Sazale Report post Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) We got a statement for dd 14 in August last year and we were talked into trying the Lea's generic special school (/against our gut feelings). She started there in October and her anxiety at home as consistently increased until she had a major meltdown on Tuesday evening that lasted 3 hours and resulted in me having to lock the doors, her putting a black bin bag over her head, opening the bathroom window and threatening to jump out and flushing her fish (/still alive) amongst other things. She hasn't been back to school since and is saying she won't go back and I'm not happy sending her back. It does not appear to be as ASD friendly/knowledgeable as the Lea lead us to believe. School have asked us to go in to meet with them on Monday to find a way to make her less anxious. I'm not convinced they're implementing her statement and I understand why it's happened and i had warned school numerous times she wasn't coping. Any advice of what to ask/what next? Edited January 24, 2013 by Sazale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sally44 Report post Posted January 25, 2013 Go with someone to this meeting who will take the minutes. You need everything on paper. Ask about specific things in her Statement and how they are being provided in school. Ask the school who else they are inviting eg. EP. Ask your daughter what she is finding difficult [if she can do that]. Get a referal to Clinical Psychology so that they can give advice and put things in writing. And so it covers any absences she may have from here on. Don't force her into school if she cannot take it. See what additional support school can provide. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeanneA Report post Posted January 25, 2013 Hi Sazale, Sally has given you some great advice, she knows what she's talking about :-) Hope the meeting proves a positive one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sazale Report post Posted January 25, 2013 (edited) Thanks. There will only be us and dd form teacher who is also the deputy head. I rang the SEN dept and explained the situation to them and they said school should have notified them. They rang school who said that it was settling in problems after Christmas! I intend to pin them down to specifics as I'm 99% certain they aren't fully delivering the statement. As I said to the SEN dept either they aren't delivering it or they are and it's not working either way it's not good. We saw the CP yesterday but he just said school need to be speaking to the autism communication team for support and advice. He said if she's not showing physical signs of anxiety like sweating and light headednesd then she's not anxious. What a load of tosh, I think we need a new CP! Edited January 25, 2013 by Sazale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeanneA Report post Posted January 25, 2013 Yes it does sound like you are in need of a new CP by what you've said. I do hope the meeting goes well for you be firm :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sazale Report post Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) The meeting went well and the Head also attended. Over the weekend all the difficulties in school that dd was having came flooding out and I typed it all to hand out at the meeting. The Head also attended and admitted they were at fault and that there was no wonder she was struggling. Many things have been promised and they've said they believe they can make it work, We're back to 1 to 1 support which is what we d hoped to avoid by moving to special school. In Dd's statement it states she needs a lower arousal environment which the school isn't and that is part of the problem. It is full to rafters with stuff and the walls covered in stuff. They've said they can't change it as they have kids that need the sensory stimulation but they are going to build breaks in the quiet room into her timetable. I think we're going to have to bite the bullet and try to secure independent ASD provision. Does anyone know what are the grounds for a waking day curriculum? Edited January 30, 2013 by Sazale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sally44 Report post Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) It is the same grounds as triggers any additional help/support/therapy/change of placement. It is about "lack of progress" "deterioration" "needing specific things that are more than/different to the current Statement/placement can provide" "additional therapies or professional input needed". What other independent school do you think could meet her needs? What kind of school is she attending currently. What is the peer group. What professionals does she see or have access to, and if she has deteriorated has the school sought that access to additional professionals, or have you sought their advice via NHS referals eg. to Clinical Psychology regarding her anxiety or to OT regarding her need for a low arousal environment. If the school cannot meet ALL of the Statement they should detail that. The Statement is a legal document, anything they cannot provide the LA should fund. However they cannot change the "environment", so that school and that school environment was never going to meet the requirements of the Statement so she should never have been there. However, the fact that she has been there and is not coping is now your further evidence for the kind of placement she needs. I would type up what was discussed and agreed at this meeting and send a copy to the SENCO and keep one for your records. They have admitted they cannot meet her sensory needs. Sensory issues are a SEN as detailed in the SEN Code of Practice. And as a result of that, and probably other issues too, her anxiety level is causing her to become ill. Edited January 30, 2013 by Sally44 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sazale Report post Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) Thanks Sally. We are due to see the clinical psychologist again next month and he is considering medicating for anxiety. The lower arousal environment came to be in the statement as camhs said she has sensory processing difficulties in all areas but she has never had a full OT sensory assessment which I think is what we are going to do next. We haven't seen a school yet that we felt was right but are going to visit Alderwasley Hall tomorrow. I'm hoping that will give us some answers. A waking day curriculum was briefly mentioned by camhs before Christmas but not mentioned again as I think she got blocked. She suggested it as dd has no self care or independence skills and she won't let us work with her. These things are mentioned in parts 2 & 3 of the statement as is her inability to generalise her learning but the only provision is for school to teach them to her and help her learn to generalise her learning. As she is 14 now its a major concern. Not only that but her behaviour is significantly impacting my other children, especially my 5 year old who has his own difficulties and it's adding to his anxiety as she targets him with criticism and at times physically hurts him inadvertantly (eg cushion over his face to shut him up) which means he is scared of her and we can not leave them alone unsupervised. I will def sumarise the meeting in writing an email it to all concerned. Edited January 30, 2013 by Sazale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sally44 Report post Posted January 30, 2013 As she is 14 you need to get your skates on. You would need to wait for an AR or call an emergency review, and that await the outcome of that and appeal the decision. Which is realistically another year. Might be worth dropping a line to CAHMS about the Waking Curriculum they said she needed. Just to get it in writing that CAHMS did suggest that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
