Specifiy qualification of LSA in Statement?

[Athena]

I know that I am jumping ahead of myself here, as currently going through Statutory Assessment, but is it possible to ensure that a Statement specifies that a Learning Support Assistant has experience/qualifications?

 

I want to ensure that when DD gets support in school, it is the RIGHT support, not just someone's mother doing a spot of voluntary work, or (no disrespect to dinner ladies) a dinner lady helping out.

[Karen A]

Hi.Yes I think it is possible to have documented in the Statement that an individual with specific training is required.If it is important then it certainly worth attempting to get it included.The main thing is that the type,amount,frequency and whether the support is 1:1 or in a particular size group needs to be documented as clearly as possible.Schools can find all sorts of devious ways to interpret vague statements.

Karen.

[mossgrove]

It is definitely worth specifying that the LSA should have skills experience in dealing with people with Autism, but bear in mind that someone with minimal knowledge, an open mind and willingness to learn is much better thatsomeone who has dealt with one Autistic child in the past and now thinks they know it all.

 

It is also absolutely important to ensure that the amount of support is specified and that it should be 1:1. There are schools who have argued that a child has full-time support because there us an LSA in the classroom at all times, even if the LSA has little or no involvement with the child with an ASD.

 

Simon

 

 

[lorryw]

Hello,

I totally agree with Simon. An open mind and willingness to learn about your child is far more important than someone with autism specific qualifications. Every autistic child I have met is totally different (just as with all children) and any information the parents can provide SHOULD be passed on to the relevant LSA.

[lynne]

 

 

Yes my sons statement state someone trained in ASD but it also states the number of hours and my child's specific difficulties

[Kathryn]

I agree with the others. There could be room for further detail if you look at each area of provision within the statement: for example, if your child is following a particular programme to improve social skills, communication etc. the statement should specify that the LSA must be trained to deliver this programme.

 

K x

[chris54]

Also a definition of what "Trained" means.

I have done ASD training as part of my new job, I have a bit of paper to say so.

It consisted of sitting in a lecture room with about 20 others while some one told us all about ASD.

I would say it was useful but I would not consider myself to be Trained in the context of teaching.

My experiences as a parent would be more useful.

 

If we take the figure of the occurrence of ASD as 1 in 100. then on average a school teacher is only likely to have (ON AVERAGE) 1 child every 3 years with ASD in their class.

 

Some teachers may never come across ASD at all.

My son was the first child with ASD that the SENCO at his new school had come across, but she was willing to take on all the advise going from whoever was offering including us.

 

Training yes, but how much training is it realistic for TA to do just in case.

[lynne]

 

 

some training of what ASD is would be good. However, having an open mind, being flexible and reviewing what worked well and what did not is even more important. Also sharing and being the key person for a child will allow that child to be heard or considered at each lesson.

[Sally44]

IMO it depends on the school placement. In my son's statement he goes to an enhanced resource school that has experience and expertise of ASDs and that is specified in his statement. He has a dedicated TA. Therefore all TAs at that school have experience and expertise and on-going training.

In a mainstream school that has no experience behind them, then a request for a dedicated TA that has experience of working with children on the autistic spectrum is worth getting specified.

Our LEA also has ongoing training days for teachers and TAs. The training days are circulated around the schools, and they decide if they want to send anyone. Your local Parent Partnership should know if there is something similar within your LEA.

So, again if it is a mainstream school some commitment to 'continued training' is worth requesting. You could also speak with the NAS educational helpline or IPSEA about that to see how they might suggest these requests are worded.

The SEN Code of Practice also states that 'every need should be identified'. Therefore if your child 'needs' a dedicated TA with experience of ASDs and a commitment to on-going training, then that is what the statement should say. I think my son's statement talks about 'suitably qualified' individuals whether they are teachers or TAs and that they have experience of ASDs and Speech Disorders and Sensory issues.

[chris54]

IMO it depends on the school placement. In my son's statement he goes to an enhanced resource school that has experience and expertise of ASDs and that is specified in his statement. He has a dedicated TA. Therefore all TAs at that school have experience and expertise and on-going training.

In a mainstream school that has no experience behind them, then a request for a dedicated TA that has experience of working with children on the autistic spectrum is worth getting specified.

Our LEA also has ongoing training days for teachers and TAs. The training days are circulated around the schools, and they decide if they want to send anyone. Your local Parent Partnership should know if there is something similar within your LEA.

So, again if it is a mainstream school some commitment to 'continued training' is worth requesting. You could also speak with the NAS educational helpline or IPSEA about that to see how they might suggest these requests are worded.

The SEN Code of Practice also states that 'every need should be identified'. Therefore if your child 'needs' a dedicated TA with experience of ASDs and a commitment to on-going training, then that is what the statement should say. I think my son's statement talks about 'suitably qualified' individuals whether they are teachers or TAs and that they have experience of ASDs and Speech Disorders and Sensory issues.

 

I agree with all that you say.

However I our situation as the staff at the school had had little experience of ASD, when my son got his statement and a dedicated TA, in order to have been able to have a TA with experience of ASD etc, it would have meant the school appointing a new member of staff, if such a person could be found. This as you can imagine would have a number of drew backs. As it is his TA is a very experienced member of staff how already knows him and his ways.

[Sally44]

I agree with all that you say.

However I our situation as the staff at the school had had little experience of ASD, when my son got his statement and a dedicated TA, in order to have been able to have a TA with experience of ASD etc, it would have meant the school appointing a new member of staff, if such a person could be found. This as you can imagine would have a number of drew backs. As it is his TA is a very experienced member of staff how already knows him and his ways.

 

 

I know that that is the case many times. That is why it is worth seeing what on-going training is on offer within your local LEA, and speaking with the NAS and IPSEA to see what wording they would suggest be included in any Statement. It maybe the case of conceding 'previous experience of ASDs' to get a dedicated or nominated TA. But if you do that then IMO you need to get wording in the statement to the effect that 'the dedicated TA will receive on-going training or will be suitably qualified in ASDs, Speech Disorders and Sensory issues', and again that would need to be specified otherwise 'on-going' training could mean a day seminar once every 5 years. And you could agree with the LEA or school that the current TA does not currently have those skills or experience, but that that is what they should be working towards.

Also the TA can receive training by it being specified that they 'observe' other professionals. Eg. in my son's statement the SALT goes into school every week for a therapy session and the TA has to sit in and observe these sessions so that they understand what the 'aim' of the session is and to learn how the therapist achieves those aims.

The experience and objectives of the TA are very important because they are the people who spend the most time with our children and they are supposed to teaching them to be more independent in all aspects of development. If the TA is not adequately trained or does not have specific achievable and relevant goals that are regularly (ie. termly) overseen by a professional, then the TA can end up rather like a babysitter making the child more dependent on adults rather than more independent. Does that make sense?

In some cases this might all progress nicely without it being in the statement, but you always have to take the view that the statement is the only legal insurance of anything happening. The LEA/school are only legally responsible to fulfill what the statement says.

[Athena]

Thank you for all your helpful replies - I realise that I need the Statement to be watertight!

[Karen A]

Thank you for all your helpful replies - I realise that I need the Statement to be watertight!

 

http://www.afasic.org.uk/pdf/ProposedStatement.pdf

I know you do not have the draft Statement yet but when you do this may be helpful.

 

[Athena]

Thanks Karen, that looks really useful!