Refusal to assess

[wasuup]

I am just looking at the criteria to appeal against a refusal to Assess. One of the points says "It is neccessary to make an assessment where the child has special educational needs and its neccessary for the authority to determine the special educational provision with any learning difficulty he may have calls for".

 

The report regarding refusal to assess which I got back says that my child has SEN and acknowledges his Dyspraxia diagnosis from the paed. (We are waiting a private report from a consultant who works for CAMHs and is highly regarded who said our child had GDD, ADHD and Asperger traits, who said he needed a statement and smaller classes).

 

The school will not ask an EP to assess, they don't see our child as a problem as he tends to be passive in school and entered the school as a fluent reader. He has difficulties with socialiasing appropriately and with his coordination/processing. The Speech Therapist did not test his comprehension as she thought he was too bright and that this didn't need testing in her opinion. They don't seem to see/understand his traits but he does them in front of them and us at school. The Head of SEN won't authorise a statutory assessment without an EP report. Both the Paed and the private consultant really need an EP report to conclude their assessments. The EP has informally seen our child and has said to us before we spoke to her "Are we looking at the autistic spectrum do you think".

 

I just don't know what to put on the appeal form for now. We want him to be assessed and to have some 1-1 in class to help him with his processing and concentration and anything he may need to help him with his dyspraxia and speech and language difficulties.

 

I have looked at the IPSEA refusal to assess info and sent of the model letter one to the LEA.

 

Can anyone help advise-please?

Edited October 28, 2009 by wasuup

[julie1]

I would just fill in the appeal letter, most of the time the LA will back out and the assesment will go ahead. You have some evidence with the pead writting that your child needs an assesement. With one of my children the only way to get a ED PSY out was to have a assesment. You could always ask for a rereferal to speach for a new assement which covers all areas of speach and language. You might find that a statement is not nessarcery and your child can be supported at school action plus, but if in doubt ask for an assesement, at least that way all areas of your childs development should be looked at. Do you have all IEPS and is there any progress. Although IEPs are not always needed, in my dd2 case she never had any IEPs and the LA requsted a statutory assesment. Good luck

[wasuup]

I would just fill in the appeal letter, most of the time the LA will back out and the assesment will go ahead. You have some evidence with the pead writting that your child needs an assesement. With one of my children the only way to get a ED PSY out was to have a assesment. You could always ask for a rereferal to speach for a new assement which covers all areas of speach and language. You might find that a statement is not nessarcery and your child can be supported at school action plus, but if in doubt ask for an assesement, at least that way all areas of your childs development should be looked at. Do you have all IEPS and is there any progress. Although IEPs are not always needed, in my dd2 case she never had any IEPs and the LA requsted a statutory assesment. Good luck

 

 

Thanks Julie for replying

 

I have his profile scores at the end of reception which were set at a level 4 for emotional dvelopment, language development and thinking, writing but a level 9 for linking sounds and letters.

I have IEPs but the teacher has filled in her evaluation section without discussing it with us and he is on SAplus.

Whilst he appeared to make progress at the time with his new teacher the same targets as previously are arising again.

His VMI test with the under 5's Occupational therapist came out on the 4th percentile with a standardized score of 74. We have been waiting to see the OT service again for sensory issues for 8 months now.

Last year the developmental paed assessed him as being delayed in all areas from between 13-19 months.

The SENco in her report for the LEA said that his social interaction and communication/coordination was/is behind and that he did prefer the computer as an activity.

 

I don't mind whether a statement or extra funding is needed or not-all the professionals want the EP report as part of their assessment. I just want my sons needs to be assessed fully for my sons benefit.

 

It is good to hear that your daughter was assessed without any IEP in place as I have another child were the school said they would apply for funding then 4 months later said they had decided not to apply when asked how their application was proceeding. Then when I asked them their reasons and pointed out that their reasons were not a reason not to apply (SLCN issue not academic) they agreed to apply but not until Jan 2010 as they are too busy until then and that will be 7 months after they agreed to apply in the first place.

Edited October 28, 2009 by wasuup

[Sally44]

I had similar problems, but for different reasons. My son did receive a diagnosis of an ASD at age 6. At SAP level the school are supposed to ask for the SALT and Ed Psych to assess, so I presume assessments were carried out then. Then my son failed to make progress. The school were not concerned with that as they thought that was typical of an ASD, and like your child he is passive and not disruptive. I found out that our school has a 'quote' of EP hours input. Check if your school is the same. My son's previous school could ask the ED Psych to review or assess 2 children per term. The SENCO kept telling me there were other children in the school with more need than my son to see the Ed Psych. The Ed Psych cannot assess or observe unless the school asks them to do so. And the Ed Psych just believed what the school said and assumed there were no problems.

 

Are you aiming to get a diagnosis?

Do you believe his difficulties are to such an extent that a Statement is needed because the school cannot meet his needs from their own funding? You also have to demonstrate 'complex' needs. So list the diagnosis he has and the traits other professionals have mentioned.

 

These are a few things you could consider doing.

 

Firstly you say the SALT did not assess as she thought he was too bright. You can write down a list of all the difficulties with language and social interaction that you observe in your child, and give examples. If your child has dyspraxia, then dyspraxia can also affect speech (google it to see if that sounds relevent and mention it if it does). If he has ASD traits then also google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder, and if you feel that sounds like him then mention that as well. Being a fluent reader is no indication that everything is okay. Can your child put together sentences that are understandable and are on the same topic as that being discussed. Can he give narrative information. Does he assume you know things that he hasn't told you ie. does not know what information he has to provide so that the listener understands what he is talking about. Then write a letter of complaint to the SALT department and say that your son has these difficulties (list them) and that he is 'vulnerable' and that 'his needs are not being met or supported in school', say that he has 'significant social communication and social interaction difficulties which have never been assessed or addressed'. Say that you want all areas of your sons speech and communication to be fully assessed as other professionals are suggesting ASD, and that you want a suitably qualified SALT with experience and expertise in both ASDs and speech disorders.

 

Secondly have a look at Executive Function Disorder and see if any of that sounds relevant. A good website I found is www.schoolbehavior.com. It is a USA one, but is easy to understand and explains some of the common difficulties. Problems with EFD would mean a child would need their work presenting visually and orally, they might need help organising themselves, they might need TA input to ensure they are on task and doing things in the right order.

This area of difficulty is under the Ed Psych.

 

I don't understand the tests and scores you have given as examples. Is your son making good progress in all academic areas. If not then the Ed Psych should be called in to see why that is happening and how school can either differentiate work or supports he needs.

 

If he has poor social interaction skills then the SALT and Ed Psych can both be involved. The SALT would be working on the social use of language, and the Ed Psych can help the school set up things like Circle of Friends or buddying.

 

Thirdly are you using the Parent Partnership to come along to all IEP/MEP meetings to ensure that IEP targets are SMART and that the outcomes are being properly recorded. My son's previous school did not write when targets were not met, or when things learnt were then forgotton. They said they wanted to concentrate on the 'positive' things. But that is not what IEPs are for. They are meant to show real progress and highlight real difficulties. The PP ensured that the school did record that he had forgotton things learnt. The school also moved my son from numbers 0-10 'because he was frustrated' and started to teach him numbers '11-20'. I disagreed with this and asked the school to contact the Ed Psych as I could not see the benefit of moving onto higher numbers when they could not teach him his numbers up to 10. So if your child is going over and over the same targets and is not meeting them, and targets are being set without any real understanding of how they are going to be reached, then involve the PP and ask them to support you in asking the school to contact the Ed Psych.

 

If your child does have ASD or traits of an ASD, then he may struggle in some areas. There are specific approaches that can be used to help these children learn eg. Numicon. But the school would need evidence of the difficulty via the Ed Psych and the Ed Psych would need to advice that that was used as a support. So you really need to get school on board.

 

Fourthly, can you have a meeting with school and explain your difficulty in that you need the school to support you in asking for these professionals to come in and assess, otherwise you don't get the evidence needed for your son to access this support. Again have the PP with you to take notes of the meeting and after the meeting send in a 'clarification' letter that sets out everything discussed and what school said, and what was agreed between you and school.

 

As already mentioned you can appeal against the decision. And can use any further evidence (via the above suggestions) as reasons why you feel your son should be assessed for a Statement.

 

Fifthly there is the private route, where you would pay for a private SALT and Ed Psych to assess the child. Make sure they are independent professionals who do not work for the LEA or the NHS because you need them to be impartial and identify needs and make the appropriate recommendations for those needs. Someone who is aware of the NHS or LEA budgets will tend to advice supports within those budgets. That is not what the assessments are supposed to do. You could do this by asking them to complete assessments and produce a report that you will use towards the appeal for an assessment. Or you could wait and use that as a card to use later down the line, as private reports are not cheap. A good report is going to cost around £1500, and you want the professionals to also have experience of tribunal work, so that they know what information and evidence the tribunal is looking for.

 

Or, depending on the timescale you are working to, you could find an independent SALT that works with children with ASDs and speech disorders and ask her to assess with a view to on-going private therapy that maybe one to one or in small groups via the SALT. Any difficulties they find, or therapies they recommend can also be used as evidence by you. In this way you would be paying a monthly fee, rather than a large lump sum.

 

But specifically regarding the Ed Psych I would see if the above suggestions are helpful to you. If you send in a detailed letter into school highlighting 'why' you believe the school should ask the Ed Psych for advice and ask them to explain 'why' they have not done that, especially as you have the other named professionals waiting for input from an Ed Psych, then it would be interesting to see what school reply. But you may need to wait until after you have had advice via the PP about IEPs and after you have had a face to face meeting before you write that letter. Also remember that IEPs are not just about 'academic' targets. They should highlight any difficulty, which could be due to things such as social interaction or problems with executive funtions etc.

 

The NAS and IPSEA should also be able to advice you along the process. And it is worth going on an NAS SEN seminar if one runs in your locality.

 

Finally, sorry this is so long and rambling. But couldn't think how to shorten it!

[JsMum]

 

 

I cant beleive a school can refuse a ed psych assessing, if there has been a application for a statatory assments then the LEA send in a Ed Psych, and do an assessment, cant believe how unhelpful your sons school is being, it is suspiscous to why they are preventing the ed psych in, if apparently he has no problems they should be letting the ed psych come to that conclusion, not a teacher, I cant believe there refusing basically.

 

Defo get more legal advice, recommend these:

 

http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/gat...on.jsp?rid=5471

 

Hope you get somewhere this week, keep going, dont forget they want you to go away and drop this, make sure you dont.

 

Fight for what is right for your son, all the dx your son has meet the disability criteria, they can not refuse him an assessment from a ed psych purely on academic ability, like said AS, ADHD, GDD have impairements in Social, communication, speech, language, behavioural, mental health, and emotional health, they can not use his intelligence or abilities to refuse him even an assessment.

 

JsMumxxx

 

[wasuup]

I had similar problems, but for different reasons. My son did receive a diagnosis of an ASD at age 6. At SAP level the school are supposed to ask for the SALT and Ed Psych to assess, so I presume assessments were carried out then. Then my son failed to make progress. The school were not concerned with that as they thought that was typical of an ASD, and like your child he is passive and not disruptive. I found out that our school has a 'quote' of EP hours input. Check if your school is the same. My son's previous school could ask the ED Psych to review or assess 2 children per term. The SENCO kept telling me there were other children in the school with more need than my son to see the Ed Psych. The Ed Psych cannot assess or observe unless the school asks them to do so. And the Ed Psych just believed what the school said and assumed there were no problems.

 

Are you aiming to get a diagnosis?

Do you believe his difficulties are to such an extent that a Statement is needed because the school cannot meet his needs from their own funding? You also have to demonstrate 'complex' needs. So list the diagnosis he has and the traits other professionals have mentioned.

 

These are a few things you could consider doing.

 

Firstly you say the SALT did not assess as she thought he was too bright. You can write down a list of all the difficulties with language and social interaction that you observe in your child, and give examples. If your child has dyspraxia, then dyspraxia can also affect speech (google it to see if that sounds relevent and mention it if it does). If he has ASD traits then also google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder, and if you feel that sounds like him then mention that as well. Being a fluent reader is no indication that everything is okay. Can your child put together sentences that are understandable and are on the same topic as that being discussed. Can he give narrative information. Does he assume you know things that he hasn't told you ie. does not know what information he has to provide so that the listener understands what he is talking about. Then write a letter of complaint to the SALT department and say that your son has these difficulties (list them) and that he is 'vulnerable' and that 'his needs are not being met or supported in school', say that he has 'significant social communication and social interaction difficulties which have never been assessed or addressed'. Say that you want all areas of your sons speech and communication to be fully assessed as other professionals are suggesting ASD, and that you want a suitably qualified SALT with experience and expertise in both ASDs and speech disorders.

 

Secondly have a look at Executive Function Disorder and see if any of that sounds relevant. A good website I found is www.schoolbehavior.com. It is a USA one, but is easy to understand and explains some of the common difficulties. Problems with EFD would mean a child would need their work presenting visually and orally, they might need help organising themselves, they might need TA input to ensure they are on task and doing things in the right order.

This area of difficulty is under the Ed Psych.

 

I don't understand the tests and scores you have given as examples. Is your son making good progress in all academic areas. If not then the Ed Psych should be called in to see why that is happening and how school can either differentiate work or supports he needs.

 

If he has poor social interaction skills then the SALT and Ed Psych can both be involved. The SALT would be working on the social use of language, and the Ed Psych can help the school set up things like Circle of Friends or buddying.

 

Thirdly are you using the Parent Partnership to come along to all IEP/MEP meetings to ensure that IEP targets are SMART and that the outcomes are being properly recorded. My son's previous school did not write when targets were not met, or when things learnt were then forgotton. They said they wanted to concentrate on the 'positive' things. But that is not what IEPs are for. They are meant to show real progress and highlight real difficulties. The PP ensured that the school did record that he had forgotton things learnt. The school also moved my son from numbers 0-10 'because he was frustrated' and started to teach him numbers '11-20'. I disagreed with this and asked the school to contact the Ed Psych as I could not see the benefit of moving onto higher numbers when they could not teach him his numbers up to 10. So if your child is going over and over the same targets and is not meeting them, and targets are being set without any real understanding of how they are going to be reached, then involve the PP and ask them to support you in asking the school to contact the Ed Psych.

 

If your child does have ASD or traits of an ASD, then he may struggle in some areas. There are specific approaches that can be used to help these children learn eg. Numicon. But the school would need evidence of the difficulty via the Ed Psych and the Ed Psych would need to advice that that was used as a support. So you really need to get school on board.

 

Fourthly, can you have a meeting with school and explain your difficulty in that you need the school to support you in asking for these professionals to come in and assess, otherwise you don't get the evidence needed for your son to access this support. Again have the PP with you to take notes of the meeting and after the meeting send in a 'clarification' letter that sets out everything discussed and what school said, and what was agreed between you and school.

 

As already mentioned you can appeal against the decision. And can use any further evidence (via the above suggestions) as reasons why you feel your son should be assessed for a Statement.

 

Fifthly there is the private route, where you would pay for a private SALT and Ed Psych to assess the child. Make sure they are independent professionals who do not work for the LEA or the NHS because you need them to be impartial and identify needs and make the appropriate recommendations for those needs. Someone who is aware of the NHS or LEA budgets will tend to advice supports within those budgets. That is not what the assessments are supposed to do. You could do this by asking them to complete assessments and produce a report that you will use towards the appeal for an assessment. Or you could wait and use that as a card to use later down the line, as private reports are not cheap. A good report is going to cost around £1500, and you want the professionals to also have experience of tribunal work, so that they know what information and evidence the tribunal is looking for.

 

Or, depending on the timescale you are working to, you could find an independent SALT that works with children with ASDs and speech disorders and ask her to assess with a view to on-going private therapy that maybe one to one or in small groups via the SALT. Any difficulties they find, or therapies they recommend can also be used as evidence by you. In this way you would be paying a monthly fee, rather than a large lump sum.

 

But specifically regarding the Ed Psych I would see if the above suggestions are helpful to you. If you send in a detailed letter into school highlighting 'why' you believe the school should ask the Ed Psych for advice and ask them to explain 'why' they have not done that, especially as you have the other named professionals waiting for input from an Ed Psych, then it would be interesting to see what school reply. But you may need to wait until after you have had advice via the PP about IEPs and after you have had a face to face meeting before you write that letter. Also remember that IEPs are not just about 'academic' targets. They should highlight any difficulty, which could be due to things such as social interaction or problems with executive funtions etc.

 

The NAS and IPSEA should also be able to advice you along the process. And it is worth going on an NAS SEN seminar if one runs in your locality.

 

Finally, sorry this is so long and rambling. But couldn't think how to shorten it!

 

Wow what a reply and Thank you!

The SALT has now agreed to do a cognitive language test. She was reading a book to him last session-he has some speech sound difficulties and didn't start to speak in sentances until he was 3 before he would just use very limited one words when he needed something. Anyway he kept pointing out her small errors with reading and the dogs in the book were supposed to be fireman in the story. My son said that dogs couldnt be fireman too. However when I pointed this out to the SALT she said it was normal for his age. She observed him playing in a small behind the classroom area in adult initiated game which was one of his IEP targets to do and concluded that his social interaction was OK. The teacher was aked about his imaginative play and gave the SALT an example of my son playing with the water tray as imaginative play. Although the teacher did tell the SALT that he does prefer to play alone sometimes. The SALT did notice that he reversed his pronouns however but not that he repeated himself or others but he is much quieter in the school environment. He doesn't stay on topic and if you can get him on topic he drifts off to either his favourite topic or ignores. Yes he assumes that we know what he has done at school. He likes to be first, have certain things a certain way all that kind of thing. I don't want to upset the SALT but I don't think she has any up to date training on ASD she is however the "expert" in the area on Selective Mutism which my eldest child suffers from.

 

The Early Learning Goals are a new thing for the foundation stage (pre school and reception)designed I think to pick up possible problems early on:

 

http://cfbtstaging.cfbt.com/birthtofive/pd...le%20Poster.PDF

 

The IEP targets are OK but the teacher wrote out the evaluation part without disscussing that with us and now the same old interaction and communication issues are coming around again this year. We don't know whether his concentration difficulties are ADHD/dyspraxia or something medical such as absence seizures which is a worry.

 

Your advice is really helpful I have the PP coming a week on Friday but I am wary of how far to trust them as they are so closely linked to the LEA. I was looking at Belle Vue House in Lancashire as a possiblity for a private assessment?

 

 

[wasuup]

I cant beleive a school can refuse a ed psych assessing, if there has been a application for a statatory assments then the LEA send in a Ed Psych, and do an assessment, cant believe how unhelpful your sons school is being, it is suspiscous to why they are preventing the ed psych in, if apparently he has no problems they should be letting the ed psych come to that conclusion, not a teacher, I cant believe there refusing basically.

 

Defo get more legal advice, recommend these:

 

http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/gat...on.jsp?rid=5471

 

Hope you get somewhere this week, keep going, dont forget they want you to go away and drop this, make sure you dont.

 

Fight for what is right for your son, all the dx your son has meet the disability criteria, they can not refuse him an assessment from a ed psych purely on academic ability, like said AS, ADHD, GDD have impairements in Social, communication, speech, language, behavioural, mental health, and emotional health, they can not use his intelligence or abilities to refuse him even an assessment.

 

JsMumxxx

 

 

I know. I have had past difficulties with the school largely due to an idiot EP who thankfully does not work in our area now. As a result of the school not understanding her difficulties my daughter was a school refuser for a long time or would try and run away from school and the school did not tell me when these incidences occurred. Her difficulties seem to have worsened as a result. We moved her to a different school where they seemed to understand the difficulty but are being pains about putting any funds in place to support an intervention program.

 

Thank you for your advice and support- that website says we qualify for legal aid!

[Sally44]

Although the SALT was the best qualified to assess your other child that has selective mutism, they may not be the best qualified for your other child. Write down all the 'odd' language or social interaction your child displays. Google the things I mentioned above to see if they sound relevant. Problems with pronoun reversal are common with children with ASDs, and I think it is a sign of language 'disorder' not 'delay'. If your child repeats things from TV/films or what other people have said, or repeats back questions (even if they did this when younger), then google echolalia and delayed echolalia as this is a specific way of learning language that again is associated with ASDs and language disorder. Literal interpretation is also common. It shows a very rigid concrete way of learning and understanding language. Again it points more towards disorder than delay. A language delay means the child is learning language in the same way as other children but at a slower pace. The things you talk of are not delay they are unusual, although younger children do also have some of these characteristics they do grow out of them whereas children with an ASD continue with those traits. And how you understand and interpret language plays a huge part in the classroom and playground.

 

If you PM one of the moderators (can't remember which one, i'll have a look and post it) and ask her for the link to SALT guidance she posted in the Education forum. This is interesting reading because it states what the SALT should do when an appeal to SENDIST has been made. I would definately recommend you read through it and see if that sounds like what your SALT is doing.

 

Imaginative play can be difficult to identify unless the person has experience in this. Water play is not necessarily imaginative. It can be 'sensory' based, or repetitive play. It can be copying or re-enacting something already seen or done. Signs of difficulties with imagination can show themselves in signs of inflexibility in language ie. dogs cannot be fireman. Yes they can in your imagination, but if you have literal interpretation of language your imagination may also be affected in that same way ie. rigid and less flexible. My own son can appear to be showing imaginative play until you ask him 'have you seen that on TV'. Usually he replies with 'yes, I saw it on Star Wars'. However imaginative play can develop, but if the child does have a diagnosis of an ASD then it won't be to the level of other people, or their imagination might be only within their areas of interest and not in other areas they are less familiar with. For example my own son has progressed from only being able to 'play' by using things he had already seen - this included the dialogue as well. Then he began to play by using characters out of two different pre-seen programmes or films eg. a fight between Luke Skywalker from Star Wars and the Darleks from Doctor Who. Now he can make up some of his own characters, although he may give them new diagloge, that is usually interspersed with words/sentences he has already 'heard' on TV or in films. However this ability is less evident in other areas that are not of specific interest to him.

 

I know that the PP are employed by the LEA. But they do have to inform you and others present of the correct procedures. This did help me because the PP challenged the teacher writing out the IEPs that they were not SMART, and she also challenged the fact that they were not recording failures to reach targets, or reporting on targets that were met and then again needed to be put back on the IEP because my son appeared to have forgotton again. When IEPs are done correctly it builds up a picture of evidence of whether the child is making progress. Whether that progress is at the same level of peers or whether the child is catching up, remaining at the same stage behind, or is becoming further behind peers. It also highlights specific areas of difficulty. I also used the PP simply as witnesses and to take notes. And I told them I was prepared to go the whole way. I did not give them any information that they could feed back that would work against me ie. I would never have told them when I often felt close to giving up. I told them I had solicitors involved and that I would go to tribunal. We did get to tribunal with the LEA offering concessions bit by bit in the days leading up to the tribunal. Then at tribunal the LEA capitulated about 5 mins into the opening discussions with the panel and agreed to everything we were asking for.

 

If you have the PP with you the school are less likely to brush you off, or if they do you have the minutes of that meeting confirmed by the PP. School should be able to give you a legitimate reason for their failure to involve the Ed Psych if you and PP have concerns or evidence that prove that that is what is needed. But school's reluctance will probably boil down to the school's budget for Ed Psych time and also the implications of what the Ed Psych recommends ie. who will fund it. Without a Statement it will fall on the school to fund the support recommended. But you may well find that you can prove your child has significant and complex needs that require a Statement in which case any shortfall between what the school budget provides has to be met by the LEA. This includes funding for hours of support, additional staffing arrangements and therapies and professional input from SALT, OT or others needed as set out in the Statement ie. weekly therapy or termly reviews etc.

 

The school may argue that your child is making 'sufficient progress'. That is a tough one. It means school say your child is progressing at a pace that they are happy with. This argument was used by my son's previous school. I felt that my son's progress (or lack of it) was not acceptable or typical for his diagnosis or cognitive ability. Cognitive testing is important because it will rule in or out learning difficulties associated with lower cognitive ability (this also helps decide what placement best suits the child ie. mainstream, SEN place within mainstream, ASD specific or Special school for learning disability). Therefore it is important that the Ed Psych carries out a range of assessments that are verbal and performance based. Typically a child with an ASD will perform poorly on the verbal or language based assessments and will do much better on the performance tests that require no language. The difference in my son was a percentile of 2 for assessments involving language, and 93 for performance assessments. That is a huge difference, and this kind of difference in results is also called 'a spiky profile'. This is typical of those with an ASD because they have some areas of significant difficulty, whilst also having areas of significant strength. A child with a learning difficulty associated with lower cognitive ability is more likely to perform at a similar level throughout all assessments.

 

Problems with concentration can be down to numerous things. It could be environmental ie. on a one to one basis in a quiet room the child performs much better (in which case low arousal classrooms, taught in small groups etc would help). Or it could be down to language difficulties ie. the child performs much better when they understand what is being asked of them - providing visual information as well as verbal and having a TA check the child has understood means the child is understanding and engaged instead of 'lost' and disengaged. Afterall who can concentrate in an environment of background noise and 'language noise' if it is not understood - then it just becomes irritating and something to try to screen out. Or it might be attention or focus difficulties which could be down to ASD or ADHD tendencies. Or it could be sheer lack of interest and motivation. If your child has concentration for activities they are interested in and little for other things then that is more typical of ASD then just general 'concentration' problems. My son didn't used to engage in any classroom activities if they were not of a subject he was interested in. Now he is becoming keen on being 'Star of the Day', and now always wants to be asked to give the answer and if he isn't he becomes upset. He wants to be first and the winner eventhough he may not understand what that is. For example we played Monoply the other night and he just wanted to be the first round the board all the time and got upset if anyone got infront of him. Even though I kept trying to explain to him that to win you need to collect property and put houses on it he still seemed to think that being infront on the board was important. And because he did not have a good understanding of the aim of the game his concentration did wander, which I think is understandable.

 

Short term memory and executive functions should also be assessed to rule out any diffiuclties in those areas. But typically a child with an ASD will tend to perform well across the board in their areas of interest ie. if they are interested in space ships their language, imaginative play, concentration etc will be high in this subject area. Get them on another topic and the performance drops considerably. Even some common words may not be known or understood if they are not in their area of interest.

 

If you qualify for legal aid that is a great help. Make sure any solicitor you use has experience of the SEN process and tribunal work. I think that if you are eligible for legal help that you can also get private reports carried. I am not sure if it covers the whole of the cost.

 

 

[Sally44]

 

 

The SALT guidance I mentioned is in the Education forum, posted by Kathryn and the last post in that forum was on 26th September 2009.

[JsMum]

Make sure any solicitor you use has experience of the SEN process and tribunal work. I think that if you are eligible for legal help that you can also get private reports carried. I am not sure if it covers the whole of the cost.

 

 

 

Yes it does, what it didnt cover was a solisitor attending the tribunal day, but I was prepared to go in alone, better than not going at all, so I was ready, there is a possibility of some solisitors in these situations volunteering to attend, but they have to want to do that, anyway I did get ready but the LEA agreed to everything we requested just before the day of tribunal.

 

The reports were independant and added a lot of weight, the speech and language report ensured J had a whole new compartment added just for social and communication plus a lot more.

 

JsMumxxx

 

 

[Karen A]

Hi.It is worth asking for an assessment to be completed by a SALT with specialist experience in ASD.Selective mutism is a different specialty.

Ben was seen weekly by a SALT for dysfluency [stammering] for 18 months between the age of 3 and 5.She never picked up that he could have ASD.Ben copes very well with adults when talking about things that interest him.

It is possible for your child to appear to manage well if the SALT observes structured activities with adult intervention even at breaktime.A specialist ASD SALT would I think be interested in what happens during unstructured times without adult intervention.A CAMHS psychiatrist was quickly able to see that Ben had difficulties just be observing him at play time for a brief period.

I don't think that cognitive reading ability is a good indicator of either ASD or dyspraxia.Ben has both AS and dyspraxia.He is 11 and has an extremely advanced ability in reading although his comprehension is not at the same level as his actual ability to read the words.

 

The teacher was aked about his imaginative play and gave the SALT an example of my son playing with the water tray as imaginative play

 

I also think the SALT needs to do actual assessments herself rather than using the view of the teacher.To say a child can play in the water tray is a desscription of what the child does it provides no indication of how they play.Many children with ASD would love playing in a water tray pouring water from one container to another.

Ben's has ASD how this would only be observed by someone with experience in ASD that knew what they were observing if for example using a water tray.

In effect the SALT is depending on the teacher to do the observation for her which even a highly skilled teacher is not qualified to do.

 

I had an interesting experience recently that is a bit off topic but might interest you.

Ben was not picked up as having any difficulties at all until he was in year 3.At that time I was a lunch time supervisor in a nursery.There was a little boy in nursery that reminded me so much of Ben.I remember observing the boy many times.The boy spent many lunch times talking about things that intested him.He did not interact as much as some children with his peers but did enjoy the company of adults.

The boy had obviously had a lot of adult input and was very intelligent.I reasured myself that Ben was exactly the same.A bright lad who had had lots of adult interaction and could be a bit difficult due to being bright.

After all the nursery was one of the best in the borough IMO.It could not be possible that nursery staff could not know enough about AS to spot that this boy had AS and he was just like Ben.

Well the years went by.You probably know much of what has happened regarding Ben in the last five years and how we finally obtained an AS diagnosis last year when Ben was 10.

Following the AS dx my husband and I went on the NAS help course.We found it helpful and subsequently attended a help 2 one day course.I was keen to attend.

I walked into the room where the course was taking place.The mum of the boy from nursery was standing talking.

I must have looked a bit suprised and asked her how she came to be there.The answer will be no surprise.I had not seen her for years and started to say that I was surprised but then hasd to admit that actually I wasn't so surprised after all.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Karen A

[Karen A]

If you PM one of the moderators (can't remember which one, i'll have a look and post it) and ask her for the link to SALT guidance she posted in the Education forum. This is interesting reading because it states what the SALT should do when an appeal to SENDIST has been made. I would definately recommend you read through it and see if that sounds like what your SALT is doing.

 

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...mp;#entry270252

Hi.I think that the information is on the first post of this thread.

Kathryn is on holiday.

 

[Karen A]

Hi.I forgott to mention.If the difficulty with obtaining an EP assessment is with the school reluctance to refer there is one option that might be worth exploring.It may be possible to have a chatt with the EP yourself.I cannot remember where I read it on the Forum and it was some time ago.I think parents can request advice from the EP .I phoned the EP myself regarding concerns re my older child who had never had any input.I knew her through contact re Ben.

You could try phoning the EP department within the LA and asking for the EP who covers the school your child is at.You might find if you have an informal talk that the EP has not been informed by the school who do not wish to use up there quota of EP input.

We have certainly found EP input very useful.Even at the last Statement AR the EP was able to suggest information regarding secondary school that was very informative.Karen.

[Karen A]

I am just looking at the criteria to appeal against a refusal to Assess. One of the points says "It is neccessary to make an assessment where the child has special educational needs and its neccessary for the authority to determine the special educational provision with any learning difficulty he may have calls for".

 

The report regarding refusal to assess which I got back says that my child has SEN and acknowledges his Dyspraxia diagnosis from the paed. (We are waiting a private report from a consultant who works for CAMHs and is highly regarded who said our child had GDD, ADHD and Asperger traits, who said he needed a statement and smaller classes).

 

The school will not ask an EP to assess, they don't see our child as a problem as he tends to be passive in school and entered the school as a fluent reader. He has difficulties with socialiasing appropriately and with his coordination/processing. The Speech Therapist did not test his comprehension as she thought he was too bright and that this didn't need testing in her opinion. They don't seem to see/understand his traits but he does them in front of them and us at school. The Head of SEN won't authorise a statutory assessment without an EP report. Both the Paed and the private consultant really need an EP report to conclude their assessments. The EP has informally seen our child and has said to us before we spoke to her "Are we looking at the autistic spectrum do you think".

 

I just don't know what to put on the appeal form for now. We want him to be assessed and to have some 1-1 in class to help him with his processing and concentration and anything he may need to help him with his dyspraxia and speech and language difficulties.

 

I have looked at the IPSEA refusal to assess info and sent of the model letter one to the LEA.

 

Can anyone help advise-please?

 

Hi.I have just read through this again.

I am not the expert and Kathryn who usually helps me out is away but I have a few thoughts.

Have you had the formal refusal letter back from the LA re refusal to conduct a Statutary Assessment ?

If that letter says that the LA [head of SEN] cannot conduct a Statutary Assessment because they do not have an EP report then the head of SEN should ask the EP to do an assessment and provide a report.EPs are usually closely linked to the LA SEN department [in my area the are in the same office].EPs are also employed by the LA.So I cannot understand how an individual with the ability to request that an EP report is provided can use not having one as a reason for not assessing.

 

On a different issue if you are paying for a private consultant report it may be worth pushing for a clear AS diagnosis or at least clarification of the phrase AS traits.Many LAs do not consider AS traits to be a sufficiently unambiguous diagnosis to warrent ASD outreach and specialist SALT input which is what your child needs if they have AS.

Further more some LAs are more likely to conduct a Statutary Assesment on the basis of a clear diagnosis within the ASD spectrum.

The NAS discussed the terms AS traits and AS tendencies at a help course that I did.They consider them vague and unhelpful.We have experience of this issue as Ben had a diagnosis of dyspraxia with Social Communication Difficulties for some time.

Other Co-Morbid conditions may well be helpful in obtaining appropriate provision [dyspraxia,SID,ADHD] for example.However the AS dx is most significant in obtaining appropriate input and educational provision.If you break the SEN into various needs under different lables but do not have an AS diasgnosis over all it would be possible to end up demonstrating complex needs but still have no case for AS approriate provision.

Sorry edited to add I don't know what GDD is ?

 

I am just wondering.Have you never had contact with the team who have responsibilty for ASD diagnosis in your area ?

When the CAMHS psychiatrist arranged the first ADOS and ASD assessment for Ben it included an EP assessment,Specialist SALT assessment,CAMHS observations in school and in the clinic and an OT report.I think that the latest guidance on ASD diagnosis suggests that these should all form part of a diagnostic assessment for ASD.

Reading your post it sounds as though various people need various bits of information but nobody appears to be co-ordinating what is being done.

It is complicated when there are diagnostic assessments and educational assessments going on at the same time.However even if school are not forthcoming if EP and specialist SALT assessments are required as part of the diagnostic process there should be some way for professionals to obtain them.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Karen A

[julie1]

Hi.I forgott to mention.If the difficulty with obtaining an EP assessment is with the school reluctance to refer there is one option that might be worth exploring.It may be possible to have a chatt with the EP yourself.I cannot remember where I read it on the Forum and it was some time ago.I think parents can request advice from the EP .I phoned the EP myself regarding concerns re my older child who had never had any input.I knew her through contact re Ben.

You could try phoning the EP department within the LA and asking for the EP who covers the school your child is at.You might find if you have an informal talk that the EP has not been informed by the school who do not wish to use up there quota of EP input.

We have certainly found EP input very useful.Even at the last Statement AR the EP was able to suggest information regarding secondary school that was very informative.Karen.

We spoke directly tp EP services and i had a chat with the head EP in our area, she agreed that dd1 needed to be seen and 1 of her colleges saw my dd1 the very next term, without the school requesting. Also when the EP visted my house to talk about my sons annual review that was comming up, we disscussed my dd3 and our concerns. It was agreed that because of the complexed needs of my 1st and 2nd children that she must see dd3 and she did that the next term, again without the school requsting her services. I think we are lucky we have 1 EP for all our children, she gets to know our family quite well and that helps.

[Karen A]

We spoke directly tp EP services and i had a chat with the head EP in our area, she agreed that dd1 needed to be seen and 1 of her colleges saw my dd1 the very next term, without the school requesting. Also when the EP visted my house to talk about my sons annual review that was comming up, we disscussed my dd3 and our concerns. It was agreed that because of the complexed needs of my 1st and 2nd children that she must see dd3 and she did that the next term, again without the school requsting her services. I think we are lucky we have 1 EP for all our children, she gets to know our family quite well and that helps.

Thanks Julie

It was not a dream I had then.

 

[wasuup]

THank you all very much for replying. Your responses and support has kept me going.

 

I have today emailed the principal psychologist and the areas Head of Inclusion and Sen asking if they can arranger for the EP to assess and explained to them why I am asking this.

 

I will let you know if I get any help from them.

[wasuup]

Hi Karen

 

Yes I have the letter back-it says the LEA criteria ifor a statutory assessment to be carried out is that a EP report must be done.

 

GDD-Global Development Delay.

 

His case has been to Panel who decide on social communication disorders but it wanted more evidence as there was no EP report. So we have to wait to see the clinical psychologists via that route instead and they are more concerned about helping us with my sons behaviour,

 

So I need to write to the Head of speech and Language in my area and ask for a speech therapist who speacilises in Autism to assess my son or is it best to get someone private in to do that?

[Sally44]

I would go with the LEA/NHS professionals first. It is also useful to get all your concerns in writing to them and their replies to you. This is all written evidence that you need incase you do go to appeal or tribunal. Anything verbal is useless, it has to be on paper.

If you then want to use a private professional they cannot carry out 'the same' assessments for a period of 6 months (I think, but check that), but there are so many different assessments that there are always ones they can do, and most of the ones they do are better and more indepth than the ones my SALT or Ed Psych did.

 

In your first post you talk about possible global developmental delay, along with ADHD and Aspergers traits?

 

From the information you have posted regarding speech and language difficulties that might suggest an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, as those with a diagnosis of Aspergers go with the diagnostic criteria of having normal language development up until age 3. To be honest I think this is just splitting hairs, because when older HFA and AS tend to have similar language (and social interaction) difficulties. But the right diagnosis is helpful (even more so when younger) because there are other aspects of both diagnosis that are slightly different from eachother. If your child was reading when they began school then that could be hyperlexia. This would seem to contradict a possible global developmental delay. Again this refers back to the spiky profile, where a child on the spectrum tends to do well in some areas and poorly in others. A child with GDD is more likely to perform at the same level across the board.

 

As Karen has suggested it might be worth seeking a multi disciplinary team in your area that has experience in diagnosing Autistic Spectrum Disorders. The National Autistic Society should be able to help you with that. That might involve a different route to the one you are currently on, or it could be the same. In our area it is the same as the school/GP refer to the communication clinic that diagnoses for autism, ASD and AS and PDD NOS. If it turns out to be a different route, then use that as a second opinion, and make sure that any professionals you are currently involved with do have experience of diagnosing autistic spectrum disorders.

 

Also the main diagnosis is important, and I would query how both GDD and Aspergers could go hand in hand???

[Karen A]

Hi Karen

 

Yes I have the letter back-it says the LEA criteria ifor a statutory assessment to be carried out is that a EP report must be done.

 

GDD-Global Development Delay.

 

His case has been to Panel who decide on social communication disorders but it wanted more evidence as there was no EP report. So we have to wait to see the clinical psychologists via that route instead and they are more concerned about helping us with my sons behaviour,

 

So I need to write to the Head of speech and Language in my area and ask for a speech therapist who speacilises in Autism to assess my son or is it best to get someone private in to do that?

 

I would certainly write to the Head of speech and Language but there is no reason why you cannot go down the private route too if you wish.

I am confused probably not helped by attempting to post with both my lads around at home on x box,electric guitar or both.

Was the panel the SEN panel ? If so they cannot diagnose anything.They may think Social Communication disorder but you still need a medical diagnosis .

A clinical psychologist does not usually provide a diagnosis for children either.They may well make recommendations to a diagnostic multidisciplinary team but a diagnosis of ASD in children usually requires input from a paediatrician or psychiatrist either working alone or as part of a team.

The information I already posted regarding AS traits applies equally to Social Communication Difficulties.Although Social Communication Difficulties are likely to be ASD it is very important that an ASD or AS diagnosis is documented if your child has AS.Some LAs do not consider that Social Communication Difficulties would be enough to justify specialist input re AS.So I think that if your child has AS rather than Social Communication Difficulties the right diagnosis is not just helpful but extremely important.The difference between a diagnosis of ASD and AS is open to debate between professionals and makes very little difference in reality.However some LAs would not consider that a diagnosis of Global Developmental delay or Social Communication Difficulties necessitated specialist input regarding ASD at all.

Ben was considered for two years to have Social Communication Difficulties however some professionals still believe he does not have AS.

 

I do not know much about private assessments however I am surprised that if you are paying a CAMHS psychiatrist for input for reports that you might also have to pay for private SALT reports.Surely a private SALT can only either disagree with the CAMHS psychiatrist re AS which will just confuse things or agree which would be a very costly way to not obtain an AS diagnosis.Or am I missing something.

Karen.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Karen A

[wasuup]

I would certainly write to the Head of speech and Language but there is no reason why you cannot go down the private route too if you wish.

I am confused probably not helped by attempting to post with both my lads around at home on x box,electric guitar or both.

Was the panel the SEN panel ? If so they cannot diagnose anything.They may think Social Communication disorder but you still need a medical diagnosis .

A clinical psychologist does not usually provide a diagnosis for children either.They may well make recommendations to a diagnostic multidisciplinary team but a diagnosis of ASD in children usually requires input from a paediatrician or psychiatrist either working alone or as part of a team.

The information I already posted regarding AS traits applies equally to Social Communication Difficulties.Although Social Communication Difficulties are likely to be ASD it is very important that an ASD or AS diagnosis is documented if your child has AS.Some LAs do not consider that Social Communication Difficulties would be enough to justify specialist input re AS.So I think that if your child has AS rather than Social Communication Difficulties the right diagnosis is not just helpful but extremely important.The difference between a diagnosis of ASD and AS is open to debate between professionals and makes very little difference in reality.However some LAs would not consider that a diagnosis of Global Developmental delay or Social Communication Difficulties necessitated specialist input regarding ASD at all.

Ben was considered for two years to have Social Communication Difficulties however some professionals still believe he does not have AS.

 

I do not know much about private assessments however I am surprised that if you are paying a CAMHS psychiatrist for input for reports that you might also have to pay for private SALT reports.Surely a private SALT can only either disagree with the CAMHS psychiatrist re AS which will just confuse things or agree which would be a very costly way to not obtain an AS diagnosis.Or am I missing something.

Karen.

 

The process so far has been

HV refferred to developmental paed, audiologist, speech therapy and occupational health

DP refferred to consultant paed

We asked for a private refferel to consultant psych and that is were we are at now

 

The diagnosis route via the paed in this area seems that all professionals submit their results to a social communications panel who meet every two months. The panel then discuss the child and decide if a diagnosis is appropriate. It is not an SEN panel. The consultant paed said that the clinical psychologist on the panel wants my son to be seen by them before any descision is or is not made. The confusion really seems to be steming from I suspect the SALT not really knowing her ASD stuff that well.

Edited October 29, 2009 by wasuup

[Karen A]

The process so far has been

HV refferred to developmental paed, audiologist, speech therapy and occupational health

DP refferred to consultant paed

We asked for a private refferel to consultant psych and that is were we are at now

 

The diagnosis route via the paed in this area seems that all professionals submit their results to a social communications panel who meet every two months. The panel then discuss the child and decide if a diagnosis is appropriate. It is not an SEN panel. The consultant paed said that the clinical psychologist on the panel wants my son to be seen by them before any descision is or is not made. The confusion really seems to be steming from I suspect the SALT not really knowing her ASD stuff that well.

 

Ah.I think I understand better now.

In our case the process was very similar however the individual co-ordinating the ASD assessment was a CAMHS psychiatrist rather than a paediatrician.

In our case the CAMHS psychiatrist wrote to the LA and requested that assessments regarding cognitive ability be done to provide information for her with regards to ASD diagnosis.However the CAMHS psychiatrist had worked as a Consultant in the Borough for a long time and was very highly respected.I cannot be certain whether it is routine for a CAMHS psychiatrist to request reports from EPs or whether the situation was specific to that consultant.

 

Do the Social Communications panel not have a Specialist SALT with experience of ASD who does assessments for panel ?

Usually it is considered good practice that the multi-disciplinary team includes a SALT with specialist experience of ASD ?

Personally if I were in your situation I would be pushing for a SALT assessment to be carried out by a SALT with specialist experience in ASD before I would pay for a private SALT asessment.After all a specific assessment regarding Social Communication should be completed as part of the diagnostic assessments.

There are some specific documents relating to ASD diagnosis.I will see if I can find them.

Karen.

 

[wasuup]

Thanks Karen-I have drafted a letter to the speech and language head and will send it on Monday. It's getting irritating now as I am pretty sure he is on the spectrum. I am sure you understand what it is like and it really helps knowing I am not alone. Seeing his younger brother make a house out of a cardboard box or design a robot out of sticks or make car games up along with the noises, just brings it home more so too.

[wasuup]

Right-

I have filled out the refusal to assess form

I have asked the LEA for a meeting

I have asked the principal psych to see if she can get an EP assessment sorted in school

I have parent partnership coming on Friday afternoon

I have contacted the private consultant to find out when his report is coming-he is waiting on some notes that he asked the paed for-he has everything he needs in from everyone else

I am looking at evidence now to send off to SEND with the reports I already have

I have looked at the early learning goals and how the levels are awarded: Level 1-3 are done in hierarchy but levels 4 - 8 are not which kind of puts paid to the LEA using them as evidence to show my sons progress.

I am now looking for good clear info on the following-Dyspraxia, ASD, ADHD, Absence Seizures, Speech Sound difficulties, Semantic Pragmatics, Global Development delay (or general learning difficulties), Hyperlexia, Sensory processing and now it looks like my son has an incontinence difficulty with soiling which has been gradually getting worse so I need to research that too!

 

Thanks to everyone who advised xxx

Edited November 4, 2009 by wasuup

[Sally44]

I think you're on the right track. A diagnosis is a huge help. Then expanding on particular difficulties explains the 'complex' and 'vulnerable' nature of how these things affect your child.

I found the PP very useful in using them to note take and confirm things said or agreed at meetings. They also pointed out to me when the LEA or school were incorrect or were telling blatant lies. They are another 'head' at any meeting and can ask invaluable questions that you might not even have thought about.

Make sure everything is always put in writing, and always ask for written replies or send in a 'clarification' letter after any verbal discussion.

[wasuup]

I think you're on the right track. A diagnosis is a huge help. Then expanding on particular difficulties explains the 'complex' and 'vulnerable' nature of how these things affect your child.

I found the PP very useful in using them to note take and confirm things said or agreed at meetings. They also pointed out to me when the LEA or school were incorrect or were telling blatant lies. They are another 'head' at any meeting and can ask invaluable questions that you might not even have thought about.

Make sure everything is always put in writing, and always ask for written replies or send in a 'clarification' letter after any verbal discussion.

 

 

Just had an informal verbal discussion in the playground with the SENco.

 

First of all EP is not involved because his class teacher does not think that my child's academic attainment is being significantly affected by the difficulties he has.

She said that my child's reading ability was that of a 14 year old (he is 5 year 1), that he was behind his peers emotionally, socially , communication wise and with his co-ordination but not enough so that it affected his academically ability and that she had noticed his idiosyncrasies but they were not an academic difficulty and that she quite liked them.

She does support us and has spoken to the education dept who say that my child would not get funding for a statement because he is not far enough behind his peers (he is in a mixed year 1 reception class) in certain areas although his profile is spiky/skewed.

She wants to have a proper meeting to discuss in more detail.

 

 

 

 

[Sally44]

My understanding of a Statement is that it details and secures the extra support and professional input needed by a child that cannot be met by the schools current budget. So it isn't just about academic things. For example a child might be brilliant at maths and science, but find language hard to process and may need extra support in all or just some lessons eg. literacy lessons. That might cover many areas including helping them plan essays (if they have problems with imaginative writing), help with a writing programme if they have writing problems, or teaching them to use a PC, or help with planning or organisation of the whole school day including homework etc. They might need to be taught social communication and play skills and so the school would need funding via a statement to secure the Ed Psych input to put together something like circle of friends, or a dinnertime club and he may need support from a LSA during certain lessons and during unstructured free time. SALT would need to be funded for any speech therapy or social communication skills programme they put into practice. The OT would need funding if they were working on problems with sensory issues or dyspraxia etc etc. An Ed Psych would also be responsible for putting into place a programme to help with your child's emotional recognition in himself and others.

 

If the SENCO has said that he has problems with communication then that needs assessing and a programme put into place to meet whatever those communication difficulties are.

 

I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with how many years you are behind your peer group. But if you take that view you can equally argue that he is behind his peer group on a social interaction, social communication, language comprehension, imagination and flexibility of thought, emotional development, physical co-ordination etc (those are just suggestions, but you will know what areas are relevant to your child). It isn't just about reading ability. I'm sure others will quote you paragraph and verse of the SEN COP to make that point.

Your child may also have anxiety and stress issues. You mentioned he has some toiletting problems. These are all things that the school need to be aware of and make provision for. That will involve their time and staff to do that.

 

I was also told that my son would not get a Statement. I was denied everything I ever asked for. But I got it all in the end. If there is written evidence of a need then that need has to be met. In some cases those needs can be met without a Statement. But it is on a sliding scale, and at some point the school cannot fund anymore and the LEA has to provide extra funding via a Statement. But obviously LEAs don't like to do them because it costs them money that they are legally obliged to fund.

 

[JsMum]

 

 

 

they can not go by his attainment tables, he requires support for his Social, emotional, communication, interaction, behavioural, mental needs, its great that your son in the future is going to greatly assist their SAT league tables yet they wont provide any support for his developmental impairments, appeal and go all the way to sendist if they say no to a statement, no to assessment, they are not reading the cod of practice very well.

 

JsMumxxx

 

[wasuup]

The PP is also going to ask if my son can be have the EP assessment and explain it all to the SEN officer. She said all my evidence for a appeal looks good too. She usually has to help out with paperwork but says mine is good and she explained the tribunal process.

 

Got a Clinical Psych appointment at last for Thursday. I googled her to find out that she has only just qualified, only just been registered last week and studied adult attachment. So no experience and probably no autism experience and probably no use but we will see. Perhaps I will tell her about social stories and visual timetables and bamboozle her with questions she won't know the answer too so she refers me to someone who will know what they are talking about.........

[Sally44]

You can specifically ask to be seen by someone who has experience in ASDs. I didn't do that with the Ed Psych because I already knew it was her specialist. With my son's SALT I did write a letter to the head of department because there were a number of things I was not happy with ie. not assessing his social interaction skills in 3 years! The programme put together seemed a 'set programme' and not ASD friendly. My son had lots of other problems with central auditory processing problems, auditory memory, short term memory etc - all playing a huge part in his difficulties and the SALT was not assessing for these difficulties, or language comprehension difficulties. So I complained in writing and asked for a suitably qualified SALT with experience of ASDs and Speech Disorders to assess my child. It happened.

If no-one posts specifically about this, why not phone the NAS to see what your rights are in asking for an Ed Psych that is experienced in ASDs. At this stage you don't really want to see someone who does not have the experience or ASD expertise behind them.