Sendist Tribunal / right to assess,tomorrow

[gorby928]

Hi All

 

Well its been a while since my last post(sorry).I will try to keep this short,time has flown by since i last posted about a good paediatric that I thought would sort out the statment thing(how foolish was I).Well over a year has past and my local council after serveral appeals are still refuseing to assess.So we are off to the tribunal tomorrow,so I could do with a few pointers.I will list a breif breakdown of my core evidence and how i intend to come at this.(oh yeah this is my first tribunal)

 

Main Evidence;

 

2 Paediatric reports from 2 seperate loacal authoritys (1 where he goes to school and 1 from where we live)

They both state the following in the summary,

 

"AJ is a 9 year old boy with a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome.he attends mainstream primary school in ..........He is a well grown and physically healthy child.He is reported to have significant impairment of his social understanding,reciprocal social interaction and communication with others.He is a verbal child who can be talkative.He has diffculties with his fine motor skills and activities of daily living.

AJ may not be able to access the curriculum adequately and is at risk of failing academically,he therefore needs significant additional educational support to ensure he reaches his potential"

 

We will be using what has been said in the reports as our main argument also the local authority are nt attending?

 

He is also 2 sub levels behind at the moment and of course I have his history so far.

 

We do not have a physcological report as he has never had one? AJ was diagnosed at the age of 3.

Also on a lighter note do I have to where a suit or are these things less formal? I look forward to your input.

 

Thanks

[bed32]

If the LA aren't attending then I hope you should win this one. It is hard to see how the tribunal could find against you if the LA isn't providing evidence or argument.

 

I think the key to winning at this stage is to demonstrate that he has needs that are not being met. Ideally you need to show that there are areas of special educational need, and that the school have tried to address these and not been successful. For this his IEPs are likely to be important. If these show agreed targets where the school are trying to help but not being successful then that is strong evidence in your favour.

 

What reason did the LS give on their letter when they refused to assess? If you can cast doubt on that then you should be home and dry.

 

The paediatricians' reports are good - but you can't necessarily rely on those alone. You really need to show that the sort of problems they mention are having an impact on his education now. So evidence that he is behind his classmates and not catching up is important.

[gorby928]

Hi bed32

 

The LS are saying that his needs can be met under the school action plus plan that he is on? But we feel that this is not working that well as sometimes it can take him a while to get on task and then stay on task and they just dont have the time and resources to help him.Also it seems that the school told the LS that he has some one to one which we know he doesnt as his teachers told us so,both last year and this year.As for falling behind in class I dont think he is badly behind,he is to sub levels behind but we have been told this isnt unusal?

 

Also like I said the LS are not attending but have sent in thier evidence and copys of the SEN doc.

 

Thanks for your advice ;-)

Edited March 4, 2012 by gorby928

[gorby928]

Sorry bed32 I got your name wrong

[chris54]

As said it is important to show that his needs are not being met under school action/action plus.

Ultimately, if the school are saying he is OK, it will be up to you to prove them wrong.

 

We must remember by the very nature of things, in any classroom half of the children will always be below the average.

Edited March 4, 2012 by chris54

[bed32]

Be careful of criticising what the school is doing. If the school is not doing as much as they should then that could lose you the tribunal.

 

So if the school is saying that he is getting so much 1-1 what you say is that in spite of that 1-1 input he is not making adequate progress. Or you say that the school are doing as much as can be expected of them and there are clear areas of educational need that are not being addressed.

 

Where he is sub-levels behind you need to argue that he is capable of doing better with more support. If he is doing adequately academically then to some extent the onus is on you to show that he is not making sufficient progress.

 

The other approach to take is to say that he has special needs that have not been fully identified and that he requires a proper "multi-disciplinary" assessment to determine those needs.

 

Have you read the SEN Code of Practice? There is a lot of good stuff in there about what the LA should be doing as part of the process and that can guide your arguments.

[chris54]

That a good point, if the school are saying there are doing XYZ under school action plus, but not doing it, that is not a reason to get a statement.

It is if they are doing (Or say they are doing) XYZ and he is still not making satisfactory progress that a statement may be forthcoming.

To a certain extent it is not where a child is on the scale, it is how they are moving along that scale that is important.

[gorby928]

Hi people

 

Thanks for all the advice and tips,I have spent the last 3 hours tabing and high lighting various paragraphs in my evidence and the sen code so hopefully I wont sound like a complete idiot.Thanks once again and i will let you all know what the outcome is.

 

Thanks

[Sally44]

So this Tribunal is just to decide if he needs an assessment towards a Statement. Or have the LA assessed him and said they don't think he needs a Statement?

 

Either way you are looking to prove that he has difficulties over and above what the school and NHS would typically provide.

 

You really need to go through every report, or any letters or correspondence that is in the Bundle and use a highlighter pen to highlight each and every need your child has.

 

You also need to point out that no EP report has been done, and therefore he may have additional needs that have not even been identified, and the fact that he is at risk of failing academically.

 

Does he have a specific learning difficulty?? He is 2 sub levels behind - so the gap is widening. Do you have school reports that show the progress he is making each academic year he has been in school.

 

If he is falling behind why is that? This needs to be assessed as it could be due to any number of difficulties. But the fact he is behind proves he needs assessing to identify his needs to support him so that he does not fail academically.

 

Not making progress is a point you must emphasise strongly.

 

They have highlighted speech and language, and social communication difficulties and said he is at risk of failing academically in a mainstream school.

 

He also has fine motor problems [which could be dysgraphia and related to a SpLD, or part of a wider Dyspraxia type problem, or which could be part of a wider sensory processing disorder].

 

To identify whether a child needs a Statement, the LA first have to assess.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Sally44

[Sally44]

If he is 2 sub groups behind his peers on the level of support he is currently receiving, that proves that it is not meeting his needs. If it were he would be holding his ground, or even making progress. He isn't. So what they are doing is not enough, or is not addressing or meeting his needs. And the fact that an EP has not seen him [which they should have done if he is on School Action Plus - means they don't even know what his needs are. He should also have an IEP {individual education plan at School Action Plus - how are they putting together his IEP targets if no professional has assessed him to know what his areas of difficulty are that need targetting???}.

[Kathryn]

Good luck!

 

If you have time, have a look at IPSEA's reusal to Assess self help pack. Although it's designed for parents who are just starting out on the process, it will help to focus you on the key arguments and the legal issues.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

A suit isn't necessary - may even work against you! The more you look like an ordinary stressed out but caring family person the better, in my opinion.

 

K x

[Sally44]

IPSEA has a section called "how to take action". I think this may be a relatively new addition, as I have never come across this section before. It is advice given by a SEN Solicitor, answering the most common questions that parents phone IPSEA about. You may find it helpful.

 

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/Apps/Content/html/?fid=91

[gorby928]

Hello again

 

Well went to the tribunal yesterday,it was an intresting day it started with a phone call at 8.30am from the school to tell me that the SENCO had gone sick for 2 weeks and would not be attending? I know thats what i thought and then when we got to the tribunal and they took our names for attendance they were not impressed either.I took my son AJ and my mum(to look after him),they spoke to AJ for about 25mins and were impressed with him,they could see with there own eyes what his problems where(mainly social interaction) they also said they dont often get to see the child in question.They where impressed with his family surpport network and could see we where doing all we could to help him.They were not impressed that the senco had not turned up or that the school had not sent someone in her place(deputy head was quoted?).They were also not impressed with the sencos contribution to my evidence,saying that it was out of date and showed a lack of any thought out provision directed at our sons needs,ie put with the under achivers when he clearly has ability when in a one to one situtation.They also guided me through the sen code of practice and pointed out what was relevent to AJ and asked if this was happening(which it was not).So to some up I think it went well and I was really proud of AJ (I thought my mum was going to cry at one point) and I came away feeling that I had been heard and that the LA and the school where about to get a rocket up there........... .Thats me off the christmas card list.Once again thanks for all your help and I will keep you posted.

[bed32]

Sounds like a good day - I'm glad it seems to have gone well. I hope they order them to assess.

 

Whatever happens I'm afraid that it sounds as if you are going to have to be a lot more forceful and direct in your dealings with school and LA.

[Grace]

Well done Gorby - it takes a lot of guts to go before a tribunal, especially on your own and I think they will like having had the chance to see your son for themselves - I would have never dared to do that as my DS can come out with anything and my nerves would not have been able to take it!

 

I think the Senco has probably been signed off with stress!

 

I hope you get the result that you deserve/x

[gorby928]

Thanks ,I agree as regards the school and any future contact i have with them wont be so cosy.But its my wife who is down there more but she just wont do conflict(guess I be taking more days off work).As for my next meeting with the school SENCO well that will be fun? AJ was asking me some questions last night after everything, one was "do you only love me because I have Asergers?" which I answered with ,"dont be silly mate we all love you for being you ,your a great kid" he smiled.I will keep on fighting

[gorby928]

IPSEA has a section called "how to take action". I think this may be a relatively new addition, as I have never come across this section before. It is advice given by a SEN Solicitor, answering the most common questions that parents phone IPSEA about. You may find it helpful.

 

http://www.ipsea.org...nt/html/?fid=91

Thanks Sally44 interesting.

[Sally44]

From what you've posted it sounds likely that the LA will be ordered to assess him.

 

Having gone to a Tribunal will also be very useful to you because you now know how it works.

 

When the LA do assess, they could still issue a Note in Lieu, and you would have to appeal again. Or they could issue you with a Proposed Statement.

 

The Proposed Statement is usually very ambiguous and vague. You need to get the wording right so that it is legally binding on the LA to provide the support detailed in the Statement.

 

Each and every need MUST be included in part 2, and part 3 must quantify and specify provision.

 

As this process does take quite a while, you may find you want to appeal about part 4 [the placement] as well.

 

I started off appealing parts 2 and 3 [i lodged my appeal at the end of year 4]. The appeal was cancelled twice, which meant he was now at the end of year 5 and had been out of school for about 11 months. I had had an independent school assess him, and he had spent 3 days with that school twice, over a period of 8 months. As we were now getting close to secondary transfer [the third appeal date was when he was in year 6], I decided to amend the Appeal to include part 4.

 

As your son is now 9, that means that if the LA are ordered to assess, that assessment process takes 26 weeks. You then have a period of time within which you have to lodge the Appeal. And the Hearing date is usually scheduled in for 6 months time.

 

That may bring you into year 6, and if it does you need to consider the secondary placement as well. If he is struggling in mainstream primary, it is even harder in mainstream secondary. And if you are arguing that he needs 1:1, then it sounds like mainstream whole class learning is out of the question anyway.

 

So you really need to be thinking about whether you son should be mainstream with 1:1 [within a mainstream class size], or whether he needs a special school environment with smaller class sizes and more expert teaching.

 

You need to visit any school that maybe suitable and ask them what qualifications their teaching staff have, their class sizes, how many ASD pupils they have, are they mainstream or in a unit, does the school teach in the unit or always try to feed children across to mainstream classes.

 

I found out that no-one within my son's school or within the LA specialist teaching services, had any teacher with an additional qualfication for autism or dyslexia. The Tribunal will want your child to be taught by suitably qualified professionals. So, if the LA suggested a MLD primary/secondary special school, and that school had no member of staff qualified to meet his needs, then that placement would not be suitable UNLESS it could be bought in by the LA, and if it was bought in that would meet that specific need, and the peer group was already suitable. If the peer group and staff are not suitable and cannot meet his needs, then you need to look elsewhere.

 

If your child's academic ability typical for that placement. A child going to a secondary mainstream school must be on a Level 3 at least. You really need a good EP report that gives his cognitive ability on both verbal and non-verbal assessments. For example, on non-verbal assessments my son ranges from low to above average. That makes a MLD special school unsuitable. However on some verbal assessments he scores very badly, which makes it impossible for him to access mainstream whole class learning.

 

You want a school for your child where they have similar difficulties and are on a similar level academically, sociall, emotionally etc.

 

For example, we stated that a MLD special secondary school was not suitable because my son's cognitive ability was above that typically within the school. But that from a speech and language, social communication and emotional literacy point of view, he was way below the MLD students who did not have those types of difficulties.

 

Does your child need 1:1 therapy from the SALT or OT or a specialst teacher [if he has dyslexia or other SpLD].

 

If your child coping in primary school at the moment. Is he happy to go into school?

 

You can ask your LA for their list of maintained primary and secondary schools that are suitable for a child with an ASD. Also ask them for their list of non-maintained, approved and independent ASD specific schools - because your LA will already be funding places for other children at independent schools.

 

The children who are most likely to get an independent school placement are those that are academically capable, but cannot cope in a mainstream environment or teaching style, but who are not MLD and do not fit the criteria for LA special schools.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Sally44

[gorby928]

From what you've posted it sounds likely that the LA will be ordered to assess him.

 

Having gone to a Tribunal will also be very useful to you because you now know how it works.

 

When the LA do assess, they could still issue a Note in Lieu, and you would have to appeal again. Or they could issue you with a Proposed Statement.

 

The Proposed Statement is usually very ambiguous and vague. You need to get the wording right so that it is legally binding on the LA to provide the support detailed in the Statement.

 

Each and every need MUST be included in part 2, and part 3 must quantify and specify provision.

 

As this process does take quite a while, you may find you want to appeal about part 4 [the placement] as well.

 

I started off appealing parts 2 and 3 [i lodged my appeal at the end of year 4]. The appeal was cancelled twice, which meant he was now at the end of year 5 and had been out of school for about 11 months. I had had an independent school assess him, and he had spent 3 days with that school twice, over a period of 8 months. As we were now getting close to secondary transfer [the third appeal date was when he was in year 6], I decided to amend the Appeal to include part 4.

 

As your son is now 9, that means that if the LA are ordered to assess, that assessment process takes 26 weeks. You then have a period of time within which you have to lodge the Appeal. And the Hearing date is usually scheduled in for 6 months time.

 

That may bring you into year 6, and if it does you need to consider the secondary placement as well. If he is struggling in mainstream primary, it is even harder in mainstream secondary. And if you are arguing that he needs 1:1, then it sounds like mainstream whole class learning is out of the question anyway.

 

So you really need to be thinking about whether you son should be mainstream with 1:1 [within a mainstream class size], or whether he needs a special school environment with smaller class sizes and more expert teaching.

 

You need to visit any school that maybe suitable and ask them what qualifications their teaching staff have, their class sizes, how many ASD pupils they have, are they mainstream or in a unit, does the school teach in the unit or always try to feed children across to mainstream classes.

 

I found out that no-one within my son's school or within the LA specialist teaching services, had any teacher with an additional qualfication for autism or dyslexia. The Tribunal will want your child to be taught by suitably qualified professionals. So, if the LA suggested a MLD primary/secondary special school, and that school had no member of staff qualified to meet his needs, then that placement would not be suitable UNLESS it could be bought in by the LA, and if it was bought in that would meet that specific need, and the peer group was already suitable. If the peer group and staff are not suitable and cannot meet his needs, then you need to look elsewhere.

 

If your child's academic ability typical for that placement. A child going to a secondary mainstream school must be on a Level 3 at least. You really need a good EP report that gives his cognitive ability on both verbal and non-verbal assessments. For example, on non-verbal assessments my son ranges from low to above average. That makes a MLD special school unsuitable. However on some verbal assessments he scores very badly, which makes it impossible for him to access mainstream whole class learning.

 

You want a school for your child where they have similar difficulties and are on a similar level academically, sociall, emotionally etc.

 

For example, we stated that a MLD special secondary school was not suitable because my son's cognitive ability was above that typically within the school. But that from a speech and language, social communication and emotional literacy point of view, he was way below the MLD students who did not have those types of difficulties.

 

Does your child need 1:1 therapy from the SALT or OT or a specialst teacher [if he has dyslexia or other SpLD].

 

If your child coping in primary school at the moment. Is he happy to go into school?

 

You can ask your LA for their list of maintained primary and secondary schools that are suitable for a child with an ASD. Also ask them for their list of non-maintained, approved and independent ASD specific schools - because your LA will already be funding places for other children at independent schools.

 

The children who are most likely to get an independent school placement are those that are academically capable, but cannot cope in a mainstream environment or teaching style, but who are not MLD and do not fit the criteria for LA special schools.

 

Thanks for the info Sally44,sounds like where in for a fun ride............................still waiting for our answer

[gorby928]

Hi All

Well the result is in and we won,the local borough have been ordered to carry out a SA of SEN for AJ .I will post the last two paragraphs below.

 

"We conclude that the LA have failed to consider the evidence,such as it is,in the context of their own criteria of when to make a SA.Standing in the shoes of the LA we have conducted that exercise and it is clear to us that AJ's needs are not being appropriately met and that there has been an absence of monitoring.

 

Whilst there appears to be general agreement that AJ will find transition to secondary school very difficult,we are concerned that the transition planning cannot be meaningful unless there is a much more fuller understanding of his needs and the strategies needed to support him.AJ;s dad told us that he wants AJ to attend a school within the LA so that they will be obliged to more fully review his case.

 

The appeal is allowed."

 

Can I just say thank you for all your helpful comments and advice .Also anyone who is reading this and is thinking of going through the appeals process please do,the tribunal panel did all they could to put me at ease and guide me through the process on the day,so if you are thinking about it go for it!

 

Just one last question before I post,how long will it be before the LA contact us(we got the letter Friday)

[bed32]

Great news - well done.

 

The LA are now on a tight timeline - I would imagine that you will hear from them before the end of the week - but that is likely to be a very simple request asking you for your opinion. They should then over the next 6 weeks arrange for him to be assessed by professionals (we had Ed Psych, SALT and Paediatrician).

 

You should have a draft statement in your hands, or a note in lieu, in 12 weeks time.

 

Beware that you are not home-and-dry yet, there is still a good chance that you will be going back to tribunal in a few months time either because they refuse the statement, or because the statement is useless. At some point you should consider getting independent assessments of your son.

[Sally44]

That is brilliant news that you won.

 

Now the LA have to get professionals to assess.

 

I would recommend that you find out which EP, SALT [and anyone else who will be observing or writing a report for your child] is contacted first by telephone for you to speak with them.

 

Make sure you send them a letter requesting the following - don't assume it will happen automatically because it often does not, and having written a letter requesting these things, proves at any future tribunal that you did ask, and it was not done.

 

1. Ask both the EP and SALT to assess your child using Standardised Assessments. [This will give a baseline reading from which you can measure progress - and lack of progress or deterioration is the main argument for seeking additional support/therapy/professional input or a placement, so being able to prove lack of progress is essential.]

 

2. You want the EP to assess his literacy and numeracy skills, but also his working and short term memory, executive functions [see www.schoolbehavior.com for more info on what that is] and dyslexia [if you think the child has dyslexia]. His imagination, flexibility of thought.

 

3. You want the SALT to assess all areas of receptive and express speech, social communication and interaction skills, emotional literacy in himself and others, ability to seek help or recognise he needs help.

 

If he has Dyspraxia or is suspected of it, you need to get the OT to assess. Ask the school if they can refer. If they cannot, then you may need to go to your GP or the consultant that diagnosed ASD and seek a referal from them. Waiting times can be as long as 2 years. So you need to decide how important sensory issues or dyspraxia are to him. You may need to get an independent report IF these are major issues for your son and you cannot wait 2 years. But get on the NHS OT waiting list anyway.

 

Add anything else you are specifically worried about eg. rigidity, angry/emotional outbursts, not coping with losing etc.

[gorby928]

Hi all

Well AJ has his first appointment as regards the assessment process,he has his SA2 ? this Wensday at 9.00am.Am I right in thinking this is just a paediatric report? like previous ones or is this different? Anyway still in the process of writing our parental views and we should be getting another 7 appointments soon from the list of names on the LAs letter.Will keep you posted

[Kathryn]

Well done Gorby! Grest news! Make sure the LA stick to the timescales.

 

K x

[gorby928]

I'll do my best K x

[Sally44]

If it helps you remember, you can take a list of things with you to any appointment.

 

You can also ask the professionals WHAT assessments they are going to do. You can ask them to carry out Standardised Assessments [don't assume they will automatically do them]. The beauty of standardised assessments is that they are set tests that will give you a baseline reading of strengths and weaknesses from which you can measure progress. Observations are good and useful, but you cannot really measure progress from them or give an age, percentile or standard score for them.

 

What are the list of professionals that are going to see him?

[Sally44]

Also ask the Speech and Language Therapist to assess his emotional literacy in himself and others. And also his social communication and interaction skills. These are often not assessed, yet are part of an ASD and are very important relating to how much Speech and Language Therapist input a child would need for those difficulties on top of any difficulties with receptive or expressive language skills. It is also very important for children who are doing relatively well academically, but maybe really struggling in these areas as these types of difficulties can lead to a child refusing school later on because they simply cannot cope.

 

It took me 2 years to find that out. The SALT used to review my son's programme every term, and on the form she completed there was a section for "social communication and behaviour". And each time she completed it "unable to assess on this occasion". After 2 years I asked her what that section meant and when she explained I could not believe it. You have to have social communication and interaction difficulties to a clinically significant level to even get a diagnosis of an ASD - so this is an area that MUST be assessed, especially as part of an assessment towards a Statement which is supposed to idenitfy EACH AND EVERY NEED. So I asked her to assess and I wrote a letter to the Head of the Department and I even requested that we got a SALT that had expertise in working with children with an ASD - and I got it all. Sometimes you do have to find out and ask for what your child needs. Don't expect that professionals will be falling over themselves to spend time working with your son. There simply is not the budget for it. However when a need is identified in a Statement it has to be provided for in part 3, and if that input is over and above what the NHS typically provide, the LA is legally bound to fund it - but ONLY if it is quantified and specified in a Statement using wording that is legally binding on the LA.

 

So talk to the professionals on the phone about what they are going to do when they assess your child. And then send in a letter "Thank you for speaking with me on the phone on xxxxx about our son xxxxxx. We discussed xxxxxx and you said xxxxxx. As this assessment is part of a statutory assessment towards a Statement which should contain details of each and every need my son has; could you please confirm that you will carry out standardised assessments of his expressive and receptive speech skills as well as his emotional literacy in himself and others and his social communication and interaction skills. [if that was discussed in the telephone conversation and confimed that that would be done, just state that ie. you confirmed you would carry out standardised assessments of our son's expressive and receptive speech skills as well as his social interaction and communication skills and his emotional literacy in himself and in others]."

 

You have then asked the professional to specifically cover certain things, and it is more difficult for them not to do it now. And you will save yourself alot of time if they do do all those things.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Sally44

[gorby928]

Hi all

 

Just a quick update,well the EP is coming to the school today to assess AJ for 3 hours.I asked what type of assessment it would be(thanks Sally44) and this is what the EP said.

 

I carry out formal assessment of learning, behaviour, social and emotional needs. I do informal assessment of expressive and receptive language and social communication however it is the remit of the Speech and Language Therapist to formally assess language needs.

 

So the EP is at the school from 1 - 4pm today and Im meeting with her at 3.00pm after she has assessed AJ.

 

Talk soon

[Sally44]

Sounds quite thorough. You can ask which particular 'formal' assessments he has carried out, and ask whether he has carried out all sections of those assessments.

 

I'm not sure exactly of the terminology, but formal assessments are in sections for various skill sets, those results are fed through to a final score section that gives an overall picture of strengths and weaknesses. So you need both the individual results and the combined results.

 

For example, your child might do brilliantly on one skill and maybe way above average, but on another skill set be well below average. So a combination of the two might bring your child's scores down to below average. When if the skill that depressed the overall score was supported, the above average ability would come through and your child would achieve an above average score.

 

Does that make sense. So you do need to understand the assessment, what was assessed [because many professionals - especially LA and NHS ones - only carry out some parts of the assessment and not all of it].

 

For example on the SALT assessment CELF 4, there is one skill set called "formulated sentences". I found out that the NHS SALT never assessed this skill. So I asked her to assess it. Surprisingly it was his worst area, and he scored 1, where 3 is classed as severe.

 

I did some investigation into the implications of such a poor result on this skill set and asked the SALT "if my son has such difficulties formulating sentences when given a word around which he has to formulate a sentence - doesn't this mean it will affect both his speech and language and his academic literacy ability because he will be unable to formulate sentences to answer set questions in class?". Her reply astounded me. She said that "formulated sentences is a subtest of the CELF 4 which is directly linked to academic ability and performance." Yet she had never identified that he needed to be assessed using that sub test?? I think not!!

Edited May 1, 2012 by Sally44

[Sally44]

So how did it go??

[gorby928]

So how did it go??

 

Hi All

 

Well still waiting for the EPs report ? and had a phone call from OT who should be coming to the school in the next couple of weeks to assess.So not much to report at the mo?

[gorby928]

Hi all

 

Still nothing to report,still waiting on draft reports from EP and OT,hey ho

[Sally44]

Did you meet with her after the assessment? What did she say?

 

A month is a long time to write a report!

[gorby928]

Hi all

 

Sorry for not getting back to you all sooner but apart from sorting out AJ's statement process my personal life is a bit up and down at the mo so sorry.Right well we were away for a week (just gone) and before that I had received the draft reports from the OT and EP which I amended as I saw fit.When we got back from our hols the 2 finished reports were waiting on the doorstep.The EP who I met after she had assessed AJ has done a 13 page report and the OT has done a 4 page report.So as regarding time scale I phonened the social worker on AJ's case today to see were we are as regards the 26 week process and this is the weird bit.She informed me that the panel are meeting tomorrow to discuss AJ's case and we should know the out come within a week or two.

 

This is the end of the EP's report.

 

Objectives for provision

 

It is important that all staff are made aware of the nature of AJ's difficulties and how it can impact on his learning,social and emotional well being.

 

long term objectives for AJ should include:

The development of his development of his social communication and interaction skills.

The development of his learning skills across the curriculum.

The development of his emotonal literacy and regulation to promote emotional well being.

The development of his fine and gross motor skills.

The development of his self help and independence.

To support sensory needs.

 

Over the next 12 months with use of these strategies I would exspect AJ to progress at least two sub levels of the national curriculum.

 

Review and monitoring

 

Continued monitoring and input from the EP as required.

Regular review meetings between home,school and other related agencies to set and review targets.

 

The end of the OT report just outlines that AJ will need to attend a series of OT group sessions which he is already booked up for with ongoing support within the school to support this and then follow up in school inspections to make sure that these are being put into practice.

 

I think that sums it up for now but if you want to know anything else just ask me and if i can answer it i will.

Take care one and all

[gorby928]

Hi All

Well I have some news for you all.The Panel met as regards AJs case 2 weeks ago and I hadnt heard anything so I emailed his case worker yesterday and she has informed me that AJ will be getting a statement.She just gave me a rough idea that he will be getting 19 hours of LSA support.WE should be getting the statement within a week or two so once I know whats what I let you know.Thank you one and all for all your help so far.

[Sally44]

When you get the proposed Statement you need to go through all the reports on your child and mark all 'needs' or 'difficulties' in one colour and find where that has been included in the Proposed Statement in section 2. Then you need to cross reference each need/difficulty in a report to what has been quantified and specified as the provision to meet that need, and then you need to find that in part 3 of the Proposed Statement.

 

long term objectives for AJ should include:

The development of his development of his social communication and interaction skills.

The development of his learning skills across the curriculum.

The development of his emotonal literacy and regulation to promote emotional well being.

The development of his fine and gross motor skills.

The development of his self help and independence.

To support sensory needs.

 

The above sounds good but means nothing. It should be included in part 2, but how is it going to be achieved. Who is going to develop his emotional literacy, when, how often, for how long, how will it be delivered 1:1, small group, whole class, where will it be generalised? Into the playground, dinnerhall, classroom. Who will monitor it? A TA, the SENCO, the EP. How will progress be recorded? by having targets in IEP?

 

If he has Sensory Needs he does not just need supporting. The OT should state if he has a Sensory processing Disorder, and should again quantify and specify how they will meet those sensory issues and environmental issues [due to sensory processing problems] in school. Does he need a sensory integration programme? If so the LA will have to buy it in because the NHS does not provide it. Does he need a daily sensory diet, who will deliver it.

 

The Statement has to be so precise that everyone [you, school, LA, EP, OT etc] all know exactly who is doing what and when.

 

All these needs should be detailed on his daily timetable eg. Monday 2.30-3.00 emotional literacy work with ?????

 

If you cannot immediately identify what provision is going to be provided, then it simply will not happen because it is too vague and it allows the LA/school to not provide it and there will be nothing you can do about it.

 

There is some good advice on www.ace-ed.org.uk website about how to get the Statement right.

 

You may have to go to tribunal again if the Statement is not legally binding.

 

Are you intending for your son to remain in his current school?

[Sally44]

And again it all depends on how he is coping. You say he is falling behind.

 

How is staff 'being aware' going to address that? Does he need a teacher that has additional qualifications to teach children with an ASD. Does he need the TEACCH approach to be used on all his learning. Does he have a specific learning difficulty that is causing him to fall behind.

 

If his needs are to such a degree that he needs specialist teaching, to be taught in small groups of similar peers, then that is not mainstream.

 

If he makes progress - and that is always the key to getting additional support/therapy/specialist placement - and he is coping in school, then the Statement, if it is specific enough, should be enough to support him.

 

But I do not like the wording they are using. Being aware means nothing. It does not require them to undertake any training, or to have any experience, or any qualifications. They just have to be aware. Well I am aware of lots of things, but it does not mean I understand them. What does the EP mean. You can phone and ask them. That statement is too vague. If the EP says something like 'dinnertime staff need to understand that xx has problems with social interaction and may become upset during unstructured times.' That is more specific - but still not any actual support or learning is involved is it. Or maybe the EP says 'xx needs to be able to attend dinnertime clubs.' That is better as it means the school have to arrange this and have a suitable adult to supervise.

 

So go through the Proposed Statement and ask yourself 'what will this sentence/paragraph provide for my son'. And if you have no idea, then it needs to be clarified.

 

So no words like 'xx must be aware of' 'access to' 'significant' 'regular' 'frequent' 'substantial' 'extra' 'additional' etc. All these words sound good but what do they provide. What is regular? three times a day, once a day, once a week, once a month, once a term? What is substantial? What is significant? I'm sure you get what I am saying.

 

Having come so far it would be tragic to end up with a wishy washy Statement that is not legally binding and which provides nothing. So make sure you do lodge an appeal if you are not happy about anything.

[gorby928]

Hi All

 

Sorry I havent posted for a while but been very busy with this and other stuff.Well we got our proposed statement for AJ mid July ,I took onboard all your ideas as regards the wording of the statement (thank you Sally) and made quite alot of changes to his proposed statement.I was also lucky enough to get hold of a couple of statements from some local mums with ASD kids so I could do a comparison which helped alot.I had a meeting last week with AJs SEN case worker for over an hour and got most of the amendments agreed that I had made.So it should all be in place for the start of school in September,I also got a stay of the decision on a secondary school placement as been the summer holidays we cant look or talk to anyone right now.I would just like to take this chance to say thank you to you all for helping us get this far and for helping us when we had no where esle to turn and I hope mine and your posts can help others in the same position.I know this will never end so to speak but AJ has a statement going into year 6 with 19 hours LSA and thats got to be a good thing. Thanks

[Sally44]

Have a look on www.ace-ed.org.uk - they have a good section on getting the Statement right.

 

When the Statement is finalised, you need to make an appointment with the SENCO and ask them to give you your child's daily timetable, to include all the provision, therapy etc that the Statement details. Ie. where the LSA support is going to be specifically. Because, as an example, if your child has the support during literacy and maths, and then does not make progress in other subjects, or struggles during breaktimes etc you can then seek additional support during those lessons. So you need to know 'where' the support is provided and where it isn't.

 

And you need it on his timetable otherwise you have no idea if it is being delivered or not.

 

You can ask for termly meetings with the speech therapist and the LSA in school for liaison and up dates on how things are going.

 

There should be no reduction in the provision detailed in the Statement [my son's first statement stated OT input, which he never received because the school said they had no concerns, so she never saw him!]. That is illegal. But at that time our Statement was not worded specifically enough, and when I made a complaint about it the LA decided to do a total re-assessment from the beginning - so we had to wait another 26 weeks!

 

So no professional or school can suddenly say they are stopping or reducing something in the Statement. The provision and therapy stands as it is until the Annual Review UNLESS things deteriorate significantly and you need to call an emergency review.

 

Remember that at AR they have to demonstrate progress in all areas [academic, social, emotional etc], and that you can appeal to SEND if you think the Statement should be amended to include or increase something, and you can also appeal if the LA decide to amend the Statement.

 

And any proposed amendment to the Statement should come from the professionals and their reports for the AR.

 

This is an example of WHY it is important to know exactly who is doing what.

 

My son's original Statement said 15 hours per term 1:1 therapy delivered by a suitably qualified SALT, and 9 hours per term for her to complete admin/liaison/training/assessments/note taking/attend IEP and AR meetings. At the AR she recommended a reduction in those hours and for the two to be combined ie. actual therapy and admin to be clumped together as a total of 12 hours per term. That was an overall reduction of 12 hours and the remaining 12 hours could have all been delivered as 'admin' as there was no distinction about how she was to spent that time or how she would deliver the SALT programme [ie. no 1:1 in school].

 

So I emailed her and asked for her to detail exactly how many hours she had spent on 1:1 therapy [which I could also work out via his timetable and his attendance records], and how many hours she had spent on admin. She replied that she had spent "significantly more" than the hours detailed in his Statement.

 

So at the Tribunal, one of my arguments was that the Statement must be a true reflection of need and provision. So how was the SALT recommending a reduction in the hours detailed in the Statement when she agreed she actually spent significantly more than the hours in the Statement. That indicated the Statemented hours should be increased. The Panel agreed with me.

 

I know it is very hard to monitor what is happening when the Statement is being delivered in the school. But the best way to do that is by having all the provision and therapy detailed on the daily timetable [because you can check it is happening then, just by asking your child if the LSA was with him during literacy]. And you need to monitor outcomes of targets via IEPs and targets set by individual therapy team members as well as school reports and yearly academic progress.

 

Glad to see things are alot more specific then before.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Sally44

[Sally44]

As he is going into year 6 it is very important that you look at secondary schools as soon as you can. So try to get visits organised maybe for end September/beginning October.

Do you think he will remain mainstream secondary? I suppose alot will depend on how he copes with the provision during year 6. But if anyone says things like "SALT ceases at secondary" that is not true. If it is in the Statement it must happen.