What to do next?

[fiorelli]

as some of you may (or may not) remember from my first post, my son Louis was diagnosed with DAMP (deficit of attention, motor control and perception), social communication problems and possible Aspergers.

 

Things came to a head in the last school year, and I feel without a doubt that had he been in a different school, he would have been kicked out long ago.

 

One teacher's words to me were - 'Louis doesn't conform'. He flits around the classroom (well, the whole school actually), continually doing what he wants to do. He has a problem with being told 'NO', and when someone even hints at this he becomes agressive. He has hit the classroom assistant, and harmed a couple of kids in school.

 

I have been to see the GP, Health Visitor, School Nurse, all of whom say that Louis would benefit from a trial of ritalin (or other such medication) to see whether that would help calm him down a bit. (I have never liked the thought of medication, but when Louis 'goes off on one', he becomes VERY very upset, because he doesn't realise what is happening to him, and doesn't like what he is doing - he can't control it, so for this reason ,I am happy to give anything a go)

 

At the end of the last school year, the Peadiatrician who diagnosed Louis's DAMP etc. called after recieving a letter from the GP and various other people. We had what I describe as a telephone consultation where she asked a lot of questions, I gave a lot of answers, I asked questions, she gave answers, and she also gave some coping strategies, and asked me to do several things (put him on fish oils, keep a toilet diary etc). She said it now sounds like Louis has ADHD and Aspergers symdrome, and that he would benefit from Medication, but that she cannot prescribe it, and will refer us to CAMHS.

 

 

(The paediatrician cannot prescribe medications as she cannot do any follow-up as she is the only behavioural paediatrician in Hampshire - apparently)

 

Fast forward to this week.

 

First day of school was yesterday. Took Louis in, and then went to speak to the headteacher who said that on the advice of the educational pshycologist (who had witnessed one of Louis's outbursts last year), he was only to go into school for ONE HOUR A DAY. Head teacher said this would only just cover getting in, hanging coat up, and doing register, and about 10 minutes of a lesson, so has said he can go in for the morning and come home at 12.00pm.

 

She also said that this educational pshycologist would be coming in a couple of weeks to give a full assessment, and that after this has been recieved, they will put in the application for a statement. BUT she said that once this application was in the hands of the education department, she would not hesitate to FULLY EXCLUDE Louis, as it would then force the ed. dept. hands to do something.

 

Go forward to today, and I come home to a letter from the CAMHS service saying that they are "not offering assessment appointments for children presenting with primary Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)....our service continues to work with T..... K.............................., as part of a multi-agency approach to finding a satisfactory solution to delivering a comprehensive holistic child focused approach to service provision for children with behavioural difficulties in N.... H........ We are working to engage partners in finding solutions."

 

What the hell that means, I don't know, other than despite various medical practitioners thinking it is best, Louis cannot try any medication because one service doesn't provide it any more.

 

[mossgrove]

The headmaster is out of order. He has a duty to provide an education for your child and ia not entitled to impose an alternative attendance pattern in this manner. It is the headmasters responsibility to meet your childs needs needs until such time as a statement places that responsibility elswhere, not your responsibility to have your child at home until such time as the headmaster feels he would like him back. A first step would be to ask him to put everything ion writing so you can escalate thie issue elsewhere.

 

You should certainly contact IPSEA immediately about the eduational issue:

 

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/

 

Who can tell you how to proceed about his attendance at school.

 

I would be inclined to find out your MP's telephne number and give his office a ring about the CAMHS issue as the letter reads to me like CAMHS are declining to provide any servoces to children with Autism or ADHD due to lack of resources, which would be unsustainable and outrageous.

 

Simon

[annie]

Hi Fiorelli,

 

Please speak to IPSEA. The school are NOT meeting your son's needs. They cannot just exclude him because they cannot cope with him, this happened to us too.

 

It sounds like you need to apply for an assessment of your son's needs yourself. You don't have to wait for the school to apply. If you go onto the IPSEA link (above) it gives you a model letter of how to apply to your LEA for one.

 

As for the letter you received, could you go back to your GP? There has to be somebody that he can refer your son to, maybe a different paediatrician, it doesn't sound like the one that you spoke to was very helpful.

 

Good luck,

 

Annie

<'>

[annie]

Just wanted to add. -

 

Make notes of conversations that you have with names, dates etc. Also, as Simon said get as much as you can in writing.

 

You never know when these things will come in useful.

 

They do add weight to your statement application.

 

Annie

<'>

[call me jaded]

Agree with all of the above.

 

You could write to your Director of Education as it is the local authority that has a duty to ensure SEN provision is made.

 

Go back to you GP. ADHD may not be the primary diagnosis and CAMHS should not deny their 'comprehensive holistic and child focused' services on this basis.

Edited September 2, 2005 by call me jaded

[Suze]

I,d make a parental request for assessment/statement today.Don,t wait for the ed physch to come in and do a report this could put you back a month.I agree with everyone else aswell, as regards the head....maybe though he is offering you this part time education as he feels expulsion might be on the cards otherwise......just a guess really.Good luck with this , the request for assessment might get others jumping up a bit faster, also if you make the request you might find you have more input and control.We made a parental request and I felt more in the driving seat......best wishes <'> <'>

[lil_me]

I agree with what has been said, I'd be back off to the GP asap and insist something is done, take the letters with you of course stating noone so far is willing to help.

 

I also had a Headmaster threaten to exclude my son whilst they applied for a statement, so I said ok, and if you do I will remove my son from this school and you won't get any funding full stop.

 

I've just been in touch with Parent Partnership about my sons upcoming case and they have been brilliant but some say not every PP is good in all areas. I'd say might be worth a shot as they are mean't to be there to support parents of children with SEN with educational issues.

 

If you apply for the statement it gives them 6 weeks to reply and the school get the extra kick up the backside to get all the evidence they need in by then. Ive just completed my request letter and feel so much better for takig control over it rather than waiting for the school to get their thumbs out of their backsides and the brains out of neutral

 

Best of luck, I'm going through this one myself and know how you feel. <'>

Edited September 2, 2005 by lil_me

[mrs q]

I hope any of the above information and advice....sorry do not know what else to say....

 

Good luck

[UltraMum]

I may be wrong but surely the head would be excluding Louis would be doing so on account of his disability - that is against the disability discrimination act and is grounds for action against the school/LEA. They are not allowed to exclude on the grounds that they do not have the resources nor in order to speed up the process of getting resources.

 

Recommendation 4.4: Providers6 of school education should be placed under a statutory duty not to discriminate unfairly against a disabled pupil, for a reason relating to his or her disability, in the provision of education. There should be a defence for acceptable less favourable treatment. The pupil's parents should have a right of redress

from "From Exclusion to Inclusion" Final Report of the Disability Rights Task Force - Chapter 4 available from here

 

There's a fairly easily understood commentary here that may help.

 

Hope you get things sorted quickly for Louis' sake.

 

<'> <'> <'>

[Elanor]

Hi

 

Nothing really to add to the excellent advice you'ev been given - just don't let that Headteacher push you around like this.

 

On the medication issue, what does your GP say about it? It is absolutely outrageous to refuse to provide services to your child. I'd agree that you should contact your MP - you could perhaps go to one of his/her surgeries (I think they do these at least every month). Face to face might have more impact than a letter.

 

Best of luck

 

Elanor

[lil_me]

I may be wrong but surely the head would be excluding Louis would be doing so on account of his disability - that is against the disability discrimination act and is grounds for action against the school/LEA. They are not allowed to exclude on the grounds that they do not have the resources nor in order to speed up the process of getting resources.

Thats exactly what I said to our schools previous headmaster. Soon backed down.