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This is a bit complicated, but need advice please:

I am a parent of two children. My eldest has been diagnosed as 'fulfilling the triad of impairments' in terms of the autistic spectrum by XYZ, Senior Consultant, St Georges Hospital, London. We saw her in her private clinic in Harley Street for a one off 3 hour consultation consisting of parental interview, interview of our son (8) and some standardised tests.

We live in Scotland and consulted Dr XYZ on a private basis last summer after being refused standardised assessment by our local cahms, headed by the Community Peadiatrician. We were told we were 'overanxious parents'.

We had asked our GP some time back for advice re ds dramatic emotional responses to ordinary everyday things and advice on our difficulty calming him and getting him out of the house / to sleep when he seemed to have sensory issues which made things difficult for him. We have another child, a daughter in P1 who is very settled and happy and about whom we have no concerns. The local cahms concluded that I was 'overanxous' and discharged us as a family with no support. We have asked re parenting classes (ie, if it's us getting it wrong, can we have some support to get it right?, cbt for us if felt needed, family therapy etc. All requests denied as 'not avail here' or 'not appropriate'.

There were a number of other minor things which were looked into last summer. We were told our son had a condition called CVI (cerebral visual impairment) by another local Consultant, after he examined him, did tests and looked at a questionnaire we completed. We therefore asked if he should be registered as VI. A specialist VI teacher then came out to the school and spent time with our son and found no evidence of CVI so the diagnosis was overturned. We were told by the Pead that the Eye specialist felt we had 'misled' him re the questionnaire. The VI teacher did say that Scotopic Sensitivity should be investigated further and made a number of recommendations for him using minor visual aids such as a writing slope, coloured overlays and a window bar. None of these are currently being used in school. The Ed Psy said he needed 15 minutes daily 1:1 toebytoe reading /spelling programme but this was never started and is now not going to be as he is 'doing too well' (despite being 1 year behind and dropping groups in his class). The Ed Psy supports this decision. None of the recommendations such as a sitnmove cushion, fiddle toys etc recommended by the OT are being used at school either as apparantly, ds no longer needs them / they were given at parental request.

We understand from a recent Multiagency meeting that a professionals meeting was held last summer, . We were not told of this at the time although the Scottish Peadiatrician did say that local professionals 'were concerned' that we were 'repeatedly presenting our son for assessment which might be damaging him emotionally' via a letter. We were called to a meeting with just her and her boss at which we were told 'not to discuss' the London diagnosis. When we asked on what basis these CP concerns were being raised / who by we were told: 'you dont need to know that'. We only now understand a formal professionals meeting was held immediately after the London diagnosis was obtained and the letter was copied to the local hospital child protection team. We have not been given any further details. We have only asked for assessments due to our concern that he is not flourishing at school / has difficulties socially but we feel the implication is that we may be suffering some sort of munchausens type problem?


We had, last summer obtained a place for him at a local prep school on a large bursary. The school obtained his files 4 days before term started. 2 days before term started (and after local schools already back) they withdrew his place on the basis of not being able to meet his anxiety needs. We consulted an ed lawyer as we were confused: we have a child who 1 Pead says is on the autistic spectrum and one says has hay fever only, 1 school says has no SEN/SN and 1 says has needs they cannot support. Ed Lawyer advised us that we could pursue private school for place as was discriminatory to withdraw it on basis of health needs. Child has meanwhile been forced back to local state school as no permission given to home ed. Child being bullied and needs ignored by school. At multiagency meeting last friday, Pead made it very clear that any further attempt to change school would be viewed very badly by 'her team'.
I have told I ed lawyer I dare not write back to private school asking for place under disablity law as Paed may take CP actions further (we were told in no uncertain terms not to discuss it?). Ed Lawyer feels this is the wrong action but is unable to reassure me on CP front. I have contacted Scottish child law centre for advice (still waiting) but meantime, tribunal timebar for private school is 2nd March!!!!!!!!!!!!

If we cannot obtain the private place we would wish to move area as we are clear that no educational support will be available to our son here. He is sitting 1 year behind in class and still dropping groups and the Ed Psy blithely says: ' his spelling / writing /reading may never catch up with his vocab but thats okay'. . We would like to send him to a school where he will receive appropriate support. We would like to be nearer family and have more job opportunities (we live in quite a rural area). THe marriage has been under strain for some time and it is possible we will separate

Can you tell us please, should wish to relocate in the future, can we be prevented from doing so?

If we moved we would present ourselves to the local social services and community peadiatrician and be guided by any input they felt was necessary re our parenting / our sons needs.

If you have got this far I am very grateful. Please advise if possible?
(I am aware that this is not 'legal advice' as such, but I would be grateful for any constructive input, even so

I dont have anything useful to say sorry (except good luck)
one of my recurring fears is to be on the receiving end of this kind of thing.

Scottishmerlottish - this is truly dreadful, I am sorry I cannot give you any practical advice - on your & ds's behalf I would like to go round to all the so-called professionals that you have had the misfortune to come into contact with and bash their heads together. I really hope several different professionals will come along to give you some real help. Good luck

Have you heard of Jordan's Eyes in Ayr? The are one of 2 practices in Scotland which offer multisensory testing. Sensory Deficit Disorder is often mistaken for Autism. A friend of mine had great success here.
http://www.jordanseyes.com/
Your situation sounds like someone has got very hacked off at having their professional diagnosis challeneged. Perhaps if you had another opinion to complement/support your London one, it may help.

www.jordanseyes.com/

BTW from their website it looks as if they are quite used to doing reports for legal challenges.

sorry to drip feed this info- but I did Toe by Toe with my son at home. Didn't tell the school, just did it on the quiet. Realised that half the other parents were doing it too! Best £27 I ever spent. 10 mins a day in the mornings. Took 18mth to complete. Massive, massive difference.
Also, if your son ends up being prescibed coloured glasses by an optician you won't have to worry about overlays and the education people can't argue then. One child at our school has pink lensed glasses, another has apple green.

Hi Olivia

Thank you for that kind thought.
I have namechanged and put this in legal as I had reason to suspect that the LEA might be watching my posts on MNSN so I'll keep it here, if thats okay.
Sorry it took me a bit of time to come back, have been up to neck in muck and bullets.

I have had some legal advice now from Scottish Child Law Centre. They advise that I do not need to fear moving my child to a different area (scotland or england) or to a private school (highly unlikely anyway). CP concerns cannot be actioned purely on the basis of number of schools attended (2, anyway) or number of moves. That is a relief.

We had the most extraordinary parents eve y'day where ds teacher shouted at us and said: 'I can feel myself getting very angry .... this conversation is at an end' we had asked him to take our son under his wing. also why he had shouted at our son for attending a SN session in school? Pff. Unbelievably unprofessional.

Bubbles - thanks for your link. Ds was assessed there 2 years ago. Said multisensory and prob asd too. Given coloured lenses. School have banned them. Pead backed school up. Since been to another well respected OT. Advised probs with tracking, binocular vision and needing coloured overlays. School will not allow their use. They are barking, frankly. will try toebytoe at home though. x.