Another Statement question

[KezT]

OK, so as you may know, our proposed statement was rubbish.

 

As per our rights, I emailed the SEN officer well within the 15 days to request a meeting. She has tried her best to wriggle out of this, but I am standing firm! As she did not respond other than to say she was "happy to meet in principle but..." (three times now!!) I sent her some dates and asked her to pick one. SHe has chosen 17th March (possibly).

 

I also sent her our draft revised Part 2

 

She is now talking about issuing a revised statement (almost certainly without our revisions which she thinks are inapprpriate to be in a Statement) before we meet "so that she can get it to DS's named secondary school and check they can meet his needs".

 

Can she re-issue without meeting us if we have requested the meeting?

 

How many times can she reissue proposed statements before she issues a final statemen?

 

Thanks

[chris54]

If your son is in year 6 then time is fast running out to name secondary school.

The LA can issue a statement with out your agreement as long as they have followed the correct procedure.

Children with a statement have priority for school places, but a place cannot be held open in case that school is named after the closing date.

That in mind the pressure is on the get transition statement finalised on time. Often then revised before the child goes up.

[KezT]

If your son is in year 6 then time is fast running out to name secondary school.

The LA can issue a statement with out your agreement as long as they have followed the correct procedure.

Children with a statement have priority for school places, but a place cannot be held open in case that school is named after the closing date.

That in mind the pressure is on the get transition statement finalised on time. Often then revised before the child goes up.

 

He is in year 6, but has been offered (and accepted) a place in the school we want. SEN officer's argument is that she needs the Statement finalised so they can look at it and decide if they can meet his needs. In reality I don't think this is an issue. We have only had brief discussions with the secondary school, but am confident they can meet his needs! SEN officer's line throughout the past years has been that geting a Statement will be detrimental and allow schools to discriminate against him

 

I am minded to invite the secondary school to the meeting with his current school to discuss the propsed Statement. Do you thinkI can do this, or should I ask the current school to extend an invitation? Or should the secondary not be involved at this time?

[chris54]

The secondary school should at this stage be in discussion with primary school. Any invitation to attend meetings would have to come from school.

It is only now weeks away ( the other side of Easter)when your sons transition will (Should) be set in motion. When he has visits etc to the new school.

[Grace]

Hi,

 

If your DS is in Year 6, then by law the statement should have been finalised by Feb 15th, to give you the time to go to appeal before next September.

 

You can pass draft copies of Part 2 backward and forward as much as you like i.e. these are not proposed statements; just written down suggestions. It would be useful for you to meet up with a copy of what you want in Part 2, to go over what you do and don't agree with, why you don't agree and see if you can compromise.As far as I recall, they can not keep issuing proposed, but legally they are already in the wrong by having not produced the Final Statement by Feb 15th.

 

Direct quotes from reports can be put in Part 2. If there are areas of disspute, these can be reflected in the statement e.g. 'Townsville School state in the Annual Review paperwork Oct 10th 2010 that Tommy's independence skills at school are excellent. Mrs Mum states that Tommy is not able to translate these skills to the home and community and requires a great deal of support in these less structured environments.'

 

It's important to get into Part 2 those things that back-up what you are asking for in Part 3. It's also important to make sure that provision in Part 3 is quantified and specified e.g. x hours of y therapy z times a week with a therapist qualified in w.

 

If you have already got the school you want, then I'd be wanting to get this statement finalised ASAP. If you then launch an appeal, you can continue negotiating after that. SOS!SEN and I think NAS have ideas about what Part 2 should look like - they can also look over the statement for you.

 

Is there anything you are asking for in Part 3 that the school can not provide?

 

Speak to NAS, SOS!SEN,or ACE.

 

Best Wishes

 

Grace/x

[chris54]

Don't know the background to all this.

I was assuming that your son currently has a statement.

If I am wrong and he doesn't, then a lot of what I said is wrong.

Are your in the proses of getting him statemented for the first time?

If so then as far as the secondary school are conserned he will be treated in the same way, ie Transition, as the other children starting in September. That is until a statement is issued.

The amount of input from seconders school is realy up to them.

[Grace]

Hi,

 

If this is a first statement then as far as I know the Feb 15th deadline does not apply - you have to follow a first statement timetable.

 

However,it is still in everyone's interest to get this sorted ASAP. If you are asking for additional resources e.g. one to one help, specialist intervention, it is better to have that sorted well in advance of your DS starting - they might need to recruit additional staff if you are after one to one.

 

Best Wishes

 

Grace/x

[KezT]

It is his first Statement - I thought we had started the pocess in plenty of time to get it ready before he went into year 6, but I didn't count on hav9ing to go to tribunalevery steo of the way

 

We do want one to one, but the secondary school seemed perfectly OK with this - they have several other ASD children and a very good reputaton of integration (there are no schools with ASD units in my county) .

 

It would be useful for you to meet up with a copy of what you want in Part 2, to go over what you do and don't agree with, why you don't agree and see if you can compromise

 

that is what I thought the meeting was for too

 

wil look at SOS!SEN and NAS info asap

 

thanks

[Grace]

Hi,

 

So have the LA agreed to fund the one to one? Is it so much one to one that the LA will have to provide additional funding to the school i.e. the school do not have sufficient staff already to provide the one to one?

 

If there are no problems with the provision (Part3)and they are happy with the choice of school (Part4), then I am curious to know what is in Part 2 that they object to so much? Are you asking for something that might require additional provision in Part 3? Is there anything about behavioural difficulties that might put the school off? Are you asking for something that is not backed up by reports?

 

You can always send them an email with your latest proposals attached and ask them to comment, if for some reason they are reluctant to meet.

 

Best Wishes

 

Grace/x

[KezT]

Hi,

 

So have the LA agreed to fund the one to one? Is it so much one to one that the LA will have to provide additional funding to the school i.e. the school do not have sufficient staff already to provide the one to one?

 

If there are no problems with the provision (Part3)and they are happy with the choice of school (Part4), then I am curious to know what is in Part 2 that they object to so much? Are you asking for something that might require additional provision in Part 3? Is there anything about behavioural difficulties that might put the school off? Are you asking for something that is not backed up by reports?

 

You can always send them an email with your latest proposals attached and ask them to comment, if for some reason they are reluctant to meet.

 

Best Wishes

 

Grace/x

 

 

Part 3 was as bad as Part 2. PArt 2 pretty much only said he has some gross motor skills difficulties - and failed to even mention any social communication dificulties for example Therefore the Part 3 barely mentioned anything other than a differentiated PE curriculum, alomg with a few "catch all" phrases such as "regular contact with a member of staff for DS to talk to" - which IMO could mean once a year with a diner lady

 

Our re-write of Part 2 took all the details out of the professionals reports. I am loathe to re-write Part 3 until a) we have some agreement on Part 2 and b)I have further input from the school(s) and professionals. I am not qualified or experienced enough to write Part 3 TBH! However, there is no doubt he will need substantial one to one for at least the next couple of years.

[Grace]

Hi,

 

I think you need to contact IPSEA, NAS or SOS!SEN as a matter of urgency.

 

You need to be addressing both Part 2 and Part 3. The needs detailed in Part 2 will determine the help that he needs in Part 3.

 

Sally is very good also at going through the steps that you need to go through.

 

So, you are going through the statementing process - you have had a speech and language report, an Educational Psychology report and a school report? Perhaps Occupational therapy and physiotherapy too?

 

What did these reports say?

 

When I went through the statementing process, none of the reports specified a number of hours. The LA offered 15 and I fought for 25 and that was agreed. I could do this because the reports spoke about all the difficulties that my DS has.

 

It is important that all your DS's needs are detailed in Part 2 and then the law requires those needs to be addressed by provision in Part 3.So, for example, if it talks about social communication difficulties in Part2, there must be something in Part 3 that will help address that need.

 

If they have already issued a proposed, all the reports should have already been submitted. It could be that if there is not enough information, you will need to do the best you can for now and then appeal once the statement is finalised. You might need to pay for private reports if the ones you have are not enough. That is why you need to show what you have to one of the helplines, because I think you could do with someone having a look at what you have and determine therefore what can be done. With you DS in Year 6, time is against you.

 

Basically you risk not getting any one to one, if there is nothing in Part 2 to say he needs it. Please ring the helplines on Monday. NAS ask you to leave a message and they will get back to you.

 

Best of luck

 

Grace/x

[KezT]

Hi,

 

I think you need to contact IPSEA, NAS or SOS!SEN as a matter of urgency.

 

You need to be addressing both Part 2 and Part 3. The needs detailed in Part 2 will determine the help that he needs in Part 3.

 

Sally is very good also at going through the steps that you need to go through.

 

So, you are going through the statementing process - you have had a speech and language report, an Educational Psychology report and a school report? Perhaps Occupational therapy and physiotherapy too?

 

What did these reports say?

 

When I went through the statementing process, none of the reports specified a number of hours. The LA offered 15 and I fought for 25 and that was agreed. I could do this because the reports spoke about all the difficulties that my DS has.

 

It is important that all your DS's needs are detailed in Part 2 and then the law requires those needs to be addressed by provision in Part 3.So, for example, if it talks about social communication difficulties in Part2, there must be something in Part 3 that will help address that need.

 

If they have already issued a proposed, all the reports should have already been submitted. It could be that if there is not enough information, you will need to do the best you can for now and then appeal once the statement is finalised. You might need to pay for private reports if the ones you have are not enough. That is why you need to show what you have to one of the helplines, because I think you could do with someone having a look at what you have and determine therefore what can be done. With you DS in Year 6, time is against you.

 

Basically you risk not getting any one to one, if there is nothing in Part 2 to say he needs it. Please ring the helplines on Monday. NAS ask you to leave a message and they will get back to you.

 

Best of luck

 

Grace/x

 

The reports are in, the info was just not included in the proposed SM! Hence our re-write of Part 2! Personally I think the SE officer is just lazy and couldn't be bothered to look at the individual. Having been forced to issue a SM, she has just printed out a her standard "as woolly as possible" catch all SM and hope we would accept it. NOT LIKELY considering we have fought all the way here!

[Grace]

The reports are in, the info was just not included in the proposed SM! Hence our re-write of Part 2! Personally I think the SE officer is just lazy and couldn't be bothered to look at the individual. Having been forced to issue a SM, she has just printed out a her standard "as woolly as possible" catch all SM and hope we would accept it. NOT LIKELY considering we have fought all the way here!

 

I know what you mean - having spoken with other parents, I think my LA offered 15 hours as standard. I arranged a meeting and turned up with SMART objectives and a list of quotes from the reports to be included in Part 2.

 

I found NAS particularly good at looking at reports/proposed statements and saying what should be in the statement and how it should be worded.

 

Good luck!

[Sally44]

It is only worth negotiating for a certain amount of time. As you say, time is moving on and you need a decision and if you are asking for provision in part 3 that includes professional therapy (SALT, OT etc), then the chances are you are going to tribunal anyway.

 

Send in your working document stating everything you want in part 2 and part 3. Have one meeting and if the LEA do not amend, then tell them to finalise the Statement so that you can appeal. Either party can still neogitate whilst the appeal is in process. You can back down at any time and so can the LEA.

 

And whilst in the appeal process you can seek further evidence if you feel you need it, and after the meeting with the LEA you will have a greater understanding of what their sticking points are and why.

 

Don't let it drag on forever. The LEA have to finalise the Statement before you can appeal. So get the negotiations over and done with asap. Get as much help as you can to get the wording right.

[Rach14]

It is only worth negotiating for a certain amount of time. As you say, time is moving on and you need a decision and if you are asking for provision in part 3 that includes professional therapy (SALT, OT etc), then the chances are you are going to tribunal anyway.

 

Send in your working document stating everything you want in part 2 and part 3. Have one meeting and if the LEA do not amend, then tell them to finalise the Statement so that you can appeal. Either party can still neogitate whilst the appeal is in process. You can back down at any time and so can the LEA.

 

And whilst in the appeal process you can seek further evidence if you feel you need it, and after the meeting with the LEA you will have a greater understanding of what their sticking points are and why.

 

Don't let it drag on forever. The LEA have to finalise the Statement before you can appeal. So get the negotiations over and done with asap. Get as much help as you can to get the wording right.

 

 

arghhhh! like sally says, dont negogtiate for long cos your time is fast runnin out! And the statement needs finalising asap! oh boy! and if this is going to tribunal you fight fight fight girl!!!!!!! when me and DH went to tribunal for our youngest DS i'll tell you this: it was very character building for me! the day we won that tribunal was one of the best days of my life! and i'll tell you! i needed a few double jack daniels that evening

thinking of u hon! xx

[Sally44]

If the reports they have written do not quantify and specify hours of support and staffing arrangements write to each professional and ask them to specify as per the Code of Practice. (I'll find the Dfes letter on the IPSEA website which has been sent to ALL LEAS.)

 

If they say they can't because they want to allow the school "to be flexible", again case law says the flexibility must be for the benefit of the child and not the school/system. So it must be specific, to the extent that no-one is in any doubt as to who should be do what, when and for how long. Otherwise you cannot challenge the school/LEA about non-compliance.

 

You can also ask SEND to Supina certain professionals to attend Tribunal and you can submit certain questions you want answered by the LEA prior to the actual Tribunal hearing. Then the Professionals have to come and they have to have answered the questions. You just need to work out if their attendance will be a help or hinderance. In alot of cases the LEA will bring them anyway, but you never know for certain unless you Supina them.

 

But definately having sent them letters asking them to specify is very useful because either they do it or they don't. And the Panel don't like it when they don't.

[Sally44]

http://www.network81.org/News1.aspx

 

Print that letter off and have it to hand.

[Sally44]

The Code of Practice also says that EVERY need must be identified.

 

And for a need to be identified does not mean you have to have an official diagnosis (although it helps). But if a child has a SpLD, but does not have an offical diagnosis is no excuse for not including that need in section 2 or specifying provision to meet it in section 3.

 

Ipsea told me that it illegal to have a Statement that 'hints' at an SEN. It has to state ALL needs so cannot say things like xxxx may have dyslexia (or something else) and this needs to be determined/confirmed. LEAs try to keep needs out of Statements by not naming them or diagnosing them and then saying they cannot provide provision for something that isn't diagnosed.

 

Ipsea told me that the Code of Practice does not say that all needs will be identified using standardised assessments and formal diagnosis. Only that they must all be included in sectionn 2 (with or without a formal diagnosis), with provison quantified and specified in section 3. Easier said than done, but that was the advice I got.

[Kathryn]

Good luck with everything Kez!

 

http://www.network81.org/News1.aspx

 

Print that letter off and have it to hand.

 

Sally PLEASE don't encourage people to use this letter as it stands. As discussed on a previous thread, it is 6 years old ,was issued under a previous government and although most of it is still relevant (including the bit about quantification/specification I think you want to highlight) some of it is way out of date, including the requirement for Secretary of State approval of schools, and the section on Academies. (I know it isn't applicable to Kez, but other parents read the forum). The position re: Academies is more favourable to parents than it was when this letter was issued, so parents could be doing themselves a grave disservice by waving this letter in front of LEA's who don't need any more encouragement to wriggle through loopholes - they're already good at it!

 

Far better to go directly to the law and the Code of Practice and quote that, in my opinion, rather than dredging up archived stuff. Things are changing fast nowadays. Even the COP is soon to be revised, apparently.

 

K x

[Sally44]

Okay point taken.

Case Law can be found on the IPSEA website.

 

The other point about this letter though is that ALL LEAS already know they need to quantify and specify. They pretend like they don't know or understand when they know full well what they are doing and what is required of them by law. Just wanted to get that point across too.

[BusyLizzie100]

If you end up going to tribunal, you will need to draw up a parental working document of how you want the statement to look. If you have time, it's useful to do that now so you have something concrete to wave under the SEN officer's nose. (If not, your best bet may be to let the LA finalise the Statement and then go to tribunal to get it right; hopefully it will name the school you want?)

 

(Apologies if you know all this already!)

 

Take copies of each report that formed part of the statutory assessment. Then sit down with a big notebook and two highlighter pens. Go through each report and, in one colour, highlight every reference to every single need. In another colour, highlight every reference to provision, ie what is needed to support the need.

 

Divide your big notebook into two sections, one for needs and one for provision. Then subdivide each section into chapters with headings eg Cognitive & Learning (Education); Communication & Interaction; Personal, Social & Emotional; Motor & Sensory Skills. Referring back to the highlighted reports, copy out each need, with a reference to who wrote it, page number and paragraph. Do the same for provision.

 

Next, you need to pull together each section into something that reads comprehensively without repetition, paraphrasing as necessary, including your references to author, page number etc. Make sure to include EVERY need. This will help you to produce Part 2.

 

Next, do the same with the provision to make Part 3. Every need should match up to provision in PArt 3. This is often harder because professionals don't always put enough detail re support in their reports. [HOWEVER, you can ask for a meeting with the LA AND the author of any of the advices (reports) before the statement is finalised; this gives you the opportunity to ask the professional questions about how the need they have identified should be supported - this can be minuted during the meeting and added to the advice as an addendum.]

 

It is a laborious process, but well worth it.

 

By all means talk to the new school, but it's again extremely important that the statement isn't written to suit their needs and not your child's...

 

Best of luck and keep us updated as to what happens.

 

Lizzie x

Edited March 7, 2011 by BusyLizzie100

[KezT]

Well, we've got the revised Proposed Statement through, and NOW we have a document that at least we can work with!

 

It Actually specifies that he has some Eductional needs and even mentions some Communication needs!!!!

 

It even specifies 10 hours 1:1

 

There is still a lot wrong with it, but at least when we met the SEN Officer next week we can look at the same document And all that BEFORE we've even got to meet her!

 

Thanks for the good advice here - all those bullet points taken from the reports seem to have done the trick

[Sally44]

Are those 10 hours in addition to delegated funding?

Most schools have delegated funding which equates to around 15 hours/wk extra support. That may not be 1:1, but may include small group work, extra TA support etc.

An additional 10 hours on top of that would add up to a minimum 25 hours per week.

You need it detailing how those hours are going to be used within the Statement in part 3 and who is going to use them.

Can be stated as termly hours rather than weekly ones for flexibility eg. 20 hours per term 1:1 support during literacy and numeracy etc.

If your child needs more visual supports, including printed worksheets etc then check if the preparation of those supports come out of the 25 hours. I don't think they should. If the school/professionals need extra time for admin, liaising, training, attending MEPs, writing annual review reports etc then those should be quantified in addition to the hours of support your child needs for herself.

Try to get it written into the Statement that professionals will attend MEPs (or at least 2 MEPs per year), and that they will re-assess (using standardised assessments) your child and produce an up to date report for the Annual Review. If they complain about that, say that that is how your child's progress with the provision will be monitored. And they have to monitor it.

As far as I am aware those hours are for the school/school staff to use.

SALT hours are additional input when 1:1 direct therapy with the SALT, but daily practice with the TA would come out of the 25 hours.

Same for OT or EP, or SpLD input.

[KezT]

Are those 10 hours in addition to delegated funding?

Most schools have delegated funding which equates to around 15 hours/wk extra support. That may not be 1:1, but may include small group work, extra TA support etc.

An additional 10 hours on top of that would add up to a minimum 25 hours per week.

You need it detailing how those hours are going to be used within the Statement in part 3 and who is going to use them.

Can be stated as termly hours rather than weekly ones for flexibility eg. 20 hours per term 1:1 support during literacy and numeracy etc.

If your child needs more visual supports, including printed worksheets etc then check if the preparation of those supports come out of the 25 hours. I don't think they should. If the school/professionals need extra time for admin, liaising, training, attending MEPs, writing annual review reports etc then those should be quantified in addition to the hours of support your child needs for herself.

Try to get it written into the Statement that professionals will attend MEPs (or at least 2 MEPs per year), and that they will re-assess (using standardised assessments) your child and produce an up to date report for the Annual Review. If they complain about that, say that that is how your child's progress with the provision will be monitored. And they have to monitor it.

As far as I am aware those hours are for the school/school staff to use.

SALT hours are additional input when 1:1 direct therapy with the SALT, but daily practice with the TA would come out of the 25 hours.

Same for OT or EP, or SpLD input.

 

As far as I could gather from trying to get her to "clarify", the 10 hours are in addition to the delegated funding, so that seems pretty god actually. Plus I made her write in that the differentiated PE curriculum must be supervised by a qualified/trained member of staff too, so that will,in effect add some extra hours of 1:1/smal group work.

 

No specific S&LT written in - she prettymuch refused to even look at the private report, even though I pointed out that reason we'd neded to get it was because the council hadn't bothered to get a report sincehe was first DX's years ago. I'm hoping that we might get an updated council report now, but who knows?! However, with the Cerebra grant and the small group work, he should be OK for the immediate future anyway.

 

TBH, I'm just going to pretty much accept the final SM now it's close enough to wha we want,ánd we can ask for a review in 6 mths, which in reality wil only be a couple of months after he starts his new school, so will be just about right!

[BethK]

Sorry, I haven't read fully through this thread, need to pop out but didn't want to read and run.

 

My son's statement process has gone via the LDT team in social services (learning difficulties team). Not sure if they call it that in other boroughs but it's worth talking to your local social services (as they are a sector within that dept) and asking them for advice. I've spoken to many people who have had more success with the process via LDT than their SEN tutors x

[KezT]

Sorry, I haven't read fully through this thread, need to pop out but didn't want to read and run.

 

My son's statement process has gone via the LDT team in social services (learning difficulties team). Not sure if they call it that in other boroughs but it's worth talking to your local social services (as they are a sector within that dept) and asking them for advice. I've spoken to many people who have had more success with the process via LDT than their SEN tutors x

 

Ha! trying to get through to social services here is an absolute joke. When DS was first Dx'd, my DH was in hospital and DS was excluded for the first time I called theduty SW tel number in tears and they didn't even bother to respond I have tried on and off over the past four years to get some SS involvement, with absolutely no success - even when one of our neighbours reported us to SS for child abuse because DS was screaming for "upwards of 20 minutes" they turned up a month later, and cosed the case withing minutes - not seen or heard anything from them sonce

 

However, As I understand it, LDT only get involved if the child has quite severe learning difficulties (ie: they need to be several years behind in their educational progress) and DS doesn't fit that criteria.

[BethK]

LDT will get invovled, as soon as you request an assesment by them, if can be for anything ranging from learning difficulties to behaviour. Did you ever attend an Early Bird's course? Usually they have members of an ASSIST team running these courses, if not then it might be worth tryiing to locate an ASSIST team in your area?

 

Sorry if this is something you have already done, as you can tell, I'm not familiar with other areas xx

[Aginoth]

LDT will get invovled, as soon as you request an assesment by them, if can be for anything ranging from learning difficulties to behaviour. Did you ever attend an Early Bird's course? Usually they have members of an ASSIST team running these courses, if not then it might be worth tryiing to locate an ASSIST team in your area?

 

Sorry if this is something you have already done, as you can tell, I'm not familiar with other areas xx

 

From experience and professional opinions we have been given; LDT will not get involved regardless of how many times you ask for an assessment unless there is a recognised and diagnosed learning difficulty.

 

As Parents, KezT and I have attended both Early Bird and a Webster-Stratton Courses run by CAMHS and they confirmed that you cannot get LDT involvement without a diagnosed Learning Difficulty.

 

SS in our area have actually told us that unless DS is hospitalised due to abuse or arrested for violence to another there is little hope of them ever having the resources to assess DS or support him. We did put a complaint in about this to no avail.

 

This is partially why so many ASD children get abandoned by the system regards any support at school leaving age.

[BethK]

Aginoth, that is horrible! Not right at all

 

I've heard going for a statement via schools are horrendus and that you should chose the option of statementing yourself (if that maeks sense?). It maybe too late to suggest but I can have a word with a friend, who has just got her son his statement and she chose the avenue of doing it herself, as his school was being an ###### and doing ###### all. Could see how she went about it?

[Sally44]

Regarding access to Social Services.

In our area they also say access to assessments ONLY for children with moderate/severe learning disabilities. It is illegal and a blanket policy. The NAS is right, all children with special needs should have their NEEDS assessed and so should the carers. But getting it to happen is very difficult. I am still trying myself, but am getting ready to go to Tribunal, so don't have the time at the moment to get it sorted.

I have contacted the centre for independent living and they gave me the wording to use and who to address the letter to and to give them a timescale (14 days) in which to respond. I've heard no reply.

My GP made an urgent referal to SS, and the 'safeguarding' team turned up and assessed us a 'okay', and off they went!

I am waiting for the school to complete a CAF (common assessment framework form) as apparently that is how we would access social services. I have been waiting for school to do that since 2009 and keep reminding them.

 

You do have a right to be assessed and you are probably eligible for direct payments to get money to buy in an adult support worker for example. That is what should happen, and others have achieved it. So don't give up. Get in touch with the centre for independent living and get their advice and see what happens. If you get no response get back in touch with them and see what they recommend. I'll probably post about this again after Tribunal if I manage to get SS to do something.

 

In our area Aiming High has been funded for another year. You could ask a professional to refer you to SS for funding for that (an adult support worker to take them out to do things they want to do). I should get allocated over 100 hours this year. Thats at least a couple of hours a week and can be spent taking the child out or sitting with the child in the home. But you need a professional to refer you to Aiming High.

[BethK]

KezT, does your child have any aggressive tendencies? Ones that could be hard for you to handle at home or in school? I only ask, as LDT consider that as a learning disability

[KezT]

LOL we've just had our direct payments removed from DH - who DID manage to get a SW AND is a lot more severely disabled than DS (as well as being physically disabled which makes the tick boxes easier ). If his SW couldn't mnage to make the children's team come out to us to do an assesment I doubt anyone will

 

We did request the statement ourselves, although with the schools full backing. Funnily, we've been told that if th school had requested it, things might have gone a bit smoother

 

Finaly, yes DS does sometimes exhibit violent tendancies, but we have always had an absolute zero tolerance towards that, so it rarely escalates into actual violence (the reason he was "screaming for up to 20 minutes" was because he had hit DH so SS are aware of the issues). I'd be amazed if "just" aggressive behaviour counted as a severe learning disability in any LEA. I know a number of people who work within or with various LEAs and they all say that the LDT will only get involved if there is cognitive impairment - and usually an IQ of >70

[KezT]

well whaddya know?

 

The new proposed S/M arived today and from my first glance it looks like we have prety much everything we asked for Not tha twe asked for that much IMO

 

AND, now that they've managed to get DS to actually DO some schoolwork, he comes out as "gifted", so can tap into that funding too

 

Happy days- although there were moments when I thought we'd never see the end of it all!

[Kathryn]

Good stuff!

 

K x

[Sally44]

That is good news.

 

Again make sure provision is quantified and specified.

 

I've received alot of file notes as part of a Data Protection Act search I carried out. What that has shown very clearly is that whilst LAs bulk against having to quantify and specify, when it comes to provison in the Statement they are only looking at what is quantified and specified to know what they have to do. So is there "1:1" specified or "hours" etc in the final Statement you have. If the provision is not specific the LAs know that they are not compelled to provide anything regardless of what the Statement says.