Nottinghamshire Refusal to assess for statementing.

[misscutandstick]

DS5 is 3.2 starts nursery in september. He has GDD of around 18mths, and functions as a 12-18mth old. He is non-verbal, has pica, no sense of danger, is a runner, and many food intolerances. He has very little understanding, can understand basic simple words (car, boat, flower, mostly nouns) and can sign in makaton those words he knows

so, they have refused to assess. Appeal date is mid-august. (which defers to Sept 1st).

asked for reports from:
Paed, Inclusion (portage), trying to get hold of SALT (just swapped therapists), then chatted to Ed Psych to try and get her on side...

Ed Psych reckons that the next step in this county is to organise a meeting with the Head of LEA, which incidentally is the blokie who refused the assessment. At this meeting he is likely to call the teacher/head of school and EP for their imput. WHen asked the chances of overturning the refusal "unlikely but it does happen".

The way the funding works here, the pot of money is given to a group of schools to share out amongst the children with SEN within that group of schools. However the woman that does the sharing is off longterm and the new person HASNT ACTUALLY ALLOCATED the money yet, so NOTHING has been put in place yet as the school dont know how much funding is being given. The EP has only just found this info out. She understands that support needs to be in place for starting in september.

so!

If i attend the meeting (not sure how long it will take) theres a possibility i will miss the appeal date. If i dont attend a meeting with the Head of LEA it wont look good at tribunal. Can/should I make appeal and ask for meeting at the same time to cover all bases? dont want it to look bad at the meeting that i dont believe it will be resolved at the meeting. Or will it look like I actually mean business? If i manage to get reports in for meeting with Head OF Lea, should i take them with me, to back me up??? should i do all i can to make sure i can take reports with me? Incidentally, the writing a letter of "will you change your mind?" is done by meeting {apparently } here.

PS. the ed psych definately seems more interested in keeping him safe than his education... should i use that MORE than the fact he has a legal right to an education???

[mummyrex]

Sorry, I can't advise myself but I suggest you get in touch with IPSEA asap

[thirtysomething]

try contacting parents' voices (or voices for parents?) and autism society - both very active in Notts - they have independent advocates to come with to meetings and they know the LEA people and system very well. Even if your DS's needs don't sound like autism (though am not an expert by any means) they can still advise you as they work with aspergers and other conditions too. Also PArentline in Nottingham may be able to help. Also worth contacting your catchment school as early as possible for appointment with SEN coordinator as he/she will know the system and tell you who you need to contact/how to push for funding etc

[TurtleAnn]

Don't forget to go in with documented times of 'running'.
This makes him a risk and means he needs to be watched and will add weight to your argument for support.
Good luck.

[neolara]

Blimey, that sounds really crap. Have they given a reason as to why they refused to assess? Sometimes it is just because they do not have enough information yet. In which case it really is just about getting all the paperwork in place so a decision can be made. Your ds sounds like he has significant difficulties so there must be a reason for their refusal.

If I were you I would attend all the meetings that are offered, but also formally issue an appeal. I may have misunderstood, but I don't see what you would gain by not attending a meeting with the Head of the LEA. Hassle everyone involved for reports and take copies along with you to any meetings.

Good luck.