meet this from their own resources which I think is unreasonable. I have had an email from the SENCO at the high school which suggests that full time 1:1 is not possible without funding which is fair comment. The LA are saying that if high school dont give him all the support he needs which is more or less 1:1 that I need to let them know after a few weeks and they will go in and make high school.

 

D is achieving good academic levels and has just got a 5 in his maths SATS and 4 in all the others but his teacher has stressed that this is only because of all the support he gets and and without this he will fall behind. He currently gets funding of £3708 which will go with him to high school but this is to be reviewed in Autumn term and could be withdrawn. He has been on SA+ since 2004, mainly for social and communication reasons. He is very isolated which is confirmed by school and has no interactions with peers at all. He is virtually a recluse at home and wont go any further than the garden, when all the other kids are out in the fields. This seems to have got significantly worse in the last six months.

 

I have emailed the LA twice and asked them for details of high schools budget, how many this is to cover etc, but she hasnt replied to my emails so I have no way of actually proving what the school should be providing out of their own resources and what would be above this. I have also emailed the high school SENCO asking for same information so may get a reply this week but to be honest she is not very good at answering emails or phonecalls so will have to see if I get a reply. I try and do everything by email as opposed to phone so I have written proof.

 

Also the SALT is saying that she will have no input now unless secondary school specifically request this, despite it been recomended termly input, he has a SALT IEP and the SALT is saying I need to make sure this gets transfered from primary to secondary schools, like Ive not got enough to do as I have a 2 yr old also and work full time. High school are saying they are waiting for contact from SALT about a programme for so they are just putting the reponsibility on each other.

 

From a diagnosis point of view D has a private diagnosis and the consultant (who is NAS approved) has put in his report D needs 1:1 in an ASD friendly environment. I have asked CAMHS for a second opinion as they refused a diagnosis last year so I am seeing another doctor there now, I have an appt on 18th August so may have a clearer idea about a NHS diagnosis by then (fingers crossed). I get DLA for D, middle rate care and lower mobilty, I dont know if that is worth mentioning or not. That was awarded without any problems much to my surprise, I am convinced that it was the letter from school.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions about what can put in my appeal letter, what documents to send now or later, I just dont want to put the wrong thing.

 

Sorry this is such a long post!!!

Edited July 12, 2009 by daniels-mum

[Sally44]

I don't know enough about funding. But I would have thought that if the school are practically having to provide 1:1 support then that is going to be over their budget. In our LEA schools have funding for around an extra 15 hours per week, but that isn't necessarily 1:1, it is usually small group work. School can apply for funding for some additional hours on top of that, but that extra funding comes from the LEA - and this system I think within our own LEA so not all LEAs have this. And TBH I think they have this 'extra' topping up system to try to keep parents away from asking for Statements.

 

If you phone the National Autistic Societies Educational Helpline, and/or ISPEA they can give you more specific advice.

 

My understanding is that a Statement is to provide/fund everything that a school cannot typically provide under their own funding. Something that stands out from your post is your sons lack of social communication/interaction/play skills. Statements are not just about academic needs. And you could beef up any Statement to include provision in terms of hours of support and therapies for his social skills. These should be being met already. This would mean you would be requesting even more funding. Statements are supposed to be for children with 'complex' needs who are 'vulnerable'. Adding on these social difficulties makes him more 'complex' and 'vulnerable'. He could be going to a Social Skills Club. The SALT could be working on his social interaction skills and could be using something like SCERTS (google that as it is a very good way of assessing and monitoring and identifying social skills, emotional regulation, and generalisation and transition skills). School could be providing dinner time clubs, circle of friends etc. Your son might be becoming more and more of a recluse because he is obviously intelligent and probably recognises his poor social skills and therefore withdraws from fear of failure, or just because he does not know what to do.

 

He might even benefit from being in an ASD only school? That becomes an option when it is a more effective use of the LEAs resources than paying for all that 1:1 support in a mainstream school. Also if the ASD only school is the nearest most suitable one. If your LEA does not have anything suitable that can mean the LEA funding a place in an independent school. But this is not an easy thing to get - but not impossible either. If you are happy with his current school then you can fight to get all the support he needs into that school. But from your post he is moving to secondary school in September. Have you visited this school. Do they have any experience or expertise in ASDs? Do you feel confident that they can identify and meet your son's needs?

 

Does your child also have sensory issues. If so the OT should be included in any Statement as they need to go into school and see how the environment can be adapted, or your child might need extra breaks.

 

Has his current school put in writing to you how much 1:1 he gets. That would be useful if they said that currently they have to give him 1:1 throughout the week. What does your child do at playtimes and does he have any support. He has presumably been recently assessed by a SALT as part of the assessment towards a Statement? What did the SALT say. Have they picked up on any speech/language/communication difficulties? Have they assessed his Social Skills or Play Skills and made recommendations about them? If not these are all things to be identifying.

 

I personally do not know about Notes in Lieu. Do you have a copy of the SEN Code of Practice to refer to?

 

When we went to tribunal we appealed on parts 2, 3 and 4 of the Statement ie. in part 2 not all of my sons needs were identified - therefore part 3 did not contain recommendation on how to meet those needs, and where there were recommendations the LEA had not quantified or specified in terms of hours of support or staffing provision needed to meet that level of support. We also requested a different school in part 4 as we felt the one the LEA had named was inappropriate and did not have any experience or expertise in ASDs and we had written evidence that my son had not made progress and had infact lost skills over the last 2 academic years.

 

Does your son have any speech difficulty diagnosed? Or does he get any input from SALT? I would seriously look at that because he obviously has language/social interaction difficulties which are probably language based. Therefore it would seem logical that he does have language difficulties. Google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder and see if that sounds relevant. And what is the reason he needs so much 1:1 in the classroom. Is it because he cannot understand whole class teaching because he cannot process the language. Or does he have attention difficulties. Or are his difficulties down to executive functions such as planning, organising, sequencing his work etc.

 

You might want to consider the approach we tried where we said that my son was getting some 1:1 in school, but that as the school was not ASD friendly they were not using systems or strategies to make him more independent which I felt was a life skill that he needed to learn. At his new school there is alot more structure and routine. He has everything presented visually and verbally and is supported by a TA to ensure he knows what he should be doing. Then he goes away and does his work independently now. The same approach has been used with Social Skills ie. he has weekly SALT from a qualified SALT. Some of the areas she is working on are social skills. During each weekly session the TA sits in and observes the session and then carries that out in school on a daily basis. If he is learning a new skill he learns it first in the therapy session. Then that skill is generalised out in the classroom and playground where he is supported by his nominated TA to use that skill until he is demonstrating over time that he is using it without prompting. We have seen major improvements in his social skills and play skills. From what you are saying your child needs constant 1:1 throughout the day. In a school that has experience and expertise in ASDs he may become more independent because everything will be geared towards how those with an ASD tend to learn.

 

What is your son's diagnosis?

 

I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer your questions, and have probably made you raise even more questions. The only thing I do know from the Code of Practice is that EVERY need and difficulty should be itemised and recommendations should be made how to meet each and every need, and the Statement should quantify hours of support needed and specify exactly who does what, how often, how it is monitored and reviewed and how it is incorporated into the daily timetable. So from your post I would be starting to make a list of all the needs/difficulties they have not currently identified or met, starting with social language/social interaction and play skills. This will have a strong bearing on his self esteem if he does not have these skills.

[julie1]

I think sally has covered everything i could have thought of, you can get a copy of the code of practice from your LA. my only thought is if your son requires 1-1 all day then perhaps it would be better for him at a asd school. He may not need 1-1 in such an enviorment where his needs will be met holisticaly. and it is possible to get an independent school named in a statement provided they can meet all the requirements of your sons needs. Good luck

[Kathryn]

Hi Daniels mum,

 

Try to be as detailed as you can in your appeal letter but don't worry if you leave something out, there will be other opportunities to send further evidence and information.

 

Remember all the tribunal can do at this stage is to order the LA to issue a statement. For this particular appeal, they do not have the power to direct what should be in the statement - so there's no point in focusing on the finer details of provision, or what kind of school you might want. (That may of course be the subject of the next battle!).

 

So your reasons for appeal should include the following main points (most of which you've covered in your opening post, so you're on the right track, it's just a matter of fleshing out the detail and including supporting evidence):

 

What your son's difficulties are. His diagnosis. Give a bit of educational history: how does/did he manage without support? Was he falling behind and in what way? What social/communication difficulties does he have at school?

 

What support he gets in school at SA +. The progress he has made with this additional support. Greater demands of secondary school. Difficulty of secondary school being able to provide necessary 1-1 support from own budget. (Although the Note in Lieu has no legal force, it may give useful detailed recommendations about the support D might need, so use this as a guide.)

 

SALT needs: the fact that termly input has been recommended and so D needs a statement to ensure this provision.

 

Conclusion: it is not possible for an LA maintained school to provide the high level of support that D needs without additional resources from the LA and therefore a statement is necessary.

 

To support the above you should send in:

 

Evidence and reports submitted for the statutory assessment

Note in Lieu

SALT assessment and recommendations

Report and recommendations from consultant who diagnosed ASD

Email communication with head saying they cannot make provision from own budget

School reports/IEP's/ any other evidence from current school about his support needs - notes from meetings, schoolwork samples etc.

 

That should be enough for the moment. You can send in other reports and information when you have them. When your appeal is registered, you can ask the tribunal to direct the LA to release information about the school SEN budget and local funding arrangements, so don't worry too much about that aspect of your appeal yet. (If you can get the senco to give you information about the school budget in the meantime, that will be a bonus).

 

Hope that helps. Don't worry: there's no single "right" way to do this. The clearer and more concise you can be, the better, but if in doubt about whether to include something, put it in anyway.

 

K x

Edited July 13, 2009 by Kathryn

[daniels-mum]

Thank you Sally,44, Julie1 and Kathryn, for the excellent advice and ideas, I have tried to include some in my letter which I have drafted tonight.

 

I am going to post my draft on here if that is okay and if anyone has the time to read it and can offer any constructive advice it would be much appreciated, I will not be offended and would welcome any thoughts or if there is anything I should take out.

 

Reasons for Appeal

 

It is my understanding that Statements are for children with complex needs who are vulnerable. Daniels social and communication difficulties, indeed by their very nature make him vulnerable and his needs more complex.

 

School have reported in their contribution to the Statutory Assessment,

“Socially, Daniel has become increasingly isolated in school and has no interaction with other children at break times or, as recently observed in the classroom, when there is opportunity to do so. There is increasing evidence of Daniel looking blank and unaware of proceedings. He will wander off into space or a corner and is often seen shaking his hands or pacing.

In conclusion, Daniel social and personal skills are a cause for concern, as too is the increasing need for adult support to guide him through the school day”

 

 

Current Recomendations

 

These are the recommendations from the Note in Lieu and the various reports that have contributed towards it.

 

*Written information to support his understanding of spoken instructions and work demands (From Note in lieu and EP recommendations)

 

*Tasks will be broken down into smaller chunks to ensure that Daniel understands, also the pace to be slowed down so Daniel can follow them easier. (From Note in Lieu and EP recommendations)

 

*Daniel will need prompting within normal class lessons to encourage him to attend to and act on key information and work demands, also needs prompting to stay on task. (From Note in lieu, EP and Schools recommendations)

 

*Daniel will receive access to a Social Skills Group/Circle of friends to promote interaction with peers. It also recommended by the Speech and Language Therapist that Daniel would benefit from one to one support and work in small groups to encourage progress with his social interaction skills. (From Note in Lieu, EP, Speech and Language Therapist, Medical Advice and Schools recommendations)

 

*Daniel will have access to a key trusted adult who he can develop a relationship with to support him when he shows signs of anxiety in school. Daniel will also develop, in conjunction with the key adult a way of indicating when he needs help in class. (From Note in lieu and EP recommendations)

 

*Daniel will receive clear and written down strategies to help him organize himself at school. (From Note in lieu and EP recommendations)

 

*A programme to help increase his fine motor skills and self help/independent use of cutlery. Daniel is on the 1st percentile for manual dexterity skills. (From Note in lieu after advice from Occupational Therapist)

 

*Would benefit from the use of a posture pack, light up pens and Speed Up, which is a kinaesthetic writing programme. (From Occupational Therapist recommendations)

 

*More times during exams and assessed work (From Occupational Therapist recommendations)

 

*Handouts to be given where possible, rather than copying from board. Daniel is on the 2nd percentile for speed of handwriting. (From Occupational Therapist recommendations)

 

*Opportunity to improve keyboard skills (From Occupational Therapist recommendations)

*Recomendation of a visual timetable (From Schools recommendations)

 

 

*A Speech and Language Therapist will assess, monitor and evaluate speech, language and communication need, and provide general and specific strategies to develop communication skills and promote related curriculum access in schools. This advice will involve specific communication programmes and/or intergrated programmes which will be carried out by schools at intervals agreed on IEP’s between schools, parents and SLT. Input from the SLT service will be termly whilst in primary school and then if school contact when Daniel transfers to high School. (From Note in lieu and Speech and Language Therapist)

 

*Non Teaching Support in the classroom (From medical advice)

 

*Access to support in the classroom to maintain his focus to ensure that he makes the academic progress of which he is capable. (From Schools recommendations)

 

*Access to support at break times and transition times (From Schools recommendations)

 

Adult Support

 

Daniel needs an adult in the classroom to ensure that he is focused, as he has difficlties following his instructions and is generally unaware of what is expected from him. He has difficulty working independently on a task set by the teacher and needs support to guide him with recording, without this little would be achieved.

(From school input to Statutory Assessment, dated 20th March)

 

Daniel needs adult support to keep him on task and to make sure he has understood, or, processed given instructions. Without this Daniel would fall behind.

(From School Report, dated July 2009)

 

Daniel needs clear single step instructions at school to enable him to process the information, he may benefit from the instructions been written down so that he has more time to re read and process them. These may need to be re explained by the class teacher or Support Assistant.

(From Occupational Therapist report dated, 2nd March 2009)

 

“He constantly loses or misplaces things, and because of this isn’t ready for the start of lessons”

(From School Report, dated July 2009)

 

Daniel needs 1:1 support, this has been explained by his teacher as can be seen above, the disagreement, however, arises from who is expected to provide the provision. The LA’s position is that Daniel’s needs should be met from the schools own resources, whereas I have an email from the SENCO at High School stating that 1:1 support and special equipment for Daniel would not be available without funding. They also stated that he would be likely to go into a lower level class where the teaching assistants were based. It has been stressed that Daniel needs to go into a higher attainment class to match his academic capability and the support would need to be put into place there, however without funding it is not clear if this adult support would be possible. In a recent mediation meeting, of which there are a copy of minutes available, the LA have acknowledged that Daniel needs 1:1 support.

 

Speech and Language Therapy

 

A further concern of mine is the issue of Speech and Language Therapy. On Daniel’s most recent review it was recommended that SALT input would be on a termly basis. I have since queried the procedure for when Daniel transfers to High School and the SALT has stated she will only have input if the High School specifically request that she sees Daniel. This is because the SALT service input differs greatly from Primary School to Secondary School. In turn when I have asked the SENCO at High School about this she has stated that they are waiting to hear from the SALT with regards to a programme for Daniel. It seems that both parties think the other is responsible for contact. In her email the SALT has advised me to discuss this with the SENCO at High School, and also she has advised me to ensure that his SALT programme gets transferred over from Primary to Secondary. One would expect liasion between schools and SALT to ensure this happens as not every parent will be able to chase this up for a variety of reasons, I myself work full time so may struggle to make the phonecalls to chase these things up.

 

All of the reports that have contributed to the Statutory Assessment have unanimously stated that Daniel will need to access a Social Skills programme which would obviously need to be implemented under the direction of a qualified SALT, to be followed up by appropriately trained staff in school.

 

To sum up, as termly input from a SALT has been recommended, I believe Daniel needs a Statement to determine and ensure this provision.

 

Occupational Therapy

 

It is clear from various reports that Daniel has significant difficulties with his fine motor skills and these do effect his educational learning. He is on the 1st percentile for manual dexterity skills, which has an effect on lessons practical lessons such as Art and Design, as stated in his most recent school report,

“When Daniel was making his mask, he found it very difficult, he couldn’t apply the paper mache to his balloon, he didn’t have the fine motor skills”

 

His speed of handwriting is on the 2nd percentile and this does have an effect on his educational learning as he often doesn’t complete written work in time, due to his handwriting speed. The Occupational Therapist has stated that his handwriting needs intervention.

 

A recommendation from the Note in Lieu was that a programme be developed to improve Daniels fine motor skills. This would obviously require the specific input of an Occupational Therapist.

The service input for Occupational Therapy is the same as SALT, in that school need to make a specific request. Again, as with the SALT, I believe this provision would need to be formally identified and determined in a Statement of Special Educational Needs to ensure this requirement is met.

 

Diagnosis

 

In terms of diagnosis, Daniel was assessed by the CAMHS team at Cringlebar last year. He was not felt to meet the criteria for diagnosis of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder at that time. I requested a second opinion and the team are currently reviewing the initial assessment. I have a further appointment there on 18th August and am hopeful that Daniels condition will be recognised as a result of this assessment. There were several factors that were not taken into account during the initial assessment for a variety of reasons, which have now become apparent and the team is now fully aware of these factors.

 

Further to this, Daniel has recently been assessed by a private Consultant Psychologist, whom is approved by the National Autistic Society and is employed as an NHS Consultant by a large local hospital. The Consultant is of the opinion that Daniel that Daniels behaviour is on the Autistic Spectrum and it is highly probable that Daniel has Atypical Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. The Consultant also states in his report that that Daniel needs 1:1 in an ASD Friendly environment.

 

Funding

 

With regards to the matter of SEN funding, Daniel currently received Funding for Inclusion at rate of £3708 per year. This is for Social Interaction and Pragmatics. This was awarded in 2007 and will continue until March 2010. It will be reviewed in Autumn term 2009 and could be withdrawn if he doesn’t meet all the specific criteria. At this time I have no way of knowing if the the funding will be extended, reduced or withdrawn but a decision should have been made before the tribunal hearing.

 

I have requested information about the High Schools SEN budget on 3 occasions by email. Twice to the Responsible Officer at the LA and once to the SENCO at High School but have not received any reply to these requests, despite the LA’s obligations under the Code of Practice, Chapter 1.14.

 

 

Summary

 

It is clear from the SEN Code of Practice, Chapter 8.13, where the child’s learning difficulties call for

“Daily individual support from a Learning Support Assistant is required”

“The regular involvement of non-educational external agencies is required”

that the LA should give strong consideration to formally identifying the Daniels needs in a statement.

 

When Daniel was assessed for his Funding for Inclusion the SALT stated in her report,

 

Daniel will continue to require adult support on his transfer to High School if he is to access the curriculum and not become vulnerable as a result of his impaired understanding of both language and social situations. Consideration should be given to Daniel’ High School placement before transfer, i.e. whether he would only meet the criteria for mainstream High School placement or also those of a resourced placement.

 

In conclusion, it is my belief that it is not possible for an LA maintained school to provide the high level of support that Daniel needs from its own resources and therefore a statement is necessary.

 

The End!!!!!!

 

Sorry if anyone has lost the will to live reading all that, I am amazed you stuck with it tbh!

Edited July 14, 2009 by daniels-mum

[Kathryn]

That is very detailed - brilliant job!

 

I would just add a bit of history at the beginning to put it all in context: i.e. what prompted the statutory assessment. No more than a couple of sentences though. Also I'd leave out the bit about the LA not responding to your request for information - keep your tone as neutral as possible at this stage. Just say you have requested the information and are awaiting a response. (Any LA unreasonableness will be quickly picked up by the tribunal anyway!)

 

Good luck with it,

 

K x

[daniels-mum]

I have just seen your reply Kathryn,

 

Thanks so much, that is excellent advice as always, DS finished school today so not expecting any more emails, letters or anything so I can get the letter sent off this week. I will change the things you have recommended, you are right, I need to be level headed and neutral, hopefully the LA wont need me to show themselves up as they will do it themselves, fingers crossed anyway.

 

Picking him up today was awful, I was so emotional and was crying my eyes out. His teacher gave me a hug and said to stay in touch, she is very fond of DS herself, I think I was so upset cos I have been through so much with him at that school and it feels like the end of an era. I feel a bit numb now, is this normal for when your kids finish primary school!?!?

 

Will have to have a few this weekend, feeling very emotional..

 

Thanks again Kathryn, and to Sally44 and Julie1, would be lost without you all xx

 

 

[Sally44]

Well done. Very concise and to the point.

 

Just wanted to mention a couple of things to you. Regarding SALT. Do you think that termly input from a SALT, which will be carried out usually by any TA is going to be enough? Do you think his speech and communication and auditory processing and semantics/pragmatics understanding is affected to such an extent that a suitably qualfied person should be carrying out the SALT? If you do, then you might want to push for more regular SALT input on the grounds that your child needs a suitably qualfied SALT to be delivering the SALT programme. The reason for asking for this is that as he is bright he might quickly pick up some things and therefore does not need to spend the whole term on that same topic. Only a SALT can review and change the programme. If your son is sometimes difficult to engage then only a SALT can adapt the programme to the child's performance because only they are qualified and understand what the aim of the therapy is and can therefore make appropriate adjustments. A TA cannot make those adjustments during the session and sessions maybe lost if your child does not understand or cannot engage.

 

My son has the Speech Therapist in school every week. His nominated TA observes this and then carries out the programme on a daily basis. He is diagnosed with Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder and is assessed as higher than average cognitive ability. However my son is not reading or writing independently yet as he probably has dyslexia as well. But SALT input is something worth considering. If you do think the above, then you may well need to get a separate private SALT report to identify that as a need if your original LEA SALT has not identified that as a need. Or, at the very least you might want to say that the termly SALT programme should be reviewed and carried out in school by a SALT in school with the nominated TA observing this session and then carrying it out XXX times a week in school.

 

Google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder and see if that sounds like your child. My opinion, for what it is worth, is that those with a diagnosis of an ASD have a speech 'disorder' because their difficulties are life long. In our LEA (not sure if it is the case throughout the UK) the SALT department cannot discharge a child from SALT if they have a 'disorder'. Normally SALT finishes at the end of primary school. And they can discharge if a speech disorder has not been identified or if the speech difficulty is called a 'delay'. But a 'delay' means there is every expected possibility that the child will catch up. Those with an ASD have language and social communication difficulties as part of their diagnosis and their diagnosis is for life. So consider that.

[Sally44]

I just wanted to clarify my last post. Those finer details of who should do what and for how long is more for the actual writing up of the Statement stage. As you are just asking for an assessment I dont' think you need to go into that much detail. But just consider the things I have mentioned, as you will need to gather evidence of them for them to be included in any Statement.

[Kathryn]

Just to clarify - Daniel has already been through statutory assessment and his mum is appealing against refusal to issue a statement.

 

K x

[Sally44]

Sorry.

So, you are appealing against the Note in Lieu?

I've been to tribunal myself. And yet the whole process is still complicated eventhough i've been through it. However we were not refused a statement, we got that. It was just that the LEA were trying to issue a statement that amounted to nothing.

Okay, if you are appealing, then now is the time to be considering what I put in my posts and if you think it is relevant trying to get it included.

What you have written in really good. But I just got the impression from what you had posted that his Speech and Language/Social Interaction and Play Skills might actually be more severe than the provision that has been recommended. What is your feelings on that?

[daniels-mum]

Sorry, I havnt been on the computer for a few days so didnt see these replies.

 

Thanks for your advice, you are right Sally his Social and Communication skills are quite bad, he will not play with his peers at all, its not that he wants to and doesnt know how to, he doesnt even want to in the first place. He is like a recluse at home, although he will play with his 2 yr old brother and 4 yr old cousin, his 7 yr old cousin overtook him a long time ago.

 

I have added some more in my letter trying to cover some of the points you have raised. I think it is ready now, I am going to send it off over the weekend then it is in plenty of time for the deadline of August 1st, will be going recorded delivery obviously!!

 

I am also thinking of consulting a solicitor who is listed on the NAS Directory, with a view to getting representation at tribunal. I have done alot of the preparation work so hopefully will be able to keep costs down as much as possible but I really think they will run rings round me at tribunal if I dont have any representation on the day.

 

I am not sure what experience others have of legal representation at tribunal and if they think it is worthwhile or not?

 

Thanks again Kathryn and Sally, your advice has been brilliant xx

[julie1]

Just wanted to say ive got my fingers crossed for you. You sound very prepared so lets hope things go well. xx

[daniels-mum]

Thanks Julie, thats really kind of you, I know everything will come to a standstill over hols with the appeal but have got CAMHS appointment to look forward to in Aug, oh what joy!!