Refused Statutory Assessment

[av16]

Hi, I don't know what effect this will have on my son but today I've found out the LEA have refused to proceed with a statutory assessment despite the school also pressing for it and the fact that he has already had 2 fixed term exclusions for violence against his teacher and another child. The school have been really supportive by trying to provide a full time LSA, giving him structured supervised play each lunchtime but other parent's are starting to get upset by the disruption he causes and I feel stressed the whole time in case I get another call from the school. We are due to see the Paed. on Weds to get the results of assessment. Do any of you think there will be a big impact because he doesn't have a statement?

[Flora]

av, the fact that you have the school behind you is good. I would strongly advise you to appeal to SENDIST.

 

http://www.sendist.gov.uk/

 

 

You have two months to apply for a tribunal from the date of your letter from the LEA informing you of their refusal to assess. You can download a form from the SENDIST website which you fill in giving as much info as possible, to request a tribunal.

 

I was due to go to tribunal for the same reason but I didn't have the school behind me (not that that would have stopped me) but we hadn't exhausted all avenues of school action plus. I am giving it until Christmas and if things are still bad I'll again request a stat assessment.

 

Having the school behind you doesn't guarantee you will win, but it will certainly help. I was told that even without the school backing me up I still had a 50-50 chance of winning.

 

Go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 

Lauren

[av16]

Thanks for your advice- I think we will appeal, although he's only 8 I'm worried about secondary school- he just would not be able to cope at the moment so we need to get him all the help we can.

[jen]

Definately apply to Sendist. Photocopy all the documents you have. Write all the times you have been in school, the schools concerns and your own. What provision the school is putting in to support your school.

 

 

What grades is your child achieving

 

 

REMEMBER THE PEOPLE WHO ISSUE STATEMENTS ARE ALSO KEEPING TO A BUDGET A DELAY OF SIX MONTHS MEANS IN ONE WAY THEY HAVE SAVED MONEY.

 

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A DIAGNOSIS TO HAVE A STATEMENT.

 

pm me if you need any help as I have am going to tribunal now.

 

At least at tribunal you get a fair chance to put your view and a decision is made on the EVIDENCE you present. Has your child been seen or assessed by ED Psy or specialist support services. If not ask them to refere your child to these services. The more amunition the better for your child.

 

Jen

[av16]

[Has your child been seen or assessed by ED Psy or specialist support services. If not ask them to refere your child to these services. The more amunition the better for your child.

 

Jen

Thanks for your reply- we met the Ed psych last week, he said A was displaying typical AS/ASD behaviour, isolating himself from rest of class and being very controlling. He was very helpful and the school asked him to provide some info before the case went to the SA panel. The LEA behaviour team are also involved, meeting about a PSP on Friday this week.

 

I hope you succeed with your appeal though why we all have to go through so many hoops I don't know.

[annie]

I don't know if you have contacted IPSEA. If you try them and they are busy, please keep trying. They are brilliant, and really know their stuff.

 

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

 

Annie

[av16]

I don't know if you have contacted IPSEA. If you try them and they are busy, please keep trying. They are brilliant, and really know their stuff.

 

Thanks Annie, I've looked at the website but haven't phoned yet but I will.

[katysmum]

hi

this happened to us last year with our AS diagnosed daughter. The LEA said "she didn't meet the criteria for statutory assessment" !!!!!!!!!!

We appealed and a date was set for tribunal. As soon as this happened the LEA agreed to assess.

bureaucracy gone mad!

NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.

Good luck

Sharon

[Tez]

Might also be worth asking the school if they could have a word with the LEA and see if they will change their mind. I know of two instances locally where this was done , one Junior School and one Secondary School, and the LEA relented and decided to proceed with Statutory Assessment. When schools have done all possible and still need help they can be very persuasive. I know of a third case where the LEA still refused to assess but found an alternative placement for the child that met his needs, a placement which the parents wanted but which had previously been refused. I have learnt that in our LEA there is a lot of off the record conversations that decide the fate of our children, sometimes for the good. There is nothing stopping you applying for Tribumal amd exploring other avenues at the same time.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Tez

[av16]

Might also be worth asking the school if they could have a word with the LEA and see if they will change their mind. I know of two instances locally where this was done , one Junior School and one Secondary School, and the LEA relented and decided to proceed with Statutory Assessment. When schools have done all possible and still need help they can be very persuasive.

 

Thanks for your advice, I will ask the school to get on to the LEA, today Alex was diagnosed with Asperger's and the psychiatrist is also sending them a copy of her report. I hope they change their minds... we'll see.

[call me jaded]

You can search the SENDIST database for decisions, here:

http://www.sendist.gov.uk/search_decisions_frm.cfm

 

Here's one I dipped into at random after selecting 'refusal to assess' and 'autism/aspergers' and I hope it gives you a bit of encouragement to go on:

 

http://www.sendist.gov.uk/uploads/000653.pdf

[Sallya]

Hi Av,

That's a lot to cope with in one week.

Here's an old topic that may help, I was given a lot of good advice last year when my son was refused a stat assessment/

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...447entry18447

Take care

<'>

[av16]

Hi Av,

That's a lot to cope with in one week.

Here's an old topic that may help, I was given a lot of good advice last year when my son was refused a stat assessment/

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...447entry18447

Take care

<'>

Hi Sallya, I hope to spend longer looking at all this info, had a good meeting with behaviour support team today ready for tomorrow's meeting. As an aside the child in my class also diagnosed AS today. I'm really going to have to read up on all of this.

I'm still waiting for the letter from the LEA so can't start planning the appeal yet.

 

Thanks for help & support,

Best wishes

AV

[DaisyProudfoot]

I was due to go to tribunal for the same reason but I didn't have the school behind me (not that that would have stopped me) but we hadn't exhausted all avenues of school action plus. Lauren

 

School Action Plus - according to Martin's SENCO he can't be helped by School Action Plus because although he is dx'd AS he is too intelligent

 

Does this make sense?

[Flora]

Daisy no it doesn't. William has a really high IQ and has an adult reading age. He has been on SA + for quite a while.

 

A couple of weeks ago a new outreach teacher spent a few days with him in school. This is what he told me which I think is really important. A child with ASD may have a high IQ and reasonable accademic achievement, but that doesn't mean that they don't need extra support, but the problem they have is that many teachers and some SENCos are of the opinion that an intelligent child needs no SEN support. If Martin is happy at school and achieving then that is fine, but if he is having problems in other areas that may not include accademic attainment, eg cloak rooms, games lessons, break times etc.. then he should be on some level of the SEN register.

 

Lauren

 

Daisy, forgot to add. When William was 9 he was doing above average in most subjects. As they progress through the curriculum though it gets a little more challenging. It includes lots of independent group work which William has major difficulties with. He used to be fab at maths but has made no progress in the past 2 years. So even though your Martin is doing well accademically now you need to watch out for the pit falls as he moves up the school as some of the teaching methods are very challenging to ASD kids.

Edited March 2, 2006 by Lauren

[Kathryn]

Good luck, av,

 

We were refused an assessment twice for my daughter, and then then the LEA changed its mind, all within the space of six months, so don't give up.

 

K

[av16]

Good luck, av,

 

We were refused an assessment twice for my daughter, and then then the LEA changed its mind, all within the space of six months, so don't give up.

 

K

 

Thanks everyone for all your support,had a really good meeting with the Behaviour support team person, senco,Ed psych and class teacher so feeling we are getting somewhere. Still haven't had the letter from the LEA saying why they have refused to proceed with assessment so I can't start the appeal process yet but I'm ready & waiting.

 

Also had a letter of apology from the local MHcare trust about the length of time we had to wait for assessment. They have now changed their system and cut down the waiting list and changed their procedures so cases can't get 'lost'. This is good for the people who are referred now but if it hadn't happened to us then our son probably wouldn't have been excluded as the situations he found himself in would have been avoided by the school if they had known about AS. (sorry that's a bit of a rant)

 

AV

[Kathryn]

Av,

 

You don't have to wait, you can still register your appeal in the meantime - this is what I did on advice from SENDIST when the LEA took its time sending the letter. If you get in touch with SENDIST they are very efficient and helpful and will send you the forms straight away- you will then have a head start, as the timescales for the appeal process only start from the date on the official LEA letter.

 

I'm glad the meeting was good though: fingers crossed you won't have to go to tribunal after all.

 

K

[av16]

Av,

 

You don't have to wait, you can still register your appeal in the meantime - this is what I did on advice from SENDIST when the LEA took its time sending the letter. If you get in touch with SENDIST they are very efficient and helpful and will send you the forms straight away- you will then have a head start, as the timescales for the appeal process only start from the date on the official LEA letter.

 

I'm glad the meeting was good though: fingers crossed you won't have to go to tribunal after all.

 

K

Thanks for this I will get on with it now.

AV