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Going for Statement - but lack of evidence from school - can I progress?

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I have been told over many years by my son's school that he will not get a Statement. He is now in Y4 and struggling a lot generally (tho academic achievements are ok). He has only just had an IEP (Dec 11) when I asked yet again for one. I have not had any formal letters from the School about him progress/his extra provisions (if any)/minutes of any meetings (tho there have only been 2 very recently). Nor (I believe) is there any record of when he was sent out of class/ran out of the class/ sent to the HT/refused to participate in lessons/sat in a corner reading a book.

 

The School have made it plain that they think he should be medicated (we are now trying a second med). He is Aspergers, ADHD and dyspraxia.

 

My feeling is that he is not 'accessing the curriculum' and that I should be applying for a Statement myself as the School won't do it (surely it's better to apply and possibly fail, than not apply at all?)

 

But how can I support my application if the school can't provide any written evidence? What can I do? Does anyone have any advice about this situation?

 

They are trying to pretend he is an ordinary child - and he is not,

Many thanks

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Hi

 

I had a similar problem with my DD's school. I wrote a diary for a few weeks of everything she was saying had happened. I wrote all of the times she was struggling with going in due to anxiety and all the times she came out crying and her explanations of why etc.

 

I then applied and used this diary as my evidance.

 

I had to appeal for refusal to assess though (they backed down just before) and then they issued a note in leiu. I then got private reports done by an OT, SALT and ED PSYCH. these were hearbreaking to read but they all stated that school were not aknowledging DD's needs even though they were blatantly apparent.

 

I am waiting on the tribunal decision now which is due on Friday. I have to admit it was worth it just to se LA get torn apart for the lack of support that has been given so far. We all including LA think we have won a statement and I think it was worth all the effort as school have done a 180 on support.

 

I hope you get it sorted

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'Ordinary' children do not need to take medication.

 

If he is on School Action Plus, the school should have sought advice from the educational psychologist and the speech and language therapist. Ask for a copy of their advice. There may not be anything in writing, but you can ask the school for their contact details, speak to them and ask them to put their advice in writing to you so that you know what support your child should be getting in schools.

 

Also write into school and ask what support he receives in terms of hours and staffing arrangements. You need to know that so that you can say if that is producing progress or not.

 

If he is on SA+ he should also get at least two IEPs a year. And he should be meeting those targets, and those targets must be SMART [specific, measurable, achieveable, relevant and timed]. You can contact your LA parent partnership for them to give you advice and to attend any meetings in school. They should know how to word an IEP so that it is SMART. You should attend IEPs with the PP.

 

Always get meetings minuted. You can ask the PP to minute the meeting. Or you take notes and send in your minutes to school.

 

From now on you need to get everything in writing. Always follow up any telephone conversation, or conversation at the school with a 'clarification' letter of what was discussed and what was agreed.

 

You need to get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice, which you can download from the educational publics section at the top of the education forum. There are different types of special educational needs: speech and language and social communication, emotional and behavioural, academic, sensory, physical. To have a diagnosis of an ASD and Dyspraxia and ADHD, he must have difficulties in ALL of those areas. So that makes his SEN complex.

 

You ideally need two IEPs before you ask the LA to assess for a Statement. So get as much information as you can from the school. You can also use school reports and any other correspondence within school or from out of school eg. if he attends any clubs, the leader of that club can describe how he is with them. I used my sons Cubs leader who confirmed that my son did not communicate with any of the other children, that he sat on his own, that he often did not understand instructions and got upset, that he needed constant adult support to stay on task etc.

 

You don't need anyone to agree he needs a Statement. You can ask the LA on your own. The LA will then write to the school and certain professionals for their opinion. Then they should assess your son. You need to write to the EP and SALT and ask them to carry out standardised assessments. Ask the SALT to assess his expressive and receptive speech as well as his social communication and play skills. Ask the EP to assess him using standardised assessments and ask her to include an assessment for emotional literacy in himself and others. An OT should also assess him due to his dyspraxia.

 

If the LA refuses to assess, or assesses and decides he does not need a Statement, you can appeal both of those answers. And many LAs automatically refuse to weed out those parents that don't feel confident enough to lodge an appeal to the special educational needs and disability tribunal. But you have nothing to lose by lodging an appeal, and usually the Appeal decision is to Order the LA to assess or to Order them to issue a Statement.

 

I would also write to school and ask them 'why' they feel he needs to be medicated. What are they experiencing in school that they think medication will address?

 

My son is now on medication. But that was only after we had tried everything else. I don't think a child should be put on medication just to help the school. If the right supports are in place, and the child is in the right kind of placement, medication is often not needed. But by sending in this type of letter it may get you some examples of behaviour that they are experiencing.

 

Also, as already recommended, keep a daily diary of what your child is saying and doing about school and also at home and in the community.

Edited by Sally44

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I think you should certainly ask the LA to perform a statutory assessment. This is done by righting a very simple letter to the LA (there is a sample on the IPSEA site). When the parents' request the assessment then it is technically the LA's responsibility to gather the evidence.

 

All you would need to do at this stage would be to write a couple of sides as to what you think his special educational needs are, and why they are not being met. If you download the SEN code of practice that should give you lots of ideas as to what areas may be special educational needs.

.

As you have only had IEPs for 6 months they LA is unlikely to agree to assess, let alone issue a statement. However I still think it is worth asking for assessment now for a couple of reasons.

 

Firstly the very act of doing so should make the school take notice - the LA will want to ensure at least that the paperwork is up to date, so you may find that things get a little better.

 

Secondly may LAs seem to have the policy of always rejecting the first request as a way of filtering out parents who are not serious.

 

Thirdly even if they refuse to assess they are supposed still to describe his special educational needs and how they can be met in his current environment.

 

Also beware that many LAs seem pretty much to discount/ignore parental evidence - your evidence only really becomes important if/when you get to the appeal stage.

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Hi

 

I just thought I'd let you know I got my appeal results today. The panel decided my daughter does need a statement.

 

I just wanted to let you know that it can be done as we had very little evidence to start with

:)

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Well done Naelith - that's great news. You must be really pleased.

 

My problem is that I don't get much out of my son - he often refuses to tell me about school or simply forgets. So I have little evidence from him. I am keeping notes but most of them are heresay or based on conversations in the corridors/playground. I have drafted a letter to the school today to ask what written records they do have.

 

Another issue is that he sometimes simply refuses to do any work at school (like today). I'm not sure if this is my responsibility (ie behaviour issue) or the School's responsibility (ie they are not managing to educate him successfully). He is on adhd medication which does calm him down, but what can they do if he simply refuses to engage in the lesson? They are the education experts but are not offering any solutions.

 

Many thanks too Bed32.

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My son is the same. He hardly ever says anything about anything. But sometimes you can get more information if you ask a direct question so instead of saying "did you have a good day in school" ask something like "Did something make you feel happy/sad/angry in school today?"

 

But most of your evidence is going to be IEPs, school reports, his academic level and levels of progress each academic year, his social and play skills, his emotional recognition, any sensory issues, any learning difficulties.

 

You already have a number of diagnosis, which in themselves explain what his difficulties will be. He has a number of diagnoses, and that makes him complex. He has diagnoses in different skill sets such as Aspergers + ADHD + Dyspraxia so practically every area is going to be affected.

 

And by asking for a Statutory Assessment the LA should ask the EP and SALT to assess and produce a report.

 

You need to write to them and ask them to carry out standardised assessments, to assess his receptive and expressive speech and social communication and play skills, his emotional literacy in himself and others. You really need an OT to assess his dyspraxia for how it affects him. He may have problems sequencing thoughts and planning and organising himself on top of the typical motor coordination difficulties. He may struggle with writing. He may have sensory issues.

 

Although you think you don't have much, i'm sure there are many adults reading your post, who have perhaps been through the process themselves over the last few years, reading and already having a good idea of the kind of difficulties your child must be having on a daily basis. And so the SEND Tribunal will know that he must have significant needs and they will have a good idea of the kinds of difficulties he must have.

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