Tribunal appeal re content of statement.

[nicadh]

Hi - LA have finalised DD's statement and it is still woolly vague and useless overall. Up to this point I have been happy to challenge them and do all the fighting myself but now I am facing probably the biggest hurdle of all and wondering if I will be better with someone specialist to help me in all of this? What have other people done in the same situation? I know it will cost us, and I know there is a lot of good free advice out there still too. I am yet to call people like IPSEA about the appeal anyway and statement only just finalised so I have a small amount of time in hand to consider things first. Who did you use if you did use professional help, were you happy and roughly what sort of costs might I expect?

 

Background - LA have refused at every step of the way re SA, then issued NIL and in each case had to put tribunal paperwork in place and then the LA backed down before a hearing each time.

 

Thanks

[Sally44]

Can you tell me what age and school year your child is in.

 

Is he mainstream and are you wanting to keep him mainstream?

 

The reason I am asking is that independent reports are expensive, and so if they are needed, it is best to do them at certain times eg. child out of school, year 6 etc.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Sally44

[bed32]

I think it depends how much you are seeking to change on the statement. For simple matters where the wording of Part 3 is clearly poor (and which isn't) then it should be pretty simple to run it yourself. For more complex/expensive issues (such as asking for Independent) then you will face a harder fight.

 

if you are going to the expense of getting independent reports then it might be a false economy not to get professional legal advice as well, particularly if you are asking for provision that will cost the LA a lot to provide.

 

We managed the appeal against refusal to assess ourselves - but for the appeal against the statement itself we intend to take legal advice. We will probably ask a solicitor to write the appeal for us - then decide how much to involve them later.

[nicadh]

Thank you both - DD is 7yrs old, finishing year 2 mainstream and moving to the linked Junior school in September which I am happy about (for now!) and is in her finalised statement. I have an independant EP and SALT report already and will get an updated SALT report nearer tribunal time I am sure. They have agreed to 20hours LSA for her already but I want her to have full time in class (25hrs) so need to push for this, and I want to increase the SALT input. There is no OT provision in part 3 although they have listed problems that require OT input in part 2. Some of the arguements I think should be easyish to win, but others such as more SALT may be harder to push for?? Mostly I think it is wording otherwise. They have put lots of "Consideration will be given to..." type phrases in there and refuse to define things more clearly.

[bed32]

My feeling would be that I would always want a professional to be arguing my case in front of a tribunal - but if I get an independent SALT report and ask the SALT to attend as a witness then I would not necessarily need a solicitor to make the points.

 

Similarly if the issue is purely one of wooly wording then the tribunal should be able to tighten that up themselves without having it professionally argued.

[Sally44]

The move to year 3 - Junior school - can be difficult for some children, so keep an eye on how she is coping.

 

If you do go to any tribunal, you need your independent reports to be the most up to date reports. So you need to already know WHO you want to use and forewarn them of when your appeal maybe [usually about 4 months from lodging the appeal]. Then when you get your date for the appeal, and date of final submissions of evidence - you want your independent reports to be submitted just before the deadline - so that the LA cannot re-assess.

 

You may also need your independent professionals to attend the tribunal as expert witnesses so that the Panel can ask them questions - otherwise only the LA professionals will be asked for their opinions and advice. However that is expensive, and you have to weight up what you would gain in terms of costs of therapy etc, against the cost of having them attend as expert witness. Very few families can afford to get independent reports every year. And sometimes, especially if you are ultimately seeking an independent placement - it is better to let the LA/NHS get their way and reduce support, because when it all falls apart, that is your evidence that she needs the alternative placement and the therapies that independent school can provide flexibly across the week.

 

Your older reports are still relevent in so far as any needs they have identified should be in part 2, and the provision they have quantified and specified should be in the part 3. The only time that the level of provision should be reduced, is when the LA and/or NHS professional has re-assessed and found that there has been improvement. And that improvement must not just be on assessment results [which should always be Standardised Assessments], but also on how your daughter performs in functional settings eg. out of 1:1 therapy and in the classroom, playground, community.

 

So, how old is the older SALT report. Have her findings gone into part 2 and her recommendations into part 3? If not has the NHS SALT said that your daughter does not have that need, or has made significant progress and now needs less support? If not, you could go with the reports you have. But bear in mind that the Panel will pay most attention to the most up to date reports, and reports that detail diagnoses, standardised assessments etc.

 

The same applies for the EP and OT report.

 

For every need the LA MUST quantify and specify provision to meet that need.

 

If you want 1:1 support for your daughter during lessons and unstructured times [such as dinnertime/playtimes], you need evidence that that level of support is needed from the school, or a professional and you need it in writing.

 

What OT needs have been identified, that have not been provided for?

Edited June 13, 2012 by Sally44

[Sally44]

Remember that the 'trigger' for additional support/therapies/provision/placement is always about progress. So, you need to prove that xx hours 1:1 support in class, or xx hours 1:1 therapy with a SALT per term has not produced progress. If it has produced progress that suggests the level of support is right. If some improvement has been made in some areas and not others that indicates a higher level of provision is needed, or maybe a different placement where the therapy is generalised in the functional setting by a multi disciplinary therapy team that is employed on site, and where they go into classes and deliver therapy/co-teach and go with the children for trips out of school [which can be a weekly life skills lesson in many independent schools].

 

How do you prove progress - or lack of it?

 

You have to ensure that IEP targets are relevent and SMART. No point having a target for something she is relatively good at. Make sure your suggestions [and other professionals] of areas of difficulty are included as an IEP target. Ensure that that target is SMART [specific, measureable, achieveable, relevant and timed]. So if she cannot initiate social interaction you would want a very specific target, set and monitored by the SALT and incorporated into the IEP. That may involve her learning a learnt script in 1:1 sessions, which is then supported by an adult in the classroom and playground such as "Hi, what are you doing" "can I join in?". That would need an adult to support and prompt the child in functional settings - gradually reducing the prompting as she became more independent. It would need to be proven that she was independent in using those learnt scripts with 70-100% accuracy, and when she was using them, it would need to be revisted at monthly intervals to ensure she had still retained the skill.

 

Yearly reports - is there anything that indicates she has not made progress eg. KS levels; comments by any class teachers such as "xxxxx learnt how to xxxxx, but after the summer holidays we found we needed to go over that skill again and xxxx has not got back to the level she was at prior to the holidays."

 

Standardised Assessment results.

 

How she is coping in the community. Does she attend Clubs. Does she need full time 1:1 support to attend. What do the leaders say about how she responds to instructions, team work etc.

 

If she is unable to access anything presently - that in itself is indicative of her level of need so include it.

 

That is why it is SO important to get specifics about who is doing what and for how long. Because if you can prove that 10 hours has not produced progress, you are justified in asking for more. However if the Statement is so woolly that you have no idea how much SALT input she gets because she gets "access to" a SALT "as required", then you can never prove what she is getting, never mind that it is not enough.

[nicadh]

Thank you Sally. Her OT issues are to do mostly with fine motor skills including her writing but also her gross motor skills are behind too. She also has some problems with auditory stimuli (intollerant of loud noise really) documented in part 2 and listed as part of an objective in part 3, but with absolutely no provision at all in place for helping re the noise issues. I have in writing from both the LA EP and the private EP that she should be taught to touch type as she finds writing so hard going, but again the statement is useless as it does not provide her with any equipment for doing this and part 3 says something wooly along the lines of "consideration should be given to teaching X to touch type, and other ways of recording her written work".

 

The private SALT report is now a year old but I will have no issues with getting another up to date one before tribunal. She has seen the private SALT since she was 2.5yrs old and still sees her every other week. The private EP report is a good one from Jan this year and the LA refused to quantify anything in their report (I have my request and their refusal in writing!) and that is going to be what we have to rely on at tribunal. We can afford to have the private SALT and EP at a hearing though so that will be a big help.

 

lots to consider and thank you again for the advice above.

[Sally44]

It sounds like she may have a Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia. These are all areas under the remit of an Occupational Therapist. I presume she is not under the OT? Mainstream and even special schools do not automatically have OT input. The NHS does not fund Sensory Integration Therapy or 1:1 therapy for dyspraxia. But if that is what she needs, then you have to have an OT report that states those things as needs, and to quantify and specify the provision she needs.

 

At my son's school he has 1:1 therapy with the OT a number of times throughout the week where she gives him a pure Sensory Integration Therapy. If he is very upset or anxious about things he gets additional time in the SI room with the OT or with his TA.

 

He has adult support from a TA or the OT during PE/Swimming lessons and during lessons and breaktimes. He has his own computer as well as the TA acting as a reader/writer for him.

 

You can get that input into a mainstream, but it would be hard to get, and difficult to keep hold of as they are bound to try to reduce it at each AR. At a school where that level of support is provided "as standard" there is no on-going pressure to reduce support or provision.

 

But for the difficulties you are identifying, she needs an OT to assess her.

[nicadh]

Thanks Sally - we have old OT reports but she was signed off the NHS service a couple of years ago (funding...no surprise) and school have asked to re-refer her but have been told they need to complete some scheme with her before they will consider seeing her. School are working through the BEAM scheme with her daily now to get her attendance at that completed so OT will see her. Sounds like I need to look at a private OT report however. Any suggestions where I can locate a local private OT?

[Sally44]

Contact the College of Occupational Therapists. I think they have a link on their website to take you to OT's in private practice.

 

You need one that can assess for the difficulties you think she has ie. Dyspraxia, Dysgraphia and Sensory Processing Disorder, and you need them to be experienced at writing reports for SEND Tribunals, and also experience of attending as expert witnesses.

 

Whereabouts in the UK are you?

 

And remember that you time them so that the assessment/report takes place after you have lodged your appeal with SEND.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Sally44