Note In Lieu

[emmasmum]

Emma, 15, was diagnosed with aspergers last year. We applied for a statement, LA said no - school have a good understanding of her needs and can meet them - plus it's too late as she won't be continuing in school after year 11 (won't get high enough grades).

We appealed to tribunal and won. A six page judgement entirely in our favour.

The main reason for doing this was to have a full assessment of her needs. She'd been diagnosed with auditory neuropathy at age 10 and aspergers at age 15, both at my instigation - what if we'd missed something else?

EP had refused to reassess (she was assessed age 6 and found to be on 73rd centile cognitively) as she said we had to choose between an assessment or her ongoing support and advice.

Stat assessment now completed:

EP assessment found her spatial skills to be good, but her verbal skills to be very poor - word definitions was on 4th centile, Recall of objects, immediate verbal - 7th centile, information processing - 5th centile. Teacher adviser for communication and language found her understanding of spoken sentences to be on 9th centile, and all other scores to be around 16th centile.

A dyslexia screen showed her to be at risk of dyslexia but her reading and spelling ages are age appropriate, she struggles with planning and organisation.

She most likely has auditory processing disorder - that test was only done last week so the report isnt' included althought he recomendations are unlikely to be dissimilar from those for auditory neuropathy.

 

So now, surprise surprise, we have a note in lieu as they believe her needs can be met in her current school.

 

My thinking is that her current school have had chance enough to meet her needs and have failed her.

 

Perfect example in point - I asked them to reconsider her exam concessions in light of the recent assessments. They did so and have applied for 25% extra time, modified language papers, use of a prompt, and use of a word processor. The reason for the word processor is that she works better on that than on paper - she is in Year 11 and they are only just realising this?? I asked why she isn't using one in class in that case - they are going to "look into it".

 

I would like the local authority to provide a specialist placement in an independent school to give her the best possible chance to "catch up" on the missed learning.

 

I found the tribunal quite a cathartic experience last time and the LA got quite a telling off and a grilling - this time I think they will be better prepared. My daughter doesn't actually want to go to school next year either - though I'd like to give her that choice and encourage her to consider the benefits of learning in an environment that's tailored to her needs.

 

She has very low self esteem and confidence and I'm worried about what the future holds and also angry that the LA will get away wiht failing her big time.

 

Thoughts please??

[Sally44]

I don't know lots about NIL. Others will and i'm sure will post.

If you can appeal NIL, then do so. Her percentile results are low. She will need SALT and EP input.

What did SALT report say about her social communication and social use of language what did the EP say about Emotional Literacy?

Does she have sensory issues, and has she ever been seen by an OT?

 

If you are going back to appeal you need to have a clear goal in mind. What are you hoping to achieve.

With those results an independent professional would recommend input. They would also do more thorough assessments and would identify all her needs. But the cost of doing this is only beneficial if you are seeking a Statement and a suitable placement.

 

You've already said her mainstream school is not meeting her needs. So the status quo is not an option.

What other schools are in your area. Look for specific Aspergers, or Dyslexic and Speech and Communication schools that go up to age 19. Visit them. If you find one you feel is right for your daughter, they may do their own assessments.

 

Use organisations such as Ipsea or Network 81 to support you if you go to appeal. You have absolutely nothing to lose by appealing.

 

Also the definition of "education" in legal terms is about giving a child the skills they need (academic, language, social, emotional, behavioural) to become independent and useful members of society. If your child needs a different placement to achieve that, then that is what you need to consider and aim for.

 

You've already won at tribunal once. I know it is a pain in the backside to be doing this over and over again. But the Panel agreed with you - why - because they could see she had significant needs that had to be assessed. If you go back again and can get further evidence and a suitable placement you may well win again - not guaranteed - but what's the other option??

 

Find out what the timescales are for any appeal. Don't leave it and miss any deadlines. If you do need any further assessments then you need to get that sorted. You also need to quickly look around schools to see which one is a suitable placement because they need to see your daughter (usually for 3 days), and they need to offer you daughter a place at that school in writing - you have to submit that as part of your appeal.

[Sally44]

What you need is someone to look at the reports you have and give you a better profile of your daughter ie. she is cognitively able. Yet because of specific difficulties associated with (Aspergers?, speech and language disorder? dyslexia? short term/working memory?) she is not performing as her cognitive ability suggests. So what "type" of school will best meet those needs.

 

"I found the tribunal quite a cathartic experience last time and the LA got quite a telling off and a grilling - this time I think they will be better prepared. My daughter doesn't actually want to go to school next year either - though I'd like to give her that choice and encourage her to consider the benefits of learning in an environment that's tailored to her needs.

 

She has very low self esteem and confidence and I'm worried about what the future holds and also angry that the LA will get away wiht failing her big time."

 

The above is also very useful, and needs to be included in your appeal. Your daughter is able. She is well aware that she has difficulties and is behind her peers. This year on year lack of support and professional input has resulted in low self esteem and a very real danger that she is going to refuse school. If she does not do well in her education, what are her life choices going to be like?

 

In the reports carried out by the EP and SALT (which I am sure have not been thorough assessments because there are many aspects you have not mentioned eg. emotional literacy, social communication, comprehension and inference etc) they should have identified EVERY need and they should have made recommendations on how to meet every need. This should have detailed the staff needed to provide that provision in school (eg. TA, specialist teacher, etc), and it should also recommend professional input (eg. 9 hours per term of SALT delivered in 1:1 sessions). It does not sound like that has been done. That is worth challenging.

[emmasmum]

Thanks Sally.

 

I asked the people who assessed her communication and language about ongoing input.

 

They said no-one gets SALT past age 11 unless they have a statement and Emma's problems aren't severe enough to get a statement.

 

They said there will be other children in Emma's yeargroup who have similar difficulties and it's not that bad.

 

The EP report is quite thorough and lists her SEN as social communication, anxiety and low self esteem, speed of processing, numeracy skills, memory, planning organisation and independence. The EP told us that she thought it would be quite traumatic for Emma to be assessed so she was just going to focus on certain areas.

 

There's not an awful lot to choose from in Hampshire, bearing in mind it needs to be a school rather than a college for the LA to fund it under a statement of SEN as far as I can understand.

 

The local college has indicated they can offer her a place and meet her needs, but it will be on a one year art and photography course (Emma's choice) and will not enable her to do further work on her numeracy and literacy.

 

I'll look into the costs of independent reports to see what we can do.

 

Thanks Sally,

 

Carol