statement...another step up the ladder......advice please!!

[bonbons]

six weeks into statement process and received letter today to tell us that the assessment process will now begin. Now have appendix A parts ii and iii to complete, giving parental advice and feeling the pressure of making sure we do this correctly. I am very aware that this is all about her educational needs however, my concerns revolve more around her emotional needs...anxiety and anger issues, social communication skills, motivation, self esteem etc etc etc. without the professional support of someone who fully understands the complexities of these issues, she is never going to be able or want to apply herself academically, which is why we are pushing for a particular school who have this type of emphasis. although it is out of area. Nowhere within my local LEA can offer this standard of care and expertise.

Is it fair enough to outline these difficulties as our main areas of concern or do they want to know more about her problems with focus purely in the classroom? Also, with regards to submitting reports from other people, who should we be requesting reports from? Don't the LEA already have all of the documentation they need from that supplied by school/ CAMHS/ YPC, for the initial stag meeting?

 

Beverley. Cheshire.

[sunflower1]

The trick is demonstrating how the anxiety, anger, social communication. motivtion and self esteem issues (this could be my son!) prevent her from accessing the curriculum properly. So it is vital that you link her needs to problems in the classroom and school as a whole because it is about educational provision. If you widen it out too much (for example her behaviour at home) the LEA will say that her problems are not educational and therefore not their responsibility and direct you to social services! Keep your evidence education-specific with a classroom and playground/lunchtime emphasis. For example - my son would have problems with other children in the playground and then be so overwrought he would refuse to enter the class or engage with work so the whole academic day was lost to him because of a 'social' incident in unstructured time even though he was still in school.

 

Are you getting any specialist advice for this for example from IPSEA or SEN!SOS? Both are brilliant organisations that guide parents through the statementing and tribunal process. Advice is essential unless you have a good grasp of SEN law. LEAs are notorious fdelivering statements that fail to deliver anything beyond LSA time. If you daughter has AS it is not unreasonable that she should have access to social skills groups or tuition weekly to help her understand social communication. If this is the case, ask for this and insist they make the provision specific and quantifiable. Reports from independent SALTs can support requests for provision of this kind.

 

The sort of reports you may want to include could be independent reports/assessments by Educational Psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists (if relevant for sensory modulation needs). The LEA may have documents and report but they may chose to overlook/not include any reports that don't suit their purposes. Most LEAs will avoid writing anything into statements that is specific and quantified and involves funding. Include any supporting documentation that supportswhat you are asking for and explains the complexity of her needs even if you think they have these already. It is about you shaping the evidence to achieve the outcome you are after - don't rely on the LEA to do this. I included home-school link notes written bys school staff highlighting examples where my son was failing to access lessons properly because of anxiety and other problems. There were plenty of examples!!!

 

PM me if you want to discuss this further

 

All the best

 

Sunflower

[BusyLizzie100]

Excellent advice from Sunflower. Would just add that the NAS may also be worth contacting - they have an Education Advocacy Service that is excellent. They helped me enormously and really boosted my motivation, too, which is just what you need when the LA is grinding you down! you can get the number from the website.

 

Lizzie x

[Sally44]

I presume you have a copy of the SEN Code of Practice?

 

Yes you link it to how it affects her in school, home and the community.

 

The case law definition of 'education' takes a much wider view that just exam results. It means preparing a child for independent living and working as an adult. When you have that interpretation then all your concerns about 'emotional behaviour' 'social interaction' become very relevent.

The Code of Practice also identifies these as areas of SEN - so do find that and quote it in your parental concerns.

 

What does your child currently receive for these difficulties. Are they even identified.

 

Yes, the LEA will produce a Statement from the current documents/reports. But if those reports do not say that "xxx has emotional and self esteem issues and needs an emotional recognition programme to be put together by the SALT and delivered in school on a daily basis both in the classroom and during unstructured free time. XXX will require a suitably qualified and experienced TA to deliver this programme on a daily basis and targets will be set by the SALT and details of these will be provided to parents and monitored via the IEP process using SMART targets in school. To achieve this the SALT has recommended SCERTS (or name whatever she has recommended), which is a multi disciplinary team approach. This will require that all professionals meet and joint plan." etc.

 

And you need to be as specific as that with each and every need. The CoP does state the EVERY need should be identified.

 

I doubt you will find that in any LEA/NHS report. So you need to ask them questions and try to get them to be specific. You can write to the SALT with your concerns and specifically ask these types of questions ie. "what support, therapy and approaches does xxx currently receive in school for her emotional and social communication difficulties. XXX is a vulnerable child and these difficulties are having a detrimental affect on her self esteem." Then see what response you get.

 

I think you need to concentrate on 'school', but the home and community is also relevent because if a child needs to be taught 'life skills', then these need to be generalised into the home/community environment - as do social communication and emotional issues. You can also quote experiences that demonstrate her level of difficulties in those environments. For example my son's cubs leader wrote a short letter about his social communication skills at cubs and how he typically behaves. That is useful, especially if school are saying things like "we have no concerns".

 

If you are seeking an out of country placement is anyone currently involved going to support you on that? If not you need an EP to visit her current school to state that it is not meeting her needs and you need the same EP to visit your preferred school to say that that is the only school that can meet her needs.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Sally44

[BusyLizzie100]

 

And you need to be as specific as that with each and every need. The CoP does state the EVERY need should be identified.

 

I doubt you will find that in any LEA/NHS report. So you need to ask them questions and try to get them to be specific. You can write to the SALT with your concerns and specifically ask these types of questions ie. "what support, therapy and approaches does xxx currently receive in school for her emotional and social communication difficulties. XXX is a vulnerable child and these difficulties are having a detrimental affect on her self esteem." Then see what response you get.

 

Just to add that if you subsequently have any issues with the reports that are written as part of the assessment, you have a legal right to request a meeting with the author of the report and the SEN officer.

 

At this meeting you can ask very specific questions about your child's needs and exactly what provision is needed to meet them, even if they have not been specific in their report. This meeting should be minuted and can be added to the assessment.

 

If such a meeting takes place after a proposed statement has been served, you still have the right to such a meeting and can ask for the professional's comments to be taken in to the statement before it's finalised.

 

Lizzie x

[Karen A]

http://www.autism.org.uk/Living-with-autism/Education/Primary-and-secondary-school/Extra-help-for-your-child-in-school/Extra-help-in-school-England-and-wales/Statutory-assessment-England-Wales.aspx

 

http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice-about-education-for-parents/advice-booklets-and-briefings/getting-the-statement-right-a-practical-guide-to-parents-legal-rights

 

These might be useful if you have not found them already.

Karen.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Karen A

[bonbons]

thankyou for all of your valuable information. I haven't got a copy of SEN code of practice actually....where will I obtain this from? I have now made an appointment with parent partnerships so that they may help us to formulate our response properly. NAS are sending me some info about statement process too and other post diagnosis stuff......thanks for pointing us in the right direction.

 

Beverley

 

Cheshire.

[sunflower1]

Here you go, the Code of Practice link is here

 

Happy reading Beverley

 

 

Good luck. Let us all know how you get on

 

Sunflower

Edited October 27, 2010 by sunflower1