Ammending Statement - 2 years on

[Andy]

Hello all,

 

DS is now 7 years old and has been at an Autistic centre since reception. He reciebed his statement at the same time, and we were so pleased that he was placed at our named school, - a centre specilaising in ASD attached to mainstream, that we didn't really pick the bones in Part 3. provision.

 

His statement is will be 3 years old next spring, and we have the annual review, in school before that.

 

 

We want to get the statement ammended. The reason for this, is we don't believe the school are under any obligation to provide regular SaLT OT and Sensory work, which recent professionals have all agreed he needs.

 

I have read the publication - getting the statement right

http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/Resources/ACE/advice%20booklets/GettingTheStatementRight%20Mar2011.pdf

 

Unfortunately, we were niave and have some ver vague comments on out statement that are going to make it hard to get the school to put certain measures in place. Our option is to hope the school work with us, and help us get the statement changed to get some more defined support for DS.

 

The provision is littered with 'opportunities to...' 'regular' and 'frequent' , which, after reading the publication we should have challenged.

 

Can i just ask, can we get this ammeded two years on and is this the right time?

Are we being too picky in challenging the use of the above terms?

 

Can we ask what skills the person designated to provide SALT and OT must have? (at the moment it either doesnt happen or a TA performs it).

 

 

 

Kind regards

 

Andy

[Sally44]

If the Annual Review is next Spring [do you know what month?], then you may as well wait for that as an emergency review would not take place much sooner.

 

I would recommend you ask the school their opinion, and then send in a clarification letter eg. "Further to our meeting/discussion on xxxxx we discussed x, y and z and you stated a, b and c.

 

What you need, for your son to get 1:1 SALT input is for the NHS SALT to state in her report for the Annual Review, that that is what he needs.

 

To prove that he needs that you need to demonstrate that he has not made progress. Do you have SALT programme targets, or IEP targets that have not been met? Are there needs that have not been identified eg. social communication, social interaction, emotional literacy in himself and others. Does he attend a social skills group or have individual social skills interventions. Does he interact with others during breaktimes. Are skills generalised into those environments ie. out of the therapy session and into the classroom, playground etc. Is he supported during breaktimes.

 

Did the SALT carry out standardised assessments, and have these been carried out again to demonstrate he has made progress?

 

The above are all questions you can find out via the SALT therapy programme [which you should have received a copy of, which should state if the target is met]. Do you agree that achieved targets have been achieved and you have seen evidence of them at home or in the community.

 

Has he achieved SALT targets included in his IEPs?

 

You can speak to the SALT yourself and ask her all these questions. If you don't have copies of the SALT outcomes you can ask her to send you a copy of them. You can ask her to use standardised assessments if she has never used them. You can ask her if she has evidence he has made progress and ask for a copy of that evidence. It must be factual, it can't be the SALT saying "I believe he has made progress". You can ask her to assess areas that have not been formally assessed yet eg. social communication. There are lots of assessments they can do to get an accurate picture of his strengths and weaknesses.

 

Then you can follow that up with a letter to the SALT detailing everything that was discussed.

 

You then do the same for the OT, if your son has ever seen one. If he hasn't you can still phone the Community OT department that he would be referred to [and ask that he is referred], and go over the same type of things as above. Eg. do they go into schools. Do they provide 1:1 therapy in school. Do they provide sensory integration therapy [not a sensory diet]. If he has dyspraxia, do they provide 1:1 therapy in school. I'm sure they don't.

 

You can ask the school IF they have any appropriate room to deliver a sensory integration therapy programme. It must be of a certain size, and must be private and not have children/staff walking through it eg. the school hall.

 

Just methodically work through all the questions you have and get the answers from the school and LA.

 

I am assuming that he is currently in an autism unit type environment. Small groups of 6-8 children in the class, low arousal environment etc. If he is not making progress in that environment the LA do not have anything else to offer placement wise. And if they don't have the professional therapy provided as standard in the school then it has to be quantified and specified in the Statement.

 

Your argument for that is that he has not made progress. For example, if they have not provided any emotional literacy programme they cannot say he has made progress because they have not worked with him and they have no baseline assessment from which to measure progress. If school say he has made progress ask them for the written evidence of that.

 

The SEN Code of Practice talks of progress that can be academic, social, communication, emotional, sensory or physical.

 

Remember that the SEN Code of Practice says that EVERY need must be identified. Has it?

 

The professionals who have recently agreed he needs SALT and OT input are whom? Have they stated this in writing? If not write to them saying "Further to our meeting/discussion you stated ......." And see what happens. They might reply denying saying it, or they may not reply at all.

 

For your son to have a diagnosis of an ASD and be in an autism unit type environment he must have significant clinical difficulties with all the things I have listed in this and your other post. But I know how hard it is to try to tie anyone down to anything specific. You just have to do the best you can.

 

After the Annual Review, all the information will be sent to the LA. You can ask the school to invite the EP, SALT, OT and a LA Inclusion Officer to the AR. They don't have to come, unless the Statement specifies they do. The LA will then decide if they are going to amend the Statement.

 

The law has now changed, and whether they amend or not you have an automatic right of Appeal to Sendist on parts 2, 3 and 4 of the Statement. So just Appeal, giving your reasons for the Appeal.

 

You can write to each professional asking them how many hours of 1:1 work they have had with your son. You can ask them if they have assessed or observed him over the last year. You can ask them their experience and qualifications.

 

You can ask the school the same thing ie. does the class teacher or TAs have any qualifications in Autism. Does the TA that works with your son have any additional Autism or speech and language therapy qualifications or training. You can check IF the LA has anyone with qualifications. Often there is no one.

 

I remember the Autism Advisory Teacher telling me that she went on a one day course about sensory issues so that she could meet the sensory needs of the children on her books. A Tribunal Panel would not accept that that was a suitably qualified person to meet the needs of a child with a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder. Do you have such a diagnosis? Having "sensory issues or difficulties" is not the same as the diagnosis, although all those difficulties should be included in the Statement that does not add up to a SPD diagnosis. So you may need to see an independent OT who has additional qualfications for Sensory Processing [there are certain modules they have to have completed for them to both assess and deliver a sensory integration programme].

 

If you get the diagnosis of SPD that MUST be included in section 2, and section 3 must specify how that need will be met.

 

At the Tribunal they will ask the professional what does "regular" mean. Is it weekly, daily, termly etc. And for how long. And with whom?

 

Our Statement details an hour 1:1 direct therapy with a suitably qualified SALT, which must be observed by a suitably qualified TA who will carry out the programme on a daily basis.

 

There must be additional time specified in the Statement for the SALT to assess, observe, take notes, train, and work with the child in all the different environments within the school, time to liaise with school staff, parents and the multi disciplinary team = xx hours per term. [usually around the same amount of time as the therapy]. It can specify that the SALT puts together the targets for a social group, that she attends the group and how often, that she attends Annual Reviews and prepared an up to date report for that, that she contributes targets towards the IEP and that she attends IEPS [if not termly, then 6 monthly]. It should be so specific that everyone knows exactly what they should be doing.

[Sally44]

An Annual Review is the opportunity for everyone involved to look at the Statement again to see if the targets set have been achieved. To see if the child has made progress. To see if there are additional needs that must be included, or whether the child has improved and some needs are no longer applicable.

 

You can appeal after every Annual Review if you have a reason to do so. Even if you don't appeal and things start to go seriously wrong, you can ask for an emergency review and you can appeal the outcome of that review too.

 

So yes, after two years you can ask for changes to be made.

 

The school or LA or professionals may not agree with you and may decide not to amend or change the Statement. You simply lodge your Appeal with Sendist when you get that decision.

 

When you lodge an appeal it will happen unless you withdraw your appeal. The LA can concede some of your requests, or all of them as you approach the appeal date.

 

At our first appeal in 2009 the LA agreed to all our findings and recommendations 5 minutes after the Hearing started! They were just waiting to see if I would go through with it.

 

It is nerve racking. But the Panel know their stuff, and they will read all of your evidence in the Bundle and will ask some very searching questions of the LA and their professionals.

 

If your son has a need for speech therapy they will ask the LA/NHS SALT to quantify and specify the provision needed.

 

You can ask the SALT and EP and OT to attend the tribunal as your witnesses if you wish the Panel to ask them questions. If they say they cannot attend you can ask Sendist to issue an Order to Supena them.

 

The LA may or maynot automatically take them as their witnesses. You can invite whoever you think would benefit your case.

 

Obviously the NHS SALT may say that they don't think your child needs direct 1:1 therapy, which is where you would refer to the fact that he has not made progress, or the provision has been reduced without the SALT saying that was appropriate, or refer to examples of his speech and social communication difficulties you experience at home and in the community.

 

If you are going to get independent expert witnesses, then you can't invite the LA/NHS ones as well. You are only allowed 3, and sometimes 4 expert witnesses, and you want them to be useful to your case.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Sally44