Parent Partnership

[annie]

I've received an e-mail from my Parent Partnership where it said that the Government are saying that they should try to recruit volunteers as Independant Parental Supporters.

 

It is basically a part of what Parent Partnership do. Our LEA are starting the training during this term, 1 night per week for approx. 12 weeks.

 

If anybody is interested ask your Parent Partnership for details. I've put my name down.

 

God help my LEA once I'm let loose at them

 

Annie

X

[Kathryn]

God help them indeed - who's training who?

 

Good luck with the course - let us know how you get on.

[annie]

Hi Kathryn,

 

Sounded like a good excuse to have a go at some of them so I thought ........why not

 

plus

 

to try and stop them from misleading other parents that haven't learnt their devious ways

 

Annie

XX

[Kathryn]

I gave up on my PP - I don't know what they're like in other areas but there wasn't enough distance from the LEA for me to be able to trust them.

[annie]

Mine are pretty good. I did upset them a bit when I asked IPSEA to come to an LEA/school meeting that they were at. My IPSEA rep tore everybody to pieces but got results. It was a case of 'nose out of joint' and they couldn't take the glory for it.

 

Annie

X

[helenl53]

It is part of the COP that parents must have access to Independent Parent Volunteers if they want them.

 

We have only one in our Borough - apparently - I questioned our PP about this and was told that we do have one - I think it is the Scarlet Pimpernell because none of us have ever seen or heard of this person!

 

When my PP was too busy to help me - did I get offered the SP - did I hell!

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[CarerQuie]

I keep thinking if we all became parental advisors and helped local parents,the various LEA's the length and breadth of the country wouldn't stand a chance.!!xx

[Kathryn]

I agree, CarerQuie. We could start a quiet revolution. When I have more perspective and distance from my situation, I might do it. Unfortunately, for the moment, the urge to rip the head off any LEA official who ventures within arm's length of me is still too strong.

[annie]

Kathryn,

 

The way your LEA have acted with you and your daughter, I'm not surprised you feel like that. I felt like that too.

 

Now, even though I still feel angry for what they put us through, I feel that I am strong enough now to support other parents, it is my way of letting my LEA know that more eyes are watching them.

 

As much as our PP are good (we have been lucky) , because they are directly linked to the LEA many parents are wary of them. If a real parent gets involved they have more understanding on the same level.

 

Annie

X

[helenl53]

Hi Annie

 

I think that it is important to show LEA's that we parents are becoming educated about the system.

 

This forum is such a valuable source of information

 

I think that if your receive training as an IPS then you learn all about The COP and the Regulations etc , so further education!!!!

 

Also, NAS and IPSEA need volunteers, and if you provided helpline support on a voluntary basis then you would also get some training!!!!!!!

 

The more information that we parents find out, the less hiding places there will be!!!

 

Remember - chipping away and dripping taps!

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[mossgrove]

I think forums like this one are part of a quiet revolution too. How many people have arrived here thinking that they have to accept the advice of their school/LEA about what's best and ended up learning not to take no for an answer?

 

If we can spread that to parents who are not online it's worth doing. Good luck Annie!

 

Simon

[helenl53]

Hi Simon,

 

Phew - don't some of make a journey and a half once we get onto this forum and find out that we and our kids have been sold short.

 

Our literature dished out in our Borough makes no mention of independent advice services such as NAS or IPSEA and so parents, who are already battered and bruised by the process, feel that they can not do any more and accept the crumbs they are given.

 

It is an awful situation

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[mossgrove]

Helen

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

I often wish that Consultants has an information pack that they gave out whenever diagnosing a child with Autism/Aspergers that contained contacts not only for the LEA but for all the support groups in operation locally.

 

It is certainly true that what you get depends on you knowing what is available, and many parents never get to dind out what their children are entitled to.

 

Simon

[helenl53]

Aha Simon,

 

 

One step ahead on this one. I redesigned our Support Group Leaflet and included the Parents Helpline at NAS and contact details for ACE and IPSEA etc. I still included the PPS but at least now parents can explore other avenues.

 

I took a load of these down to our CDC and I noticed that our support group was not even advertised by Poster, nor were our leaflets available, however there were lots of PPS leaflet directing parents to the PPS run by our LEA - But at arms length

 

When I tackled our PPS about this lack of information at such a crucial location, I was told that a leaflet will be designed to go into a folder kept at CDC

 

What parent when being fiven the dx is going to go and sit and look at a folder that they are not able to take away with them.

 

I like the idea of a pack and perhaps I may progress this - with the new Children and Young Peoples Plan and all services working together for the benefit of the kids, I shouldn't be treading on any toes

 

Thanks for the idea of a pack Simon - bit like when you get preggie you get a little book - and didn't we devour the information in that. (mind you not possible for me - I am missing all my bits).

 

HelenL

[Minxygal]

I've been involved in a new project in Nottingham called Parents Supporting Parents.

We recognised that too many parents receiving a diagnosis feel so isolated and alone and have little opportunity to talk to other parents. Too many parents feel as if they are going out of their heads and blame themselves for the problems with their children, because they haven't had contact with other parents and haven't had the opportunity to share experiences.

 

After a thorough training programme I met my first parent not too long ago.

It's amazing how just talking to someone who actually understands what it is like to live with a child with SN can really help another parent feel at ease.

After my first meeting with this parent she said that she felt that she would sleep that night for the first time in ages. That comment made the who process really rewarding for me.

 

There should be many more schemes giving parents the opportunity to share experiences.

 

I know there are many support groups around, but for a parent who lives an isolated lifestyle, who rarely gets out and has been through the diagnosis process and probably had their confidence battered as part of the process, walking into a room of strangers for the first time is sometimes too hard.

[helenl53]

Hi Minxygal

 

I am quite interested in this.

 

Who funds it? Who provides the training?

 

We have a lot of parents who can't come to the support group and some phone me for support, but to be honest, I don't have the training and it would be nice to formalise a support service

 

I try t buddy up parents but it is really hit and miss as it is only co-ordinated by me and due to so much going on, I don't have the time and ability to tackle it all.

 

Our LEA will not fund us - we are self funding but they provide the PPS co-ordinator to attend our meetings and to arrange meetings with LEA officers (this is part of the requirement of a PPS according to the COP). I think our LEA are doing the very minimum, but I may be defending them in the future if they genuinely take on board the concerns that we have and do something about it.

 

I would appreciate any info

 

Thanks

 

HelenL

[nellie]

We have two parent support groups, one where parents support each other and one where the parents have parent reps who feed back information and concerns to the local authority.

 

We are lucky that the local authority provide a meeting place for both these groups.

 

Nellie xx

[nightingales]

Hi,

Maybe my experience is not typical, but when I found out about the PP and phoned them for advice during the statementing process, the man I spoke to was very offputting. He interrupted when I was still trying to explain what I'd phoned for and said, 'Why do you think you need us? We're here to help parents with communication problems who need an advisor. You sound like you can do your own explaining.'

 

Wish he was right!

[nellie]

You can find details of Parent Partnership and how it should be run here.

 

SEN toolkit, Section 2 - Parent Partnership

 

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=4607

[Minxygal]

Helen, this has been a working project for 6 months now but the first parents were allocated only a few weeks ago. The project is being overseen by the Nottingham Playcentre, although as I understand it the idea is to access funding to support it. The parents come via referal, either by themselves or other agencies and are matched with parent volunteers who the co -ordinator feels have the most in common with them.

We had training all sorts of areas including communication, listening skills, child protection and we were all police checked as we will be coming into contact with other children. Contact with parents is either over the phone or face to face and we have diaries given to us so that we can keep the notes and to remind us of any action we might need to take or offer.

 

 

I got involved because coming to terms with having two boys with special needs has been one hell of a personal journey for me. Not only have I learned so much about my children but I learned a lot about myself too. I feel very strongly that talking to other parents is one of the strongest medicines available to a parent who has received or is facing a new diagnosis for their child and that much of the support on offer is for the child and not for the parent.

I remember thinking I was the only mother on the planet having a hard time when my first child was diagnosed. I listened to what the so called experts had to say about my child and I began to doubt my parenting skills and blame myself for the way my child behaved. It wasn't until I met up with another parent that I realised that it wasn't just me. That first meeting with another parent empowered me and gave me strength. That strength has grown over the years and I want to help other parents feel empowering feeling too.

I've met up with parents of children with all sorts of disabilities, our children may be very different, but still we have so much in common. The isolation, the endless fighting for support, the feelings of guilt, the endless tiredness. It doesn't matter the disability.

 

 

I am a member of a support group, I have lots of friends there but if you asked me to walk into a new one tomorrow I would be scared stiff.

I live a very isolated lifestyle, like many of you I don't have a huge family to help me and real friends are few and far between, give me a room full of autistic kids anyday over a room full of people I don't know. I suppose I have learned to exist within the same boundries that my children crave so much.

There are so many parents out there that find the thought of stepping into a room full of people too difficult. Walking in afterall is the easy bit, after that comes trying to talk about your child without sobbing uncontrollably and breaking down.

 

It's a daunting experience for the first time and an experience that many parents just can't face.

[helenl53]

Hi Minxygal

 

Thanks for that information and I think you have taken the right path. I too am quite solitary, but it helps when I am with other parents and helping.

 

We have local Childrens Fund but money is tight and they could not continue supporting our group - but we can do fundraising. But you may be able to access funding from your local Childrens Fund

 

There are little pots of money out there, and it is just having the time to find out about it and to fill out the heaps of forms.

 

There is also Local Networking Funding for larger projects.

 

Thanks for the information

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[Kazzen161]

Not only do the LEA train the IPA's (so they don't tell them important things like always make sure you send letters by recorded delivery), but the LEA allocate the IPA's, and it may be that some more knowledgeable IPA's are not allocated as much as other less knowledgeable ones (or is that me being cynical - lol!)

 

Karen

[Minxygal]

Am I the only one that found the Parent Partnership service lacking in some areas?

 

I have to admit I'm also put off by the fact that most of them are funded by the LEA's they work within.

[elaine1]

I dont know where our local Parent Partnership group is. will have to find out

[nellie]

Elaine,

 

I have taken this from the forum Jargon Buster. You should be able to locate your Parent Partnership on the website below.

 

Parent Partnership Services: provide advice and information to parents whose children have special educational needs. They provide neutral and factual support on all aspects of the SEN framework to help parents play an active and informed role in their child's education. Although funded by the local education authority they provide a service to parents and are often either run at arms length from the authority or by a voluntary organisation to ensure parents have confidence in them.

http://www.parentpartnership.org.uk/