How difficult is it to get an EHCP

[Grandadwasthatyou]

DS, 11, had ADHD diagnosed a few years ago. He thrived at his wonderfully supportive primary school , they knew how to handle him and he felt safe and secure. He still faced problems of course, found it hard keeping on track and could not concentrate on his Sats, although he got really good marks in maths. Friendships were a challenge. He made friends easily but then would sabotage them by being silly and saying inappropriate things so that gradually friends started to distance themselves , eventually refusing to come to ours, always with what could have been a genuine excuse, but we knew the reason really.

He is now in her 7 at High School. It has been an absolute disaster. It started off by him being bullied but he would then get into trouble as he could not help retaliating. If school do not ring at least once a day then I am pleasantly surprised. He has alienated other children and teachers as he has no concept of what not to say to people. He is regularly thumped as he will say something inappropriate to the more " streetwise" kids but I feel as if it has become a vicious circle. Dh, Ds and I all feel thoroughly demoralised.

I have explained his adhd needs should be taken into account in lessons but he is regularly sent out for shouting out or becoming involved in altercations with others.

School have said they will apply for an EHCP. What is the process please? How will this help him?We cannot take much more of him trudging into school each morning with his head down.

[Lara53]

Supply any and all documentation you have to the school to help the process. You and school will have to show how he has not coped at all with the move from primary to secondary and will have to document any methods they have tried to help him. Have you got record of these daily phone conversations, what is said/what are they going to do about the issues/ what works/what doesn't? If not I suggest you start recording/ making notes as can be submitted as evidence.

Is he medicated? If not then this would be a good thing to try at this stage. WE tried everything else forst, but only with the meds did my DN finally begin to be able to focus, calm etc

The LA have 20 weeks to respond to the EHCP application once it's submitted. Generally speaking first time applications are turned down and the reason is cited as lack of evidence, but you then appeal and can often be successful.

Make a meeting asap to chat with SENCo to find out what they are doing etc.

[malmontar]

You apply for an ehcp assessment which they have 6 weeks to get back to you on. From the day they agree to assess they have 20 weeks to issue the plan. It sounds like the school isn’t really doing much tbh, what sort of strategies or interventions have they given him? Things like SMILe therapy and Lego therapy are often helpful in teaching communication and he can access that without a plan. The school should also have a sen communication group at lunchtimes or after school ran by a member of staff who is salt trained. Also you could ask for him to be given a buddy as he is only in year 7 lots of kids still struggle at this point in the term and it wouldn’t be odd for him to get one.

[Grandadwasthatyou]

Thank you both for your replies. We have had to put ds back on a morning dose of Ritalin which has now had an effect on his appetite.
I do not recognise any of these interventions or strategies you mention Mal. Could you tell me what Salt is please? Am going to school for a meeting tomorrow and need to ask them what they are doing to help him.

[malmontar]

Salt is speech and lang therapy. He doesn’t nessacarily need that but struggling with communication falls under that umbrella and those interventions help kids like that. The thing is there’s SO many things they can put in place so it’s very poor that they haven’t. He should not get into trouble in the classroom, if he is than they haven’t put enough strategies in place to make school accessible for him. He needs to be put in smaller classes and if he is in a bigger one he needs a TA at least in every other class. If they are planning to apply for an ehcp they need to exhaust all options at school first. Have they done an ep assessment and did all the request on there? Also, the strategies are mentioned are aimed at kids with salt and autism issues but they are very helpful for kids who struggle with friendship ‘rules’ like being annoying etc.
Before your meeting go through the schools send offer an see what interventions they have on there, and ask specifically which ones he can access. I think if he is being disruptive in lessons he is not accessing the curriculum and they need to pull their socks up as what they’re doing is unlawful. Far too many SEN kids get thrown under the bus by their teachers and their parents get threatened with exclusions etc because the school is not making school accessible for them. Please don’t let them fob you off and if you want to DM me the name of your school I can look through their send offer and see if any particular interventions stick out to me.

[Miscible]

From the day they agree to assess they have 20 weeks to issue the plan

No, the first purpose of assessment is to enable the LA to decide whether an EHCP is needed. They can refuse to issue one, but if so much do so within 16 weeks of when you first requested an EHCP, or 10 weeks of when they decided to assess. If they do decide to issue, they must send a draft around week 15 and must finalise within 20 weeks of your initial request, or 14 weeks from when they decided to assess.

OP, I suggest you get SOS SEN's booklet on assessment - www.sossen.org/shop/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=9942irqjp7ajcm72dn1bj6rpa6. If the LA agrees to issue an EHCP, the booklet on EHCPs is also useful.

[Miscible]

To be honest, you'd be very lucky to find a school able to offer communication groups run by SALT trained TAs these days due to the effects of funding cuts, and it's not a pre-requisite for applying for an EHCP. Likewise there is no requirement for the school to get an EP report first: the whole point of asking for an assessment is that, if it is agreed, it is up to the LA to arrange all necessary reports, not the school.

[malmontar]

As much as all the above is very helpful and so is the breakdown of weeks- obviously I meant that IF they agree to assess its 20 weeks which they likely won’t and you go to appeal but win around 80-90% of the time.
I never said it was a pre requisite, the ehcp process takes a very long time and her son is not managing in school NOW so in the meantime OP needs suggestions of how to go about helping her son. Actually it’s very unlikely a secondary school wont have a ta like that. I’m not talking about elklan training, which is very helpful but even a ta who has had to sit with a child during their salt sessions and than practise with them would be able to run a communications group. The school can even request a pack from their salt provider and it’ll give you different sessions you can run with kids with no experience whatsoever. My point is, they have a lot left to do. I’m not saying that this means he won’t get a plan- no one know this, but he does need help in the meantime and a plan will probably be very helpful but again it’s unlikely he will reap the benefits of having one until the back end of year 7 and that’s if everything runs smoothly.

I’m a tribunal advisor and rep for a charity like sossen and I can also point you to lots of useful information as well a your rights. OP please remember if the school is saying something is their policy eg send him out when shouting out etc, the law says he is entitled to an education and also entitled to appropriate changes being made to accommodate him. They are being discriminatory if they are treating him with a blanket policy used for kids who do not have needs. There should be alternative arrangements in place for when he is struggling in class and he should not be getting penalised for using them. The law always always trumps policy which schools and leas very often forget.
As for budget cuts, it really has no bearing on OPs child. If a trained ta is something your DS needs, the school needs to be using their £6000 SEN funding to get him access to that. You can also ask for a breakdown of how they’ve used this funding and tell them your suggestions. They have to take yours and your sons views into consideration.

[Miscible]

Well no, if they agree to assess it's 14 weeks from that date.

[Grandadwasthatyou]

@malmontar ..school send him out of lessons if he annoys the other students by tapping his pen etc. Well certain teachers do, not all of them. I don't think he's been in a full science lesson yet.
He is just not happy. When I went to get him up this morning he said he hated school, hated the people and hated learning. My heart breaks for him. He was so happy at Primary.

Will dm you from my iPad once I'm home as can't see an option for it on my phone!

[malmontar]

Yea I’m not here to argue with you @miscible. OP can check the details for ehcp timings when the time comes. It doesn’t sound like they’ve even applied for it yet plus it is actually important they have supporting documents such as an EP assessment as without them, yes it is not right, but leas very often refuse to assess on the basis of not enough evidence. I’m not saying this is right I’m just saying it’s very likely OP will be appealing a decision and the more important question in this post is what is going to be happening with her son when she is waiting for all of this.

[Miscible]

The only criteria in law for the first stage of the process, applying for an EHC needs assessment, are that the child has or may have SEN, and may need support through an EHC Plan. That in turn depends mainly on whether the child's needs can be met through normal mainstream resources. LAs often refuse but it is relatively easy to appeal to the tribunal: the process now takes 10 weeks and they deal with appeals on the papers but, more materially, over 85% of appeals against refusal to assess are either won by the parents or conceded by LAs.

If I were you, I would not wait for the school to apply as they do tend to take a long time. There is information on the IPSEA and SOS SEN websites about how to deal with this. In the meantime, I would suggest your remind the school of their equality duties and the fact that regularly sending a child out of lessons rather than making reasonable adjustments for his disabilities is discriminatory and therefore unlawful

[Ellie56]

It is quite clear that the school is not meeting his needs. What happens after he is sent out of the classroom? Does he get to continue with his learning or is he missing out?

[ToDUK]

My experience is that getting an EHCP is straight forward so long as you have enough evidence. Collect all you can in terms of medical reports, school reports, observations, communication with school.