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Please can someone explaint he statementing process to me

9 replies

chopsterHeadsOffEverybody · 21/10/2007 10:04

I don't have a clue! Ds1 is finally getting somewhere with dx, he was found to have hypermobility earlier this year and now the paed is saying he has dyspraxia.

He has been assessed by TASS and they have provided a huge long list of things the school need to do to support him, and the paed has added a few more to that. The headteacher (school senco) came to the last appointment with me and raised the issue of statementing, but the paed thought it should wait until the point where the school wasn't going to be able to support him fully without statementing.

However, I was browsing through, and people are saying that statementing can take a year. This worries me, because I don't want to get to the stage where ds1 isn't being supported fully, then start applying and him having to wait a year to get that support. So how does it work?

Also, does statementing affect financing of the support he needs at all? The TASS is saying he needs tilted desk, etc, the school want white boards and markers for him, the paed is saying he will prob need a laptop in the near future, all of which are going to be ££ and I could see the headteacher starting to worry about the cost, she had to ask where the funds do come from.

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daisy5678 · 21/10/2007 11:35

The short answer? Statementing, by law should take no more than 26 weeks. If you google the SEN Code of Practice and find the actual document (which I think is on the Teachernet site) it sets out the time limits in full. It is also fairly jargon free and something useful to read before you begin this mission.

I say mission because it is very rare for the process to go as it is supposed to. LEAs lie; they delay; they turn you down; they make you doubt what you say...because they're trying to save money. Sorry to sound like the voice of doom, but that is my experience. If you don't want to be depressed, ignore the forthcoming long answer.

You will need to go to the IPSEA website (.org, I think...sorry, in a hurry to type this) and use their sample letter. YOU should apply for the statement, not the school, as you have more rights (and more control that way).

This is what should happen:

  1. You should write to the SEN Dept. at the LA and request a statutory assessment of your child's SEN, preferably enclosing reports from anyone involved with your child, inc. the school, explaining why he needs more help than the school can provide from their own resources. (If your son's school DOES have a lot of delgated money that they just don't want to spend, the LEA will turn you down on that basis, so make sure the Head actually believes that he needs more help than she can afford.)

  2. The LEA should then write to you to tell you if they agree to statutory assessment. They will send an Ed. Psych. to assess your son (or might do it before they decide on assessment if you son's not seen an EP before) *What will probably happen at this stage is that they will say no, with some bobbins reasons. This is where you harass them, unless the reasons are good or because the school is not spending enough on SEN. This is where you lodge an appeal with SENDIST, at which point the LEA might take you seriously. This is the unofficial filtering system: say no to all statutory assessment requests and see who REALLY wants one by seeing who bothers to make a fuss.

  3. Once you (hopefully) get a yes to statutory assessment, you're about 98% likely to get a yes to a statement...

    4)...but it might not have what you want in it. But that's for another day!!!!!

    Good luck. I mean it about the unofficial filtering system. I had to fight and fight and fight, but eventually you will hopefully get somewhere...sorry to be negative, but I went into it very naive and thought people would want to help my son...and I'm a teacher, so I figure people outside the system will know even less than I did!

    Hope it goes smoother for you. x
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AttilaTheMeerkat · 21/10/2007 15:13

Hi

Teachermum has summed it up very well. I will just add a couple of things if that is okay.

If the LEA turn down your initial request you must appeal their crass decision. You need to meet with these people. The initial request needs to come from you, do not let the school go anywhere near a statement application. I say that as well because you as the parents have far more power than school does in this regard. If the LEA say not to the initial request you can appeal, school cannot appeal.

There is nothing to stop you writing to the LEA requesting that your son is assessed. You do not need to send in a load of reports with the initial letter.

When writing to the LEA you need to write to the Chief Education Officer (you can get their name from the council offices), not just the SEN dept because it will doubtless get lost and remain unanswered. You need to give them six weeks to reply to this letter (mark that date on your calendar).

Statementing will give the school more money to support his needs.

IPSEA are very good and their web address is www.ipsea.org.uk. There are also model letters on there you can use.

I wish you well, put in the request asap.

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chopsterHeadsOffEverybody · 22/10/2007 08:32

Thank you so much for those replies, it's a lot to take in and I've read them several times over the weekend. I think I need to speak to the school now, and find out how much funding they do have. I'm wondering now if the school would be turned down on the basis they do have enough money to support him at this stage.

I'm really not sure about how much support he should have neither. ATM they are using the TA with him pretty much all the time, she is always on his table, and she has to be with during group activities such as carpet time, as he can't sit, or concentrate. Is this appropriate?

It is working for him, but surely the TA is there for the whole class? But on the other hand I can't see them providing him with individual support for dyspraxia. Can you tell I'm in a muddle?

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chopsterHeadsOffEverybody · 22/10/2007 08:51

Been reading through old threads on dyspraxia to find out what support other children get, and it does seem like ds1 is pretty well off atm.

I do have another question though, what is the difference between an IEP and the statement. Are the assessments done by the same person? Ds1 does have an IEP, and in there it says about the TA supporting him, amongst about 1001 other things.

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mamadadawahwah · 22/10/2007 10:26

An IEP is the learning plan comprised of short term goals, annual goals and objectives that will be pursued for your child during the year. An IEP ideally should be determined by you the parent, and the teacher. Often IEP's are just furnished by the teacher and parents are not even invited!

ask to be part of it. If there is an IEP already, ask to see it.

an IEP outlines what your child is going to learn, based on his present level of academic achievement and will outline whether the curriculum needs to be modified.

very complex stuff but generally its a road map for the child AND the teacher to ensure there is actual measurable proof that your child is learning.

dont accept waffly words and statements like "could, should, might, can be, etc.

An IEP should state exactly what will be done, what the expected outcome will be, what time frame it will be carried out in, and what it will look like, when success is achieved.

hope that helps.

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chopsterHeadsOffEverybody · 22/10/2007 12:18

thanks for that! The IEP was done between the senco, teacher and TASS, I wasn't involved and haven't even seen it. I was given another set of information for me to help him develop at home, but told the bits in the IEP weren't relevant to me! I hate this feelign that it's allnothing to do with me.

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flyingmum · 22/10/2007 17:35

Hi

It does sound like your son needs a lot of support (mine did too) and it might help the process to get a statement if he has more complex range of difficulties. I have heard that some LEAs will not statement if the child just has 'one thing wrong with them' . You might need to be prepared for further testing, etc, by the LEA EP (who will usually but not always be on the side of the LEA - who pays their salary), speech and language, OT, etc. You might have to pay for your own private assessments which can cost quite a bit. Hopefully you won't but just to prepare you. A statement can also have built into it therapeutic support - the LEA will try and put this in the section which is 'Non-Educational Needs' so they don't have to pay for it the NHS do. DON'T LET THEM. If your child needs OT so he can learn to handwrite that is an educational need.

The school sound as if they are being really proactive and I know my son got his statement by the head phoning up the LEA and refusing to have him in the school full time unless he got one NOW! But that was some years ago and things have tightened up a hell of lot now with budgets and things.

I was completely niaive about this process and I'm a teacher too. Get ready for some weapon sharpening and hard work on your part but it will be worth it.

Good Luck.

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chopsterHeadsOffEverybody · 24/10/2007 08:17

Thanks for that.
I already have a huge pile of assessments that he has already had done, SALT, physio, TASS, and a 10 hour multi disciplinary. We're waiting for OT, been on the list 6 mnths, expected to wait a further 6.

It's taken so much to get to the dx stage, I really hoped I wouldn't have to take him to even more tests - on top of all that he has had lots of bloods, 2 paeds, ecg to rule out epilepsy, etc.

Can't the assessments I have already had done be submitted for the statementing process? I was assuming he would just have to see the EP.

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magic5 · 24/10/2007 13:01

Hi,
be prepared for a fight.My ds2 is asd/adhd,social communcation disorder,speech and language and learning difficulties but was turned down yesterday due to the sch not suppling evidence.Ie that he has outreach,salt,1:1 every morning,small group session every afternoon,izzy wizzy club the list goes on.I have spent best part of the morning on the phone to the LEA trying to sort this mess out.I said i would appeal,they replied they will sort this out before it gets to that stage. This is the second sch that has messed up,the first i complained heavily about from governers,mp up to the ombisman. You have to fight all the way to get what your child needs,its a joke the SEN policy.

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