Early Support or ES

[Eunicecycle]

Just in case any of you have not heard of it - Early Support is for families of young children with special needs. It contains a useful set of tools (family held record, family support plan etc), information (DLA info, Starting school info, Writing a statement info etc)and materials (professional guidance and books on conditions and much much more). It is free! www.earlysupport.org.uk Take a look.

Parent power - the more parents that use it the more professionals and services will have to listen.

Early Support was developed in partnership with parents so, when used properly, makes absolute sense.

I think this way of working should be used with all families. It is about partneship, repect and value . Especially older children with SEN both in mainstream and in Special ed.

Has anyone else had experience of Early Support?

I feel it works with all families actually -but that is my personal view. It is just about treating people with common sense and decency!!!!!!!!!!!

[TotalChaos]

Thanks for the info, the info about statement will come in very handy. Are you a health professional who works with families with SN children, you sound very clued up?

[Eunicecycle]

Hi total again

Not quite but I have been involved in Early Support and have a child with a host of diagnosis which I will not go into.

I was reading the chats on Mumsnet and did a search for ES and realised that nobody was talking about it and it worried me.

I think it is the UKs best kept secret and I wanted to do something about it.

[MrsMarvel]

Eunicecycle - thanks for the info, I have now ordered a pack.

[MrsMarvel]

UK best kept secret - I was really surprised to see their newsletter archive going back to 2005! I could really have done with it back then, believe me.

[Eunicecycle]

I am soo pleased! I want to start an Early Support revolution. If you talk to Liz Andrews (Early Supports big chief)she describes Early Support as shifting the paradigm of control away from the practitioner and back towards the parent.

I think that this sounds great! Not all professionals are confident about that and they sometimes need help. A friend once told me that her SALT once who asked her how she got her husband to do things and then suggested that she used the same technique on the professionals she worked with and her child - quite clever really and it made me smile. So solution focused!

In my authority we have parents who are their own Key Workers. They are supported by their team but they are in control.

It is about changing a culture and it really makes a difference.

[MrsMarvel]

This is another fine example of where tools which enable families to empower themselves among health, education and local authority professionals are frequently under-publicised.

[Eunicecycle]

This is why I am going to mention Early Support www.earlysupport.org.uk in every message I put on Mumsnet. You can smile to yourself and know my cunning plan! I am also going to wear a cheese board as I go about my daily business and sing songs that can easily be associated with Early Support - once I have thought of one. Perhaps I shall have to make one up and get in the pop charts

[Eunicecycle]

AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF INFO AVAILABLE ON THE EARLY SUPPORT WEB SITE

Writingletters-AdvicefromEarlySupport
To request a statutory assessment, send a letter like the one below to your local authority:

Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing to ask you to assess the special educational needs of my
daughter/son (give your child?s name and date of birth) under Section
323 of the Education Act 1996. I am making this request as is my right
under Section 329 of the Act.
I think my child may need more help than the school/pre-school can
provide. (If your child attends pre-school or school and has been
receiving help, say what this is and why you think it isn?t enough.)
I have written my views on my child?s difficulties in the enclosed report.
(Use the Parents? checklist opposite to put together a short report about
your child.)
The following people are involved with my child and I would like you to
get advice from them. If you decide not to seek advice, please let me
know, so that I can get advice and submit it myself. (List the people
involved with your child.)
I am also sending you copies of other reports which may help you make
your decision. (Send copies of any reports you have from teachers,
doctors, etc.)

Yours sincerely

Providinginformationaboutyourchild

The local authority will need to know certain things about your child before it decides whether or not to issue a statement. Use the Parents? checklist below to help you give your views. Remember to describe your child?s strengths, as well as their difficulties. Say what they enjoy and what kind of help has worked so far.

If you have been using an Early Support Family file you will already have a lot of this information together in one place.

Parents?_checklist

Many parents find it helpful to think about the following areas and questions as they put together information about their child:
? your child?s birth and first months of life and the problems you noticed
? the help or advice that was given early on
? your child?s health ? eating, sleeping, illnesses
? physical skills ? walking, crawling, throwing, pointing, using toys
? communication ? speech, sounds, hearing, gestures, eye contact
? personal skills ? washing, using a spoon and cup
? behaviour ? showing feelings such as affection, exuberance, aggression, frustration, anxiety
? relationships ? behaviour with brothers and sisters, friends and adults
? social skills ? sharing, playing with or alongside other children
? your child?s views ? if your child is very young or has very complex needs, you may need to show this by describing, for example, their moods and behaviour, how they play, their reactions to everyday routines, new experiences and when help is given
? any incident or experience that illustrates the nature of your child?s difficulties particularly well
? whether your child?s difficulties are getting worse.

If your child is attending a school, playgroup or nursery, include the following information:
? whether your child is already getting help ? their Individual Education Plan (IEP) gives details of the help they are receiving
? how your child is getting on ? check their IEP targets against their progress
? what help you think your child needs.

This is in a booklet on the Early Support Web Site and i thought it might help a few people. It is a great site with loads of really practical information developed in partership with parents. Spread the news it is a good site to look at for information and it is all free!

[twocutedarlings]

Hi

Is this service just for children under the age of 5, we could really do with this, but my DD has just turned 5

[mymatemax]

I was given the early support pack by our local CDC & she ticked a box to say she had introduced it to me
BUT it was handed over and explained as a folder to record all your child's appoints etc & certainly not the useful tool that you are explaining.
In fact mine contained a blank profile book for me to fill in about my child a leaflet about autism & a leaflet about CP.

I guess our PCT are just going through the motions & ticking the boxes as far as a government initiative but are not using it to its full potential.

[Eunicecycle]

I agree with you about the box. It is the way of working and the whole Early Support philosophy that seems to make the difference. The box is just a set of papers. I know one family that used the box to keep a door open! It was still useful! Perhaps the CDC prof? did not understand it? Perhaps they were playing lip service to it? Perhaps they were really ignorant and had a brain the size of a planet but unfortunately it was a very very small one?

Ummmmmmm

What professionals sometimes do is take out all the information booklets as they feel it will be too much for parents all at once. I have to admit to feeling a bit frustrated by this as I am the kind of parent that likes to have all the info and then decide what I choose to look at. Having a prof to help point me the right direction is really useful but I am a bit of a control freak. What I like about ES is it is all available on the web site anyway. No gate keeping!

I think the best things about ES are:-
? Having a Lead Professional/Key Worker that supports the coordination and acts as a source of information. We are able to input into the choice of who is our LP/KW and some families take on this role themselves especially where there are cross border nightmares.
? Having a Team Around the Child TAC to support your Family Support plan FSP
? Having a coordinated FSP that is written in partnership with you ? I also like the idea of a family held record (blue box) and know parents that say it made a difference to them when they were asked for information during assessments and for information when requesting a statutory assessment.
? Having clearly defined protocols and guidance that are available for everyone to see and that are based on a partnership model of working - all available on the web site.
? Having well researched information and training that supports it all - all available on the web site.

Right now I have to stop as I have got to get on with the stuff of life ? like washing!