Yr 3 little support in place despite OT assessment

[MrsC24]

I'll try and keep this as concise as possible but DS age 7 but youngest in his year as birthday 31st Aug, was level 1 with his writing and I had hope action plan would be in place but not so as sounds a if children need a bit of extra help it is not available as now in juniors only have TA in the mornings. Sent DS to handwriting lessons on Sat mornings and after 3 sessions they said he needs to go and see an OT. I did ask for school to refer him 2 years ago but instead they got EP to assess him for problems with understanding which proved to be well within normal range.

Paid for OT assessment which was very thorough and tests found DS has weak hips which affects balance and therfore can not sit still for very long, hypermobile at the elbows and problems with crossing the middle line, which is why his drawings are very immature and he can't form some of his letters correctly. He also only has only 2% manual dexterity.

Had meeting this week with OT, SENCO, TA and class teacher. Really pleased all the right people were there but when I tried to pin them down to how much support my DS would get to follow through with the OT's recommendations they struggled to agree to 5 mins a day and said unless he gets a statement (which he wont) there isn't any extra help available. His teacher kept saying I have 28 children in my class which I do appreciate teachers have a difficult job but can't believe within the school the resources are not there. I have bought a pencil which the OT suggested for him to use in school and he needs to go back to printing so he can form his letters correctly rather than do joined up cursive.

I just wondered if this is normal in state primary schools to have just a TA in the mornings and no additional support groups within the school for children who need it? I know schools are given a budget for SEN and it's up to them how they spend it I guess.

[simpson]

Can the OT go into the class to tell/ speak to the teacher about what support he needs??

If you paid for a private assessment , I would go to the GP and get a referrral for an OT at your local child development centre...

To put it bluntly, this sounds pants...

DD is in reception and is hyper mobile too and has daily physio/ OT at school and her OT has gone into the school to talk about what help she needs.

The school have ordered special scissors for her, provided pencil grips, provided extra help at lunch time ie supervising her carrying her lunch tray (she has school dinners) and given her extra hand writing lessons as this is an area she struggles in...

I would not be happy at all

[survivingautumn]

I agree with Simpson - the school could be doing a lot more for your DS.

Both my children have some similar issues. My DS is hypermobile and has big problems with handwriting. He's in year 4 and about to go onto an IEP. He gets 1:1 support with handwriting in class.

DD has mild cerebral palsy and is also hypermobile. We have an NHS OT who comes into school and has ordered equipment including a chair to ensure proper seating stability and special pencils etc.

DD also has problems with her hips and midline and so does a 'Fizzy' programme in school which works with fine and gross motor skills. This is something the school could get a TA trained to provide and offer to children in groups at your DS's school. I think MRZ had a link to some info about it on another thread??

[MrsC24]

Thx for our replies - Simpson - I asked for the OT assessment to be done in the school with myself present and the OT also spoke to his Class teacher and SENCO at the time. The OT also sent a copy of the report to the SENCO and arranged a meeting for last Monday with all the relevent people present but when asked how much support he would get to follow the programme they backed away and said he will not get 1:1 support as he has and will not get a statement! I was not after full time support but additional help for his weakness which is writing and forming his letters correctly. His teacher then said she would work out a time table but it would be up to DS to prompt her as she has 28 children to teach!! He can't even remember to change his reading book.

I have asked the school to refer him to OT which I hope they have done but I had to take action as he will only fall further behind if his needs are not met now. TBH we are in this situation because it has not been dealt with by the school. At least with a professional report they can not ignore it and the OT has come up with some very clear strategies and easy to follow work sheets that can help. I also have some things I can do at home with him.

His IEP has to be reviewed every 6 weeks so I will see if any progress has been made. I just wasn't sure if DS HT was not wanting to spend the SENCO budget or if this was normal practice in all schools.

[simpson]

DD has also just finished a hop, skip and write group with other kids (maybe 6 kids) in a group OT/physio session. It was a 6 week course.

This was done at our local child development centre.it might be worth asking if something like that is available??

[alcofrolic]

We have to do our own OT in school now, as the OT service will not get involved unless a home/school pack has been followed for a couple of years in an effort to reduce waiting lists. OTs only appear for the ASD kids who seem to attract droves of 1:1 therapists (with different specialisms) each week.

We are now required to read through and apply 50+ pages of SALT interventions, as speech and language support has also been culled. We have no idea of the priority of interventions, and no-one, not even the SENCO has had training. Apparently next year, we will get a liaison group SALT, but, due to lack of any joined up thinking, there is no support at all this year.

The cognition and learning team, we learnt last week, has now started charging like lawyers. We were charged for a 3 minute conversation last week - and that was the SENCO actually GIVING the C+L specialist some information about a child.

We have CAMHS abrogating responsibility for a child (they 'can do nothing more for him'), so the school and parents are left with no support. The school is now the sole agency involved in coping with the tantrums and mental instability.

I am appalled by the way we are expected to 'maintain' children through primary school, as specialist intervention services are cut and responsibilities are cascaded to teachers. No effort is being made to solve these troubled children's problems in their formative years. What future are we giving them?