advice about applying for a statement

[pim]

My ds 4 in july is at pre-school with no 1:1 help. I'm in the process of applying for a statement. I've been given conflicting advice what to write. On one hand I was advised to write only about ds on his absolute worst days. Or to be more honest and to say how he has improved. That he is calm now and no longer aggressive, but still won't join in anything except play with his animals. I'm worried if I write this that the LEA will consider that he is improving without 1:1 help and doesn't need assessing.

I'm worried as I've just found out that there was a boy with asd who went through this pre-school without any help and was very stressed by it. He is in 2nd term in reception before he's been given a few hours.

I'd appreciate any advice.

 

pim

[bid]

Hi pim

 

I'm the same LEA as you, so feel free to PM me for any info. My son got his Statement last year, although he's a lot older than your's!!

 

At the risk of dropping a friend 'in it' , Kathryn is also the same LEA, and more importantly the same quadrant team as you (they do seem to differ ).

 

Good luck...most of all, don't listen to any negative comments. My son was 14 when he got his Statement, and 3 months later he was at a residential special school...all of which I was variously told we would never get!!

 

Sadly, certainly for my area, the Parent Partnership person was not very good...I got all my advice and support from this forum, so you're in the right place!

 

Bid

[nellie]

Hi pim,

 

Some people document the child's basic difficulties on the application for Statutory Assessment, I would send in as much documented evidence as possible along with any reports you have. I would document strengths too.

 

You will find information about writing parental advice here.

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/4613/Too...%208%20Text.pdf

 

...and here

applied for a statement., really don't know where to begin.

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...t=0entry20754

 

I'm sure others will be able to add to this.

 

Good luck!

 

Nellie xx

[pim]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the advice. I now realsie why I should write about him on his bad days as I should only write that he is improving if he is already getting 1:1 help.

 

pim

[Kathryn]

Hi pim,

 

Agree with all that's been said so far. Remember you are trying to present an accurate picture of your son to people who will never meet him, have loads of documents to get through in a very short time, and skim read all the evidence to pick out points which fit their magical criteria for assessment. The head of our sen team admitted as much to me recently. I had naively thought everything gets scrutinised in great detail for a long time by everyone - this is not the case: not in our area anyway.

 

It sounds awful, but my gut reaction would be err on the side of pessimism when writing your evidence. Your son is calm now in nursery and that's great, but how might he be when faced with a more challenging environment in school? Sorry to be so cynical but these panels are actively looking for reasons not to assess and will seize on any favourable comment you make as evidence that it's not necessary, and believe me, this lot twist words and quote selectively from reports.

 

You can have a look at what I wrote when I see you very soon. (bid, I have already pm'd pim with my opinion of our quadrant team leader )

 

take care,

 

K

 

In case I've alarmed you, I was also told that our LEA issued 91 statements last year, so someone's getting them! Keep going.