Statutory Assessment help needed please.

[bigknickersbigknockers]

My DS aged 5 yrs is coming to the end of reception year at school. He has EESAP funding but we have been advised to apply for a statement for DS. I now have a rather long form to fill in (Special educational needs parental advice form) Most of it is stuff that only I can answer...
1 What was your child like as a young baby
2 Were you happy about progress at the time.
3 Was there a time when you felt things were not right? If so, when was this? What happened to make you think this? and so on

Then the questions get a little more difficult. These two questions are the ones I am struggling with. can anyone help.
DS has communication and understanding difficulties.

What difficulties do you think your child has which will affect their education.
What help do you think your child needs in an educational setting.

Any help would be greatfully recieved.

sorry for the bad spelling

[lou031205]

Can you break it down?

What elements are there in a school day?
E.G.:

• Carpet time - needs to sit still for x minutes, listening to teacher.
  
  Can he sit still for required time?
  Can he concentrate without support?
  Can he understand what is said?
  Can he contribute without support?
  etc.
  
  When you do that, you might find lots of 'themes'. So you could then say:
  
  DS finds it hard to understand what is said, and finds it hard to concentrate.
  DS needs support to explain things clearly, and regular intervention to keep him on task...
  
  or some such thing...

[bubblagirl]

could you say would have difficulty meeting curriculum socially and academically and language wise

help = 1-1 support , does he need now and next speech therapy, needs things explained clearly several times before understood, help dressing etc write any needs he has then how you feel they should or could be dealt with

for my ds i put social interaction, understanding,settling in new environments would need help with new routine, attention difficulties, speech and language problems, danger awareness and sleeping as he has poor sleep which can affect him at school, sensory issues

i put would need continual support from autism trained TA , help to settle new routine and to understand what is being asked, now and next board to learn structure of the day, help dressing for pe, speech therapy, for some one to recognise sensory issues and remove from situation, to explain things and gain attention by calling his name first

[bigknickersbigknockers]

Thanks Lou and bubblagirl, not sure what the problem is but at the moment it looks like aspergers or ASD. He doesnt understand what is being asked of him unless its broken down into 2 key words. he struggles to dress himself though there is no physical reason why he can't dress himself. He struggles to interact with other childre though he is making improvements in this area. he can sit still but he loses concentration and glazes over and seems to daydream. I feel he needs regular intervention to keep him on track, so does the ed psych. His TA is lovely and has worked before with children with language problems. I am frightened of missing something out because at home he is just our DS, the problems are worse at school. I have read so much on here about parents having to fight for every assessment but it hasn't been like that for us.

[bubblagirl]

sounds like my ds he is 4 language has improved still atypical speech sounds zones out needs structure is not so bad at home but in school setting a different child struggles to interact and play with children without support, loses concentration cant understand group demands needs to be called by his name to gain attention then told

is now on 3 key words but was 2 for along time until language improved with that understanding improved

cannot dress himself although nothing wrong just cant make sense of how to put arms or legs in getting better with pants and trousers not tops

so main thing would be write down all things he cant do or needs help with and work on it that way continuous support is always a good one to write down continuous support in all areas with support my ds can now play and talk to other children but if support moves away he cant do it

[bubblagirl]

oh and statement process varies in some areas in our area essex its well known to be shoddy we are on 3rd re write of ours and still not good
it is a struggle some are lucky though

[bubblagirl]

your ds could benefit from the now and next at school visual chart to show structure of the day my ds copes so well with it and doesn't know what to do if he hasn't checked his now and next and thats him saying it now he really likes the fact he knows what's going on and relaxes so much more

[AMCmum]

Hi there,

Finally the LA has agreed to go ahead with our Leo's assessment of his Special educational needs, I was told by the Nursery which Leo attends that the LA's Educational Psychologist has been into the setting to observe and assess Leo and she would like to meet us myself and my husband next week. I was just wondering whether anyone has had any experience with meeting an Ed Psychologist with regards to obtaining a statement for their child, and if so, what questions should I be asking and what can I expect from this meeting? Any input would be so greatly appreciated! Through the background research I have done our LA is notorious for being extremely difficult about issuing statements, and despite come children having very severe and complex physical and mental impairments they have still be refused outright, so we really do have our work cut out and I'm so nervous about this, fingers crossed it will be a good outcome!!! To be able to get a statment for Leo means the world to me as it would mean that he could go to a good school with the right level of support and means I won't have to constantly worry that there would not be anybody to help him to stay safe and learn and do well, and it would be better than winning the lottery and a lot harder by the sound of things!

Thanks for listening and sharing!

AMCmum