Long Fight with Education Authority

[groovycaz]

Thanks for that Jangles, panic over, I will also write as you advised just to be on the safe side, il keep you all updated..Thanks again Gc

[groovycaz]

Hi all,

Well its D day tomorrow, my boy Sam's SENs will be considered at the SEN panel meeting on 13 Nov after referal from the school for a "possible" statutory assessment of his special educational needs, I will recieve a letter within 5 days of the meeting notifying me of the LAs decision.

 

After looking at all the reports from everyone involved in his care from CAMHS, the Educational Psychology Service, Dyspraxia Service and also Autistic spectrum disorder, all the reports state that Sam can not access the national cirriculum unsupported, I wont be holding my breath, and im ready if after 6 years they refuse to issue him with a statement again..Gc

[Bookworm]

Not a statement, Gc. Statutory Assessment comes first, after the Stat Assmt, they'll decide whether he requires a statement.

 

In my son's case, I had to go to SENDIST because they refused to assess, yet once ordered to do so by the tribunal, at the end of the Assessment, they decided to give a statement... The number of times I have wanted to say to them: "And yet, you didn't think he needed assessing, huh? :mad:"...

 

Fingers crossed for you and Sam. Any questions, just ask, but then you know that by now, right? ;-)

[mariejader]

Hi Groovycaz any news yet? I telephoned the LEA the day after the panel sat and asked what the decision was, (not that I am impatient!!! ) and they told me on the phone so it may be worth a try

 

Do post back as soon as you know as I am sure we are all sitting here with fingers crossed for you

[groovycaz]

HI all,

GOOD NEWS they have decided to proceed with Statutory Assessment under section 323 of the Education Act 1996, I recieved a letter today, This is the 1st time ive gotten past 1st base and were all relieved that the LEA have now acknowledged that Sam does have a learning disability, Ive some forms to sign, and he has an appointment for a medical with the school Doctor next week, and its his 10th birthday today and w've just had the best party ever, the begining of the journey for his future, were on our way:D Gc

[groovycaz]

Sorry Marie and everyone whos been waiting for news, Ive been poorly (vertigo) and it wiped me out big time so this is the first time ive switched on in a few days, Ive picked up again, this is about the 5th time ive had it and its realy horrible knocks you off your feet, so sorry for the wait folks..Gc

[Bookworm]

Oh, GC, that is BRILLIANT news!

 

Well done you. Take the time to get better, and then start planning the next stage, if your LA are like mine, you will have to keep on riding them hard to keep within their deadlines.

 

Get better first, though, and well done again.

[GlasweJen]

Brilliant news GC, knew you'd get there.

[mariejader]

Congratulations but not wanting to burst your bubble just because they have agreed to do the assesment it does not mean they will issue a statement, I would suggest that when you are feeling better you get out the code of practice and have a good read of the process that will now follow also read up on Statements in lieu.

 

Hopefully things will now be stratight forward for you but as the others have said keep an eye now to ensure that they stick to the deadlines.

 

But it's fantastic news they have agreed to start the assessment well done, and do keep us informed

[groovycaz]

Congratulations but not wanting to burst your bubble just because they have agreed to do the assesment it does not mean they will issue a statement,

 

Thanks Marie, I know they lead you into a false sense of security, Im on the ball with it this time, I intend to put together all the information from the various bodies you and Bookworm directed me to, just in case they dont issue a statment after assessment,

Thanks for all the support ive recieved and all directions from everyone who followed my fight for Sam, this site is excellent and you are all very caring and passionate in your beliefs, most having been through this journey, again thank you all, I will keep you updated on his progress...Gc:smile:

[groovycaz]

Hi all,

got a review meeting with Sams school tomorrow, the Child Psychologist ASD support and the Dyspraxia service will be there so should be a good time to put some information together ready for when the LEA contact them while they are carrying out his Assessment Gc

[lindsay22]

good luck, hope everything goes well xx

[Bookworm]

Make sure you write down tonight a list of ALL the things which you want mentioned, no matter how seemingly trivial. Tick things as they get discussed to make sure nothing gets left undiscussed, and make notes of what they said, so that if the reports come back incomplete, you can refer to your notes and point out that it was discussed at meeting.

 

Obvious, but don't forget to get each name and qualifications of the people you speak to at each meeting. When you go home, write down everything you can remember as soon as possible, while it is still fresh in your head.

 

Let us know how you got on after that!!!

[groovycaz]

Hi all,

The meeting at the school went really well yesterday, Tom the child Psychologist is very good, He showed me a copy of the report he was originally submitting to LEA and where he had changes pharagraphs, which all helped it the decision to assess Sam. I realy cant fault the school, they really have put a lot of work into the reports they submitted, they made sure that in every subject, where praise was given and progress made they ended the repot with a negative, as in this was only achieved with support from ****, I have a lot of confidence that the school will do everything in their power to see that Sam is issued with a statement after assessment, and Tom told me what I should do with regards to appeal should they decide not to issue a statement, They are arranging for myself and Claire the SENCO to visit the local catholic comp to discuss the difficulties Sam has and that will be followed up every 4-6 months to keep them up to date with what progress hes made, which I think will be excellent for us all and give me piece of mind, I feel a lot happier now, although we still have a long way to go.. Il keep you all updated..Gc

[groovycaz]

Hi all, sorry havent been posting for a while, death in my family after illness , funeral last week and nearly cleared the house of (my stepfather) belongings.

have'nt heard anything yet about Sams assessment for statement but should hear son whether they are going to carry on to statement or not.

 

Got letter about his DLA on sat and they reduced his care award from the higher rate, to the middle rate, ive called for an explaination and they just said that a decision was made that his night care was in their opinion not as great as the previous award, Ive asked what evidence thay have of that and they couldn't say as there was no reason, they advised to keep a diary for the next 2 weeks of his nightly routine and send it in asking them to look at the decision again. could accept the reduction if he slept all night but we havent had a full nights sleep since he was born, and depending if anythings upset him through the day or any change to his routine, we can forget about sleep for the night...Gc

[Bookworm]

How ridiculous!

 

Make sure you object in writing straight away, they shouldn't just reduce it without notice or anything, and if no joy, then start the appeal process asap.

 

These people anger me so much, I'd like them to try and cope with the sleep deprivation we go through and see how they bloody cope.

[groovycaz]

Hear Hear Bookworm, thats putting it mildly, with everything thats been going on in my family it seems 10 times worse, my stepfather who died on new years eve was Sams Grandad, he was married to my mother while I was pregnant with both my younger sons and he was really lovely, more so with sam being the youngest, while I was working he used to take him out everyday when he was little and they had a special bond, so his death has hit him really hard,

 

This sounds funny but its how hes thinking at the moment, the other day sam said to me "Mam your the oldest in the family so your going to die soon!!" well I thought he thinks were all going to die depending on whos the oldest, any way ive told him im not going any where yet, im to bloody young and fit and well "now" so reasured him im not leaving him anytime soon, but the questions hes asking, like is my grandads eyes open? can he still see? is he in his skin still or in his bones? its finding the right way to answer..though sometimes I have to look away..Gc

[lindsay22]

sorry to hear about your loss, hope u are ok? really hope u get the statement your boy deserves. its disgusting the the dla have reduced your money, definatly appeal. its awful having no sleep, or broken sleep, i have often cried from being so tired, i also have a teething baby so that doesnt help lol

 

good luck

[groovycaz]

Thanks for that Lindsay, Il keep the diary as they asked for 2 weeks then if they dont put him back on the highr rate I will appeal, the thing im most annoyed about is they could not give me a reason why they reached the decision to reduce his rate, they said they took information from the form and the elected person I said was involved in his care, which was the educational psychologist who sees sam through the day, not at night when the whole house is up with him..Gc

[groovycaz]

HI all,

I cant believe it, but after 6 long years of fighting, complaining, argueing, crying and worrying, I got the news today that Sam is going to be issued with a Statement of SENs, Ive been waiting for the post this last week and today it arrived, I felt like ringing Durham LEA and saying to the snotty woman who told me last year that Sams needs should be able to be met within the school resources after I complained, I wanted to call her up and say, I TOILD YOU SO, AND I TOLD YOU MY SON WILL GET THE HELP HE NEEDS, but im very happy, I have,nt read through it all yet, been working al day, so just skimmed over the top of it and something about if Im not happy 15 days to let them know, from telling me to bugger off, im now invited to sit in on meetings, Im truly gobsmacked:D

[Bookworm]

Oh, GC, that's such great news!!! Congratulations!

 

Now: Anything, and I mean ANYTHING you are not happy with, anything which you think is not specific enough, rewrite. What they have sent you is a 1st draft and for you to add to, comment, write in. In order to be a workable document, a SoN mustn't be vague and must be quantified, and LAs don't like that, as it pins them down to specifics. For example, if your child needs SALT input, the statement must specify for how many hours. If he needs to have an LSA with him, make sure the SoN specifies for how many hours, whether it needs to cover breaks as well as in the classroom, etc, etc...

 

Don't be afraid to push and push even further, I sent back my son's SoN draft 8 times, I refused to leave them even the slightest wriggle room through which they would try to put him back in mainstream, eventually, the LA guy just copied and pasted most of what I had written and then I accepted it.

 

At this point, you're probably so relieved and happy (and so you should be!) that you might feel like accepting whatever they write in there, but this is a legally binding document and getting it changed if you find it wasn't quite right will be a lot harder than having it written with all the right stuff in it in the first instance.

 

Any assistance you need with that, just holler. ;-)

 

But for now, take the week-end off to savour your victory, you bloody well deserve it.

[groovycaz]

Thanks Bookworm, I will be going over everything with a fine tooth comb, Ive come so far now and Im not letting them off with any part of Sams needs if he is to leave school with any kind of education, they will be sick of me but hell, as long as Sams needs are fully met who gives a toss.. still in shock, its been like the never ending journey, thanks to every one for all the advice and help ive received on this site, think Il have a long soak in the bath with a very large glass of baileys...Gc:grin:

[groovycaz]

Rollercoaster of emotions at the moment, its half term so schools closed, ive been reading over and over the proposed statement for Sam and some reports which were sent to Durham for his assessment, Ive seen and been involved with most, but all put together in a file, am I really reading about my child, this is not the boy I know, at home he just makes my heart melt, hes so lovely, at school its a completely different story, it all looks so much worse when its put together, his problems are so complex with dyspraxia and autism together, I dont know how hes learned anything at all. Ive a lot to think about, whether its best for him to attend a special school or go to our local secondry school supported. Ive been looking on various sites to try and find out how much support he will receive (in hours) but cant find anything out, will call the child psychologist tomorrow for information, so many things to consider, ive gone from feeling like ive won the lottery to a low thats getting me down. no doubt when ive spoken about my worries and have some answers il feel a bit better..Gc

[Bookworm]

Honey, that's normal. I think that maybe now is when you are finally getting to see how complex his needs are, and yes, it is another mountain, but you can do it.

 

One thing you should bear in mind and fight for and stick to your guns: his needs are 24/7, he is not autistic at times and at times he's ok, his autism colours and pervades everything he does, every situation he lives is lived through his autism filter, so the support at school should be for the whole day, including breaks, time in the playground, eating etc, so don't let them fob you off with any less than that. Also make sure that the help is on a 1/1 basis, in other words, no sharing an LSA with other kids!

 

Before deciding on whether to get him out of maintream or not, why don't you use the 1/2 term to scout for SN schools in your area that might suit his needs and arrange to visit them? That would help you get a feel for them and make a better informed decision as to what is best for him.

 

Don't let this get you down, yes, it's not plain sailing, but think that some parents have to do what you have to do now and FIRST fight their LA to get their child statemented. Don't underestimate what you have done here, I know some parents who only managed to get a SoN by going to tribunal and the tribunal forcing the LA to statement, so take strength in that.

[groovycaz]

Hi Bookworm, been having a look through the proposed statement for Sam and there are lots of things Im not happy about,

they left part 4 blank for me to decide which school i think is suitable for him but the LA sugests that his school is the most appropriate which I dont have a problem with,

they,ve informed me of my rights as to any part of the statement I dont agree with and arrange meetings to discuss anything I dont agree with, with the named officer, also parent partnership, which I already attend and also SENDIST if I need to appeal.

my concerns are that , in the approaches to learning, they claim that because of his very short attention span and his difficulty in sitting still and his impulsiveness his sats results were at level 1C, spelling 1B and has shown no gain in measuring and number skills over the past 15 months.

 

In Social and Emotional it states that Sam finds it difficult to settle at any given task and remain focused on it, and unfortunately although he works hard to overcome these he is unable to moderate and control many of his difficulties.

he has no understanding of needs and wants of others in asocial way, and although there is little or no evidence of any deliberate disruptive or distructive behaviour by Sam there are many instances of him being responsible for instances due to his lack of understanding of social situations, he has interupted games and wandered into situations where he is likely to cause harm to himself or others, and although they say he is a popular boy within schol children tend to look after him rather than play alongside him and he desperately wants to have friends and be liked.

 

In Communication they say that Sam has a diagnosis of mild/moderate autism which is evident in terms of his communication skils, that he shows a desire to communicate appropriately with others but his por social communication skills as part of autism mean that he misundrstands much of the social language of the classroom, of instruction,and friendship and he tends to show literal interpretation of many phrases causing his poor pragmatic understanding of everyday language causes him yo have difficulties in terms of appropriate social communication with his classmates.

 

Physical, Sensory and Medical state that he has poorly developed motor skills, he tends to be clumsy, and often trips and falls,

fine motor skils mean that presentation of his workare poorly finished.

 

part 3 objectives improve his basic skils in numeracy

improve his basic skils in literacy

reduce his distractability and impulsivity to enable him to focus on task

increase his atentional skills

promote his self esteem

promote his understanding of others wants and needs

improve his social communication skils

to develope his motor skills

this is the part where im rather concerned about and the amount of help they are wiling to provide

 

they state he wil have full access to the national curriculum which wil be differentiated to take into account of his needs and modified on an in house basis.

acces to a teacher skilled in differentiating materials on a small steps basis

staffing levels to allow periods of individual and small group tuition.

inclusion in mainstream class groups where good role models and language and social behaviour are the norm

involvement and support from health proffessionals and other appropriate outside agencies with regards to Sams social and emotional development, as appropriate.

access to advice from an advisory teacher specialising in ASD.

access to an adult trained in motor skils development to devise and advise on programmes.

access to additional adult support for 50% of the week provided through a combination of funding for individual learning support and general learning support and the schools own resources.

arrangements for god home/school contact to alow skills taught at school to be practiced at home.

 

then onto monotering, the school will moniter regularly Sams progress in meeting the objectives set out above, within 2 months of the final statement in consultaton with us in short term educational targets and reviewed after the 1st 6 months.

 

The only changes I can see are the 50% additional adult support, the rest he already had access to, and the 50% extra adult support, will this be 1 to 1 which is what he needs, can I ask for more, this just is not enough, there are already programes in place which we do at home with him, by which time its after school and hes tired and had enough, god is anything easy,....Gc