Can school do this?

[nicadh]

Hi - Not specifically ASD related but was talking to another mum at the school this morning. Her DS has been falling behind significantly since starting school, now in year 3. School have now told her that they suspect dyscalculia and dyslexia but have then gone on to say that if she wants him assessed that she needs to pay for this. I know that the LA no longer provide EP services to the school for free but that the school has to "buy in" packages of visits.

 

I don't think this is right at all for the parents to be expected to pay. I have suggested she challenge them on this and also suggested she apply for statutory assessment as then surely they can not make her pay for the EP? It does sound like he may need more help putting in place anyway so SA may be her best option but I am so angry that the school can act like this. Is there anything in the SEN code of practice etc that she might be able to challenge them with here in black and white to back her up in asking the school to pay for this (assuming not going through statutory assessment at this point)? Thanks.

[Sally44]

She needs to get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice and read the relevent sections about statutory assessment and getting a Statement.

 

A statutory assessment should identify each and every need.

Dyslexia and Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty. But the child needs a thorough assessment as there can be other difficulties such as problems with sequencing, poor working and short term memory, sometimes Dyspraxia too.

 

It is hard to get the LA EP to assess for all these things and then quantify and specify how to meet that need. But they should do it.

 

The best way to approach it is to put the request for a statutory assessment to the LA. Ask the school what his levels are and if they have concerns [which they should have]. When she writes to the LA she should ask that an EP carries out standardised assessments of his cognitive skills, with a specific assessment for dyslexia, and problems with short term and working memory.

 

What I found in my LA was that even when I finally managed to get them to assess [first they refused, then they said he did not have dyslexia or dyscalculia - but when I lodged a formal complaint with the LA EP service they re-assessment him a month later and surprisingly suddenly found he did have dyslexia and dyscalculia!]

 

Also, IF he has those difficulties he needs a thorough assessment by a SALT of his receptive and expressive speech skills, because difficulties with speech and language can be a contributory factor with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia.

 

When I wrote to the specialist teaching service within my LA I was told that none of the specialist teachers had any additional qualification for dyslexia. However the SEN Code of Practice clearly states that "specialist teaching" is one kind of provision that can be detailed in a Statement to meet a certain need.

 

When we went to tribunal we were asking for an independent ASD specific school, and on top of that we also asked for specialist teaching of xx hours per week for literacy and numeracy by a specialist teacher for dyslexia and dyscalculia who as qualified to both teach and assess [must be able to assess as well as teach, otherwise how can they measure progress?].

 

So basically it can be achieved. I would recommend the above. But as any finalised Statement is bound to be vague and ambiguous, and it is unlikely any specialist teaching is recommended, I would expect that she would need to appeal the finalised statement and go to an Educational Tribunal.

 

That is potentially about a year away [6 months to get a finalised statement and 6 months for any appeal].

 

It might be worth this woman starting along this process, but also starting to think about what type of secondary school her child will need. She could look on the CRESTED website, which is specifically schools that teach only children with dyslexia. Some have students with Aspergers as well.

 

It really depends on what is the main need. If it is ASD, then they may need a specialist ASD school, and also specialist teaching. If the main need is dyslexia/dyscalculia and also Aspergers, then some of the CRESTED schools may be more suitable. But the educational psychologist is the professional to advice on that. However that would be the independent EP as the LA EP is unlikely to give such guidance - although they should.

[Sally44]

Also it is important to understand that "lack of progress" is the main trigger for more input, specialist teaching or therapy or independent placement.

 

Your friend will probably be told something like " we can meet his needs without him having to have a statement" "we have a number of children in the school with similar difficulties and we have taken advice on how to meet these needs".

 

But if progress is not happening that should trigger the school seeking more advice. And is also a trigger for the Statement to be amended to include additional provision.

 

This child is currently in year 3. So, they could potentially have a finalised Statement in 6 months. As most CRESTED schools are secondary schools, this parent may wish to wait to be able to estabish that her son has not made progress in mainstream primary school. She will need to start getting everything on paper so that she can use it as evidence. So that at the Transition Annual Review in year 6 she can appeal the Statement and seek a specific dyslexia school for year 7 onwards. In exceptional circumstances she may even secure a placement sooner than that - but the parental choice of school would have to have a suitable peer group.

 

I won our appeal and managed to move my son before Christmas in year 5. However things had deteriorated to a severe degree by then ie. my son was out of school for about a year, developed an anxiety disorder and was self harming. But these things are all connected with self confidence and self esteem and were directly related to both his ASD and his Dyslexia and Dyscalculia.

[Grace]

She could try contacting the Ed Psych service herself - addressing the letter to the Head of Educational Psychology (try getting the contact details via the council website/google or ring the central number; all else fails - send to Head of Ed Psych at the council's central address and send by recorded delivery).

 

Say that she has been advised that Dyslexia and dyscalculia are suspected by school and when can she expect a visit by the Ed Psych to assess?

 

If she wants a quick, thorough report which will stand up, should there be a battle to get the help, then if she can get the £500+ money together to get a solid independent Ed Psych report, then this might be a good way to go. If she does, she could consider a full report (more money but worth it) including school observation, as this will identify any additional needs.

 

Does she have copies of any of his work? What she should be looking for are any signs that some of his work indicates a certain level of intelligence, but the work that he is producing does not match this. If she has any school reports that indicate their concerns etc, then send a copy to the Ed Psych dept.

 

My son's school suspected for years and did nothing (and said nothing) and I don't regret getting the report done privately, but it's a lot of money and I agree, it should not be necessary.

[Sally44]

If you do decide that you need an independent/private report, then you need to think about when it is best to get that done.

If you are going to ask for an assessment for a Statement you really need to wait until you have received the Proposed Statement, [where it will most likely NOT mention dyslexia or any provision to meet that need], and ask the LA to amend to include that need/and provision in the Statement. The LA most likely will not do that and may finalise the Statement.

You then have a period within which you can lodge an appeal to SEND. Once you have done that and have your appeal date, then you would ask your EP to assess and produce a report so that you can send it in as evidence just before the "final submissions" date.

 

If you get a private EP report sooner than that, the LA still may not take that report into account. And if they did that you could complain to the Local Government's Ombudsman, but as you were in the Statementing process and could Appeal, they would not be able to get involved. So you would have to appeal to SEND and go to tribunal anyway.

 

How the system works is silly. Currently there is no department or agency that can make the LA do what they should do. All you can do is go to an Educational Tribunal, and at the Tribunal it is governed by law [the governments law, not the local authorities internal criterias]. At a Tribunal the Panel would definately look at all the reports. But if you are going to go to a Tribunal you want your private reports to be the most up to date ones. You don't want to get a report now, which would give the LA the opportunity to have your child re-assessed right before the Tribunal. If that happened the LA EP could go in and completely undermine everything in your private report.

[nicadh]

Thank you for the replies. I am going to try and have a good chat with her next week about things. She has been very much doing as she has been told by the previous school (Infant) and now the Juniors too. Time to help her get pushing and demanding and know her the rights her son has to support. I will print this out and give it to her.

[Sally44]

She needs a copy of the SEN Code of Practice.

And contact for www.ipsea.org.uk to find out what the law says on these issues, and also British Dyslexia Association or Dyslexia Action for specific advice about dyslexia.

 

The Local Authority EP should assess for Dyslexia - but again their assessments are not going to be as thorough as one by the Dyslexia Association because there are different causes of dyslexia.

 

For any child to go onto mainstream secondary and access that curriculum they MUST be working at a level 3 or above. If the child is not then it needs to be determined as to WHY ie. Dyslexia, and the child could and should have a Statement detailing what their difficulties are and how the LA and school are going to meet those needs in school. It may still be possible mainstream with IT and a reader/writer etc. Or he may need much more intensive specialist teaching such as one of the Crested schools.

 

And whatever is provided needs to produce progress. You can ask for 'remediation', which is a level of specialist teaching and things like IT support that would help the child catch up or gain ground. If what is provided does not close the gap, or if the gap is too wide, then you seek more support, and that is what a Crested school would provide as they have teachers with additional dyslexia/dyscalculia specific qualifications on top of their teaching qualifications. There is small class sizes so that the teacher works with all the children [rather than those struggling ended up being supported by the least qualified person in the classroom ie. the TA].

 

Usually there are also Speech Therapists on site, and there maybe Occupational therapists on site too.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Sally44