dyslexia/congnative testing

[nvapid]

Hello again,

 

The school was prompted by CAISTE to test our son for dyslexia back in November of 2004 - which the SENco agreed to do... She then made NO attampt whatsoever to schedule it for 10 months. Her excuse was that other children had been turned down by CAISTE when she made the request for testing. BUT - we have in the CAISTE's notes, that they requested the test, the need for the test and the agreemenet of all parties to do the tests... So, in that meeting i taped - she agreed to have the test done today. She did not actually contact CAISTE in advance and request they come prepared, until maybe last friday if not at all. The SENco then tells me that the tests take 5 hours to administer and she goes on and on about how they have to be scheduled in advance and it needs the time to be done. So the test has not been done.

 

Because B sees the EP in Novemeber, they have decided that he can do it. So i ask if he will be spending 5 hours to give the tests to B. Knowing full well, that we have an appointment to see the EP at 11am AFTER he has assessed B. The SENco nthen says that the EP will be spending a good few hours with B - and that B probably does not need to do the full tests anyway. WTF? (and of course I did not say that! - out loud) But they did not want to do redundant tests - or take the time out of their CAISTE allotment. Time they have decided they would rather be spent doing other things.

 

I ask her can she not understand our distress at B and this situation being drawn out and not being dealt with approppriately. Where she becomes angry and says that I am not being fair. Fair, I tell her would have been to schedule the test 10 months ago when you agreed tot do it!

 

The end is we have insisted on the tests. I don't know if they will ever be scheduled.

 

Of course she phoned - so i could not tape the conversation... So I asked if we could not talk face to face and she refused, saying phoning was good her.

[Flora]

nvapid, I had exactly the same problem with my youngest child. I ended up taking him to the dyslexia institute where they charge a small (meaning large) fortune for fully psych assessment, the difference being that you get the full test on one day and you only wait for a couple of weeks for an appointment. Also they do take referrals from schools etc which the LEA should pay for but I don't know how to go about it. I'm still awaiting the report but basically he does have dyslexia but it's co-morbid to ASD and therefor not straight forward. But at least we know. Not that it makes any difference to what the school are doing

 

Good luck with getting organised with the test.

[nvapid]

I have since spoken to CAIST and they are just as confused - especially when the SENco is reporting that they refuse testing to other children. They don't. Ever. It is for the school to make the request, then they come and do it.

 

The SENco (and I suspect the Head) had decided that the allotment of CAISTE time could be better spent elsewhere.

 

CAIST have been arguing for the last year that B needs dedicated time from them, but the school is spending it on ther programmes.

 

It comes down to a catch 22:

B needs specialist assessment - which the school wont give without a statement; he can't get a statement until he has the evidence from them asssessment.

 

I can't pay for the school to do it and if I go to the dyslexia institute - they wont hold their findings as credible - although it is common practice for a school to have the DI do the assessment if the gov agencies are to busy and hand over a referal...

 

[Zemanski]

first write to the school and formally tell them you want the assessment and give them a time-scale. - you can expect a reply within 2 days and action (minimum of an appointment made) within 2 weeks but state this clearly.

 

if they don't answer/arrange the tests then write to the governors - and explain exactly what has been going on.

 

if that fails then take it to the top - head of social inclusion/SEN dept and chief executive at the same time.

 

if all else fails ask the LEA for a formal assessment for a statement - works wonders; you probably won't get the statutory assessment without a fight but they should act pretty sharpish on the one you want as the lesser of 2 evils

 

hope that helps

 

Zemanski

[phasmid]

I have no idea what CAISTE is (would someone please enlighten me?). However, that aside. Go with Zemanski's advice. It's spot on. If you got to this website they sell devices that you can attatch to your phone in order to tape calls - you must inform the other party the call is being recorded though. That way if the senco will only communicate this way you can still record it. You could also insist that she does not contact you except by letter.

[Helen]

Of course she phoned - so i could not tape the conversation... So I asked if we could not talk face to face and she refused, saying phoning was good her.

Do you have speaker phone facility on your phone? If you have, next time any professional phones you, you could tell them that you're going to put them on speaker phone 'for your partner to hear the full conversation' (whether your partner is there or not) - then tape your telephone conversation.

 

From reading a few of the posts on this forum I believe that it may be illegal to record someone without their knowledge/permission (?) From a personal point of view this wouldn't put me off recording a telephone conversation without the professional's knowledge. Afer the recording I would type up a transcript for my own records, if I had to share this information with a third party at a later date I could explain that my husband had been present during the time of the phone call when I had put the professional on speaker phone and that my husband had taken notes of the telephone conversation.

 

I've put an LEA officer on speaker phone before now (I made him aware of this) so that my husband could act as a 'witness' to what was being discussed. I know that the same LEA officer put me on speaker phone when I phoned him about an emotive subject - he didn't make me aware of what he had done, but it was obvious. When I realised that our conversation was being listened to by a third party I took the opportunity of dishing out a couple of factual home truths, which led to him hastily making his excuses and ending our conversation.