Not sure what to do!

[snibbug]

Hello,

 

My son is in year 1 currently and he has had his CASBAT assessment which highlighted he has such complex difficulties that they want to wait and see how he matures as he has potential diagnoses of ASD, ADHD and Dyspraxia.

 

We have applied for DLA for him and he is on SA+, but my issue is the school. They seem really unsupportive of my son and our application for DLA. The head teacher in particular refuses to admit that my son has any issues in school despite his teacher telling me that he struggles to get him to sit down and concentrate, he has anger issues and his social skills are poor. My little man has been bullied and the school were told about it but they keep saying that unless they see it happen or if my son speaks up they can't do anything. My little man is too scared to tell incase he gets told off and half the time he tells me it happened last week

 

The DLA form was sent to my son's reception teacher, however, the head master filled it in and basically said he was shocked that the suspected diagnosis is ASD because he was unaware of this (a blatant lie!), he also put on the form that my son copes well in school and is settled (the biggest joke of all since his teacher said he isn't settled!).

 

The result was inevitably the DLA refusal, and despite all the medical reports backing me up it has come to tribunal point. The CAB advised me to try and get his teacher to write a supportive letter, so today I approached him but he had to ask the head teacher if this was doable, but he refused basically saying that if they want additional evidence they have to send a request to the school where the head will fill it in. I am so upset and angry because I don't understand why the head won't support us but will quite happily let my son continue to be on SA+ and struggle on.

 

I asked if my son has an IEP, apparently he does although I hadn't seen it, so I asked for a copy, they were hesitant but I insisted and finally got one. It is focused on his behaviour, and most of it hasn't had any follow up or outcomes put in it!

 

I just don't know what to do, my son hates school and we have a real battle to get him to go there and he has a meltdown every day because of it but yet the school is claiming he is fine once he is there.

 

Should I just give up on the DLA claim and accept that my life and his life will forever be a struggle? It just seems none of the support we need is forthcoming!

[Aspiemumto1]

Please dont give up. Does he have a paediatrician or other doctor, or may be a childminder that could write a supportive letter. If I were you I would seriously consider changing schools. My daughter's primary school ignored our concerns and I never did anything about it. She is now 16 and we are waiting for a diagnosis of Asperger's. I really wish I had pushed it with the school now. She is just doing her GCSEs and its too late for her schooling.

[justine1]

Have you thought of applying for stat utory assessment,to get a statement? You do not need a diagnosis and he is already on SA+,you can apply without the school backing you (though it does help.) If you do this you will likely get ed psych reports and from behaviour support,these can furthur help your DLA claim.

 

I would personally persue getting him adequate help in school as it seems they are not following the rules,like the IEP which is supposed to be reviewed at least every 6 months. Once you have done that then think of DLA. The DLA money won't help as far as getting him the help he needs in school.

[snibbug]

We are moving house which means he will move school but it's the time he has to endure there until this happens His head master won't support a statement. He has already seen an ed psych several times as he has observations done in school once every 6 mths. He also wrote a cracking report on him out of school as well as in school which was part of the CASBAT which I have given the tribunal as evidence for his case.

 

I know he needs help in school but I have resigned myself to the fact that at this school it just won't happen. It is the help I need with him out of school we need the DLA for, the damage to my property that I need to repair, and replacing his furniture and clothes (he often has "accidents" of both functions at night and sometimes in the day). Also he wants to do sports but as he doesn't cope in groups he needs private swimming lessons for instance, and I can't afford to provide them on my student budget, this is where he misses out and he could really benefit from these opportunities.

 

I don't know if it is worth just waiting until he is at his new school to try for a statement, the head mistress of the new school seems more understanding and willing to give him a fresh start. For starters the class size is smaller and they have a few TA's in all day every day (his current school doesn't and his teacher says when they do have a TA he needs her attention a lot but obviously she is for the whole class so he doesn't get it).

[Tally]

You could present the CASBAT report as evidence for the DLA application, also any other written communication you have between yourself and the school such as a home-school diary or the letters about the bullying, anything mentioning his inability to report bullying could help. Another thing that can help is keeping a diary yourself about everyday difficulties, including all the extra care you're providing and also anything he tells you about school.

[Sally44]

Regarding a Statement. You don't need the Head or the EP or the SALT to agree that he needs one. You can ask for one yourself and give your reasons why. Often LA's refuse to assess as a way screening out those parents that won't take it further and appeal. But if you appeal over 70% of cases the SEND Panel Orders the LA to assess.

 

In our case the EP did not agree to assess for a Statement and the LA wanted to keep him mainstream. We did eventually get a Statement, and after two Educational Tribunals he is now in an independent ASD specific school that has SALT, OT and EP on site with specialist teachers and he has 1:1 3 times a week from a dyslexia teacher. So from the LA arguing that he needed nothing, we finally won a very high level of support in a total package. So how far off the mark were the LA in our case? You know your child. You will be getting further evidence via reports if he does have ASD, ADHD and Dyspraxia. And if he has that combination of diagnosis he is complex, and unfortunately even more likely to have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia. And he will have all the social comprehension and interaction difficulties of the ASD and all the characteristics of ADHD.

 

When I completed the DLA form, I went to our local independent Benefits Advice centre and they asked me questions and filled in the form. I included some reports that were done about him, and we included the name of who we thought was the most supportive health care professional. In that way they dont' have to contact the school.

 

Maybe you could speak with the Head again and tell him that his opinion is contrary to all the medical opinion and as an ASD is a neurological disorder you would appreciate his explaning to you in writing why he disagrees with [and then list the professionals]. Also ask him how many other children with an ASD are in his school. If he says none, that kind of proves the point. And the Tribunal will read through all the documentation.

 

Have you kept a daily dairy of things that your son says and does? That is very useful for both professionals and tribunals because it gives a detailed day to day picture of what it is like for your son and the wider family.

 

Don't be downhearted about this Tribunal. Have you submitted all other evidence you have from other professionals. Did you ask any of them to comment further to counter the Heads negative comments?

 

All you can do is do your best, and if it does not go your way, put it down to experience and try again in the near future.

 

It is a tiring process. Try not to wear yourself out and get the mentality of the long distance runner that is aiming for a long term goal. You will achieve it because others before you have.

 

Do you have a copy of the SEN Code of Practice? That is invaluable for learning about the SEN graduated process and what schools should do when a child is struggling or is not making progress.

 

As he is moving school soon, I would suggest holding out until he has had about 6 months at the new school before asking the LA to assess for a Statement.

 

Do you have to wait a further 6 months before you can apply again for DLA?

 

I know that the SENCO at my former son's school was also very bad with DLA information and often said the child had no needs as far as she was concerned. One family were so angry about this that they stated "if you are saying that our son is capable of going to a mainstream primary school, we shall remove him from today and take him to his local school. And after a week, when he is no longer coping and no longer in school, we shall lodge a formal complaint to the LA about your incompetance." The Head got involved and wrote a letter that they used for DLA, and that time they got it. I don't know why she did that because this child obviously has a high level of need. He is practically non-verbal, so to say she had no concerns was just bizarre.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Sally44

[chris54]

DLA. I think it's just that there are some people who think that children, or adult come to that, with Autism, should not get DLA, that they are not realy disabled. Especially children, their just naughty children.

We have always been fortunate in having the full support of the schools when claiming DLA etc. Our present SENCO is absolutely brilliant at writing letters of support.

 

I think you can ask to have your DLA clam looked at again but I'm not sure if you can submit any new evidence. I seem to think that there the 6 month thing.

 

As for the bullying, they would be right that unless there if first hand evidence from either the victim or a witness then there is very little they can do, but now knowing it is happening there is no excuse for not being more vigilant in the future.

 

So the school claims that he is fine once he is there but his IEP focuses on his behavior?, bit of a contradiction.

[justine1]

I suppose it depends on how long it will be until you move, if it is within the next 6mths maybe you can wait until then to complete both DLA and start the statementing process. Only trouble is the new school will not know him that will and he will need new IEP's etc,so probably another 4-6mth wait. So that will be almost a year. Some of the other suggestions are very good so just keep trying.