Place you bets here - are we going to tribunal again?

[StarChartEsq]

Amended statement due end of this week. We had the proposed, we rewrote it completely, promised it by end of week.

Should I currently be downloading appeal forms?

[bochead]

yup

[utah]

If it is a complete rewrite then I would have the forms downloaded so that makes me a bet for yes.

[TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission]

oh I do hope not!!!! Although admittedly I would probably be printing the forms off myself.

[StarChartEsq]

To be fair the complete rewrite was probably not necessary, and I said a lot of what they said (just better) and crossed out most of the drivel.

The thing is, last time I was requesting ABA. This time I've not bothered but requested increase SALT. However, this is just as the Head of Autism has become responsible for the SALT eduation budget

[appropriatelytrained]

It's a toughie, Star, maybe they will see this as a good compromise and go with what you suggest.

I think they don't argue about the stuff that doesn't cost. So it depends on how much any increased provision will cost against a cost of Tribunal.

Hopefully, it can get settled without the need for another Tribunal case. How stressful!

[StarChartEsq]

Well it's the usual 'ds will have access to 20 hours TA support' reworded to state 'ds will receive 20 hours of 1:1 support exclusively for him, 5 hours of which will be at lunch time'.

You know the drill, if not directly, through this board......

They suggested on the phone that this is of course what they meant in the statement, so I would just like it written as so.

Actually, just realised that I have a bit longer to appeal as it won't be the final statement that I get, so I can by return of post tell them to finalise it so I can appeal.

[StarChartEsq]

YOu know what I have realised though? I feel like I have come home.

I had 18 months of shite crap fighting, letter writing, stress, unfairness, fighting the evil and then we lost the tribunal and I become powerless and rested. But now I have my energy and power back, my power to change things, my power to address their failure of ds and I'm in such a bloody good mood about it which I never expected.

[StarChartEsq]

Oh God. I hope she's alright. Sorry to hear that!

[StarChartEsq]

I didn't. I got ill (related to stress) and then dh went out of the country for over week and I could just about hang onto the essentials and that's all.

[StarChartEsq]

A well, have sent two stress-relieving emails today.

First to the Autism Advisory teacher who visit ds and who's report said under 'parental views' that 'parents were unable to attend'.

I told her to change it to 'parents were able to attend and would have done had they been informed that there was going to be a visit'.

The other to the SEN Case officer regarding ds' transition that I do not give consent for anyone to vist ds without a week's prior notice to me informing me of the purpose and inviting me to attend.

But I feel much better.

[StarChartEsq]

Just found out today that the school we are sending ds to is STILL appealing against ds' placement there. Grrrrrrrrr.

No idea on what grounds this time. The LA told them to bog off the first time round.

[moondog]

Why do yuo want more s/lt?
Most if it is a complete waste of time for kids with ASD.
Why do you want to sned your ds to a place that deosn't want him?

I am confused.

Dark humour guffaw at s/lt having heart attack.Tonnes of them realise most of what we do for kids wih ASD nothing more than pointless box ticking exercise.

[asdx2]

Well I'll race you unless the LEA themselves at least recognise that they are going to look a bunch of cunts at tribunal and decide to amend the statement to save themselves the humiliation

Do you want a laugh? At the end of the meeting with the LIO yesterday he said he'd send his minutes and could school and myself send ours. I said no problem but don't bother with yours I've got you on dictaphone. I thought the poor bloke was going to conk out on the spot until I assured him I was joking (unfortunately)

[StarChartEsq]

Moondog, I'm to trying to drown out LA provision with NHS provision as it is more accountable.

If a SALT can direct the TA instead of the Autism Nursery Nurse I feel we have a chance. It's clutching at straws but straws are all I have. DS has made no progress since attending Nursery. Our LA have a blanket policy of refusing ABA and taking parents to the high courts and beyond if they win it at tribunal. There's a joint JR being planned but that won't help my ds in the mean time.

[StarChartEsq]

LOL asdx2

[asdx2]

To be honest for us the majority of SALT input for dd has been useless but we got the community SALTs who I don't know whether they were particularly poor or whether that is what you usually get. But I somehow lost faith when I saw the SALT hand over a bunch of identical objective sheets for each of the children she had seen in the school.Seeing as dd was the only one with autism and spoke like a BBC newsreader I couldn't for the life of me work out how her objective could be the same as the little boy with severe verbal dyspraxia.
For ds though we had a SALT from CDC who dealt only with communication disorder and she was fabulous. She didn't bother with all the repeat testing that the community ones did. (useless when dd memorised everything and repeated everything rote from the time before) and she didn't do an awful lot of direct therapy with ds either but she taught me so much, how to communicate with ds how to pick up his clues, how to address some of his behaviours (probably precipitated by the missiles he threw at her from his vantage point when I let her in and even though she left when ds was 4 and still non verbal I think much of the credit for him having pretty much normal speech at seven was down to her tbh.

[moondog]

I see.
The Lancashire Judgement issue is useful.If you can prove they are not adhering to s/lt recommendations, then you can get them on no n compliance.

God, what a sickening farce.

I'm going to a presentation on ESDM with Prof. Sally Rogers talking about it btw on Monday.

Also had Prof. Hastings give us the latest research on ABA fresh from Norway (Sigmuind Eldevik).ABA providers got LEA there to let them set up EIBI model with exactly same amount of money as the eclectic package usually on offer currently costs.

You can imagine the results.

That's going to be such a seminal paper in a year or two.
Will change tide that perceives ABA as only expensive home based provision.

[working9while5]

Moondog, I appreciate you have strong feelings about our profession as do I, and I get what you're saying but there is a distinction between what slts do in the NHS and the profession as a whole globally etc. I don't think slt is a waste of time for kids with asd. Ideally excellent training and cpd in s and l should marry with extremely rigorous data collection and analysis and understanding of behavioural principles within the context of a proper team etc offering eibi etc but even as it is, some of what we do re training others eg Hanen More than Words or Blank or even ELKLAN has its own value. I would like our future role to involve being on top of language and communication research to add different perspectives to teaching practices whether mainstream or aba etc. There is much work to be done in aba when you get to higher level language, understanding of nonverbal communication etc, development of extended spoken and written narrative etc, conversation. We can often see things others can't always analyse especially re language comprehension. Vince Carbone, the Eden Faculty, Frost of Bondy and Frost PECS fame.. Many ABA programmes have been designed with SLTs. We started as behaviourists in our profession were derailed by Chomsky but are getting back an understanding of the role of sysrematic input and task analysis.. but not all non ABA research is pointless or a waste and I think if you think it is you should walk away from the profession. Its easy to knock eg 'processing' accounts but in terms of many kids it can be instructive and targeted therapy can and does help students make meaningful and sustained progress. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[StarChartEsq]

It remains bollocks

'up to 30 sessions of SALT of approximately 60mins duration to include direct and indirect therapy which may be observation, report writing, liason, telephone calls blah blah blah'

And

'access to 20 hours of TA support to include 1:1 and group work as appropriate'

Fucking morons!

[asdx2]

Oh god see you at tribunal then

I haven't yet got an amended statement just a letter of intent that they intend to name a non existent provision. Only the LIO believes it will be impossible for him to issue an amended statement naming a non existent provision (computer says no) So currently pestering SEND to see if they can deal with it at case management level because of the non existent provision.

Fucking morons here too