What should I ask for

[KezT]

OK, another question which is baffling me a bit.

 

We have finally pinned the SEN officer down to a meeting to discuss the proposed S/M. I have been through all the reports and bullet pointed every need possible, and even nicely summarised them for her.

 

WE met with his curent school today togo through our document to get ideas as to what was vital and what was more flexible in our "negotiations" with SEN officer. They agreed that every need speciied in our document was demonstrated by DS at sometimes.

 

But pretty much none of them were demonstrated ALL of the time

 

The reports say 1:1 for lessons, transitions, free time and time out Obviously that is completely impossible for any mainstream chool to provide, and TBH would be counterproductive in many ways, as the ultimate aim is to slowly withdraw the required support over his time in secondary school so he is fully independant by the end of it.

 

We asked his primary school what they do and they said they do have someone who is available to be his 1:1 at any time, and who is "parachuted in" when required. As there is no rhyme or reason as to when they are needed I'm not sure a secondary school can provide that kind of flexibility?

 

I was thinking of standing firm on 1:1 for "core subjects" for his first year in secondary (Maths, English, Science - and PE which seems pretty much given, but not ICT which he almost certainly doesn't need).

 

Does that seem a resonable request to stand firm on for the Statement do you think? Or do you think a secodary COULD provide a "parachute" LSA (he would have to know who they were though - he reacts badly to new adults!)

[Grace]

Hi,

 

I don't know the background, but certainly if my DS had ended up at mainstream secondary, I would have been after 32.5 hours of one to one with a dedicated LA. In other words, although some schools have a 'pool' of LA's to use as they see fit, even if your DS does not need full-time one to one, how could they guarantee availability for when he needs it from a 'pool' of staff and also with ASD, a dedicated LA means that any problems in one lesson are taken account of in the next lesson.

 

You say that he does not need it for ICT, but might he need it given the new environment, pace of lesson and possibly taking account of group working i.e. social difficulties?

 

32.5 hours would provide support at break/transition times. Any withdrawal of help should be slow and as appropriate to your DS's needs and not determined by any pre-planned timetable.

 

You can 'compromise' in Part 2 by saying something like that sometimes DS finds X,Y, and Z difficult and needs a,b and C help. In other words, if he does not always show that behaviour, you can still put it in, but state it is sometimes or describe the conditions when it happens. If there is disagreement that it happens at all, you can put in something like, 'school staff say that DS copes well with blah blah blah, but DS's parents report that DS does not always cope with this and they have noticeable behavioural problems when DS is stressed by this activity.'

 

Hope you manage to get somewhere/x

[Karen A]

Hi.

An easy but brief answer.

 

The reports say 1:1 for lessons, transitions, free time and time out Obviously that is completely impossible for any mainstream chool to provide, and TBH would be counterproductive in many ways, as the ultimate aim is to slowly withdraw the required support over his time in secondary school so he is fully independant by the end of it.

 

 

Go with what the report says.It is likely you will get half of what is requested.

Far better to ask for the impossible,get something and reduce if more than needed than to push for more later.I am fresh from a year 8 AR.I half-expected to loose the Statement today but found there is as much of a case as ever.

 

We have moved the TA support around as needs change partly depending on how experienced teachers are so it can help to have some flexability.We also have key staff who will help with problems that arise where a TA is not around.This has become more useful as Ben is more able to ask for help when needed or manage time out of class if he becomes anxious.He also now has one period each week with the SENCO to pick up on problems.

We have found that communication is vital.Email helps when Ben comes home with a problem.

 

Karen.

[KezT]

obviously I will ask for F/T 1:1, but I know, you know and everybody else involved knows that this is absolutely not going to happen. The draft SM they sent out first time didn't even mention 1:1 as a possible resource I am thinking ahead to a suitable compromise position....

 

In all honesty, if a my child really needed 1:1 assistance to "initiate work , facilitate engagement with his work, to maintain engagement with the lesson, to complete tasks, during all transition times, throughout free or unstructured times (and) for anything he considers challenging" (all of which were mentioned in the professionals reports on DS) I would be questioning whether mainstream was actually the correct place for him.

 

I am sure that mainstream IS correct. He is able to cognitively learn the appropriate reactions to situations. By the end of secondary school he should be learning almost as independantly as his peers. My concern is that the transistion and early puberty years are going to be "challenging" and I do not want him to lack support so that he hates/leaves school... So whereas I want the SM to specify as much as possible, I want to be realistic in what is plausible to provide.

[Sally44]

You ask for what is in the reports to be put in the Statement QED.

The professional's advise was full time 1:1. If the school cannot provide it via their funding they have to ask the LEA to fund it.

Do not agree to anything less than what the reports says, otherwise what is the use of a report?

 

Although you do not want your child to become 'independent' there is no need for that to happen even with 1:1 support because part of that full time support can be spent with your child 'generalising' learning skills into other environments and with other people. Generalisation is a big difficulty for those on the spectrum. It is very important that they have continuity of staff to initially explicitly learn a skill eg. to hold a two way conversation. This might be a SALT target that the full time TA works on with your child. When the TA/SALT agree that target has been met with the TA in the classroom, then the TA could move that target out into the playground or dinnerhall etc. And when met in those environments could move it out into conversations with one other child etc.

 

In that way the 1:1 support does not make the child more 'dependent' it actually makes it more likely that the child will learn the skill and become 'independent'.

 

Having that provision quantified in a Statement is gold. And if it isn't included in the Statement then personally I would go to tribunal over it, and unless the LEA can produce another report that says they do not think your child needs that support, the Tribunal would rule in your favour.

[Sally44]

I just wanted to add that the fact her primary school have said that 'sometimes' she can do something and at other times cannot is proof that skills are not being generalised.

 

If the full time dedicated 1:1 TA is working to help generalise skills into different environments and with different people, then that is a good thing.

 

Just because your child does 'sometimes' achieve a target does not mean they then automatically go on to use that skill appropriately in the right situations with the right people. Usually they don't - otherwise they wouldn't be on the spectrum.

 

Learning and skills tends to be compartmentalised and often do not transfer into functional settings.