Stuck in the mud

[Diane]

Hi everyone,

 

I am asking for help again. I have a feeling this is going to be a long one as I am unsure how much information to give and I am feeling a little upset and the rest of it, so if I go off at a tangent or jump around with information I am sorry.

 

The situation is this. As some of you may know my DS has been medically signed of from school. this has now ended and he was expected to be in school as of today. None of you will be surprised to hear that he is not in and will not be in for the rest of this week. Not sure when I will get him back.

 

DS's Psychologist has written to the SEN officer yet again supporting us and arguing the point that the provision for our DS is not working and never has and never will. The SEN officer is refusing to get involved as he does not have a statement. Yes I could go through the process of getting one. I know it would take a while, perhaps some of you could say how long it has taken to get yours.

 

I do not feel that time is on our side as our son is in year 10. His outreach worker is very good and is trying to get a timetable in place that will work for our son with school. I know it will only work if school do to the letter what is needed.

 

I have access to an educational lawyer but do not want to approach her unless I know we can get some where with out a statement being in place.

 

If you need more infor before giving your advice please ask. If I feel I do not want to post my response on here I will PM you.

 

Thank you.

 

Diane

 

 

[Stardust]

Hi Diane

 

My son is currently on medical absence. CAMHS are not willing to sign him off until school is sorted. I have to say that he became unable to go to school in September 2007 and I applied for a Statement in October 2007. At the end of this month I am going to Tribunal to get his school placement sorted out so in effect it has taken over a year. Obviously some Statements are sorted out much quicker than others, for example, if you do not oppose the school place and are happy with the contents, you could have a Statement in place (if they agreed to carrying out assessments) within 6 months.

 

Who signed your son off? If your son is currently still unable to go to school, I find it very strange that they now say he is capable?

Edited November 3, 2008 by Stardust

[Flora]

Hiya,

 

If you haven't already applied for a statutory assessment, it's very important that you do so immediately, because without a statement you'll pretty much get no where. Yes the statement will take a long time, but it really is the only way to access a more specialised educational environment which it sounds like your son's pyschologist is suggesting he needs.

 

It is possible (there is a bit in the COP about this and I'll try to find it for you) that allows for emergency provision while a statutory assessment takes place. I think because your son is in year 10 and it's vitally important that no time is wasted that you could argue that he falls in the category of needing urgent attention from the SEN team.

 

Of course, nothing will happen without a fight, but until you start the process then nothing will happen anyway.

 

My son came out of school in March 2007; he went through stat assessment, statement then on to tribunal before the right school placement was named on his statement and that took exactly 12 months.

 

Good luck.

 

Flora

[Kathryn]

Hi Diane,

 

I understand your despair - I was in a similar situation four years ago, 15 year old recently diagnosed daughter medically signed off due to anxiety, after attempts had been made to get her into school on a part time timetable. That was the beginning of year 11.

 

I applied for a stautory assessment at that point. It was refused. We appealed. Four months later, and three weeks before her 16th birthday, the LEA agreed. to assess. I was delighted - we had our eye on a specialist school for AS, for which a statement would be needed.

 

Alas, it was not to be. After giving me assurances during the assessment process that she would get her statement, the LEA did a U turn and refused. Knowing that time was not on our side in view of her age, whilst going through the motions and keeping us happy,they used blatant stalling tactics to delay and obstruct the statementing process as far as possible. The refusal letter was neatly timed to coincide with the official end of my daughter's compulsory education and the LEA's responsibility for her. We half heartedly started the appeal - which the LEA tried to have struck out as she was "too old". But although we won that little battle, there was no point pursuing it. Even with a successful outcome, by that time she would have been over 17 and too old for the school.

 

So we were a year at it, and still got nowhere. In complete contrast, someone else who lives in the same LEA in very similar circumstances went from having a 15 year child out of school with no statement to a residential place in a specialist AS school in about five months (she's on the forum so she'll correct me if I'm wrong!). So you never know your luck.

 

Anyway - about your situation: I'd say unless you see a way forward very soon,with the school support being made to work, it's worth going for the statutory assessment, especially with the external support you have. What have you got to lose? At the very least it will wake people up at the school and LA,and oblige them to start looking seriously at your son's situation. At the beginning of year 10 there's still time - more than we had. If your son got a statement, and stayed at school beyond 16, the statement would continue. In the meantime, go along with the outreach worker's endeavours: it will help to demonstrate that everything possible has been/is being tried at school.

 

Your lawyer - probably not worth involving her at this early stage, you may want to save your pennies and bring in the big guns later when there's more at stake , there is free support and advice out there in the meantime.

 

It's a tough situation to be in, keep talking, we're all here to support you as we've all been through similar battles. Good luck.

 

K x

[Kazzen161]

It may be that if you did get a Statement, he would be allowed to repeat Yr 10, and if you got him into a school with a sixth form he could stay til 19, so definitely worth a try.

[Diane]

Hi All

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge it is a great help.

 

His outreach worker is trying to get a multi-agency meeting as a matter of urgency. His psychologist has written to the special needs officer. I have to wait now and see what comes from their action. There is nothing further that I can do now.

 

It does help sharing what is happening. So thank you. I will let you know how we get on.

[Clare63]

Diane,

 

Sorry to hear your story, not disimular to our own. My son was signed off sick from school before he had a statement, though has one now. In our area there is an agency called "COOS" Children Out Of School, you have to be referred to them usually by your school and the referral agreed by camhs or simular. I had no idea this agency exsisted, but they have been a God send to us, Connor has a mentor and a tutor and they work towards getting children back into education.

 

It might be worth ring your Education Authority to enquire whether such a service is availble in your area, I would highlt recommend it.

 

Clare x x x