should i allow autism outreach to see my son - sorry its a bit long!!

[bjkmummy]

tribunal in feb - trying to get son into a special asd school. he has been out of school since june on a part time timetable. LA in july accept that he needs a new school placement as current school state they cannot meet his needs. Since the LA have dragged their heels hence why i had to apply to SEND. Current school asked and were promised that if my son returned to school in sept 2012 albeit part time they would send in autism outreach for one morning per week.

needless to say its never happened!

she saw him twice in sept and observed him. 1st report she concluded no one single strategy she could offer him and said school said he was perfectly fine. class teacher wrote a report disputing this and listed all the issues they were having.

2nd time, head was so concerned she observed the same lesson. the 2nd report was the same - he is absolutely fine, no sign of anxiety, no issues at all - not a single one. head then responded to her boss and asked why she had failed to say that he was visibly distressed and had his hands over his ears and was rocking!

head again asked when the 1:1 support in a morning would be taking place which was again ignored. the LA OT saw him the day after the outreach 2nd observation and the report was shocking and detailed all of the behaviour the school were really having and it was damning - he will never cope in a mainstream school hence why hes vomitiing and only in part time.

then in nov she returned to school to see the class teacher and after saying not a single strategy she produced a full page full for the teacher - sadly most of them had all ready been tried and didnt work so the class teacher put a copy on his school file. i asked the LA for a copy and i was sent a completely different report which was 3 pages long and had many more strategies including he should have sensory circuits 40 mins twice a day - i realised a couple of weeks later when i got the school file that these two versions of the same report exsisted! i was absolutely furious as it is a deliberate attempt to mislead us. i spoke to his class teacher and he confirmed the only report he has seen/discussed was the one page version.

in dec i was asked to give permission for her to work 1:1 with him - they wanted him to stay for lunch time for her to do it and i said no as he has a gp note for the afternoons plus he would be working through lunch etc so would be hungry. said she could come whilst he was at school in the morning.

in the interim the LA have been hissing at me how well qualified this outreach person is and how she is a qualified teacher so i asked for them to confirm she was qualified. they replied no on two occassions so i asked the tribunal for an order and last week it was revealed that she doesnt have a teaching qualification.

last week they tried to see him with an hours notice - i said no as there was no chance to prepare him for it so i asked for more notice. still silence from the LA but the school have said she has emailed them and she wants to come on weds for an hour 1:1.

so what do i do??? i really dont want her to see him. i just dont trust her - there is no trust at all and in light of differing reports etc but also with the tribunal hanging over us do not want to be seen as being unreasonable. teh school have a very poor opinion of her. so am i being ridicuolus or shoudl i allow it to go ahead - teh reality is will be only 3 sessions before half term/tribunal - dont want the LA at tribunal to apint me as being unreasonable but i just have a really really bad feeling about this.......

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Ask in writing for the reason this outreach person wants to go in, plus the outcomes for your ds she is aiming for. Say that given the track record of poor record-keeping and misunderstanding, not to mention lack of tangible evidence of progress as a direct outcome of this person's involvement, you need to have this information in order to decide whether or not her visit is in the best interest of your Ds. Until then, you do not give consent.

Send that on Monday. When they reply tell them you will think about it and get back to them. Presumably they are trying to meet the late evidence deadline with recent report from this idiot!?

[bjkmummy]

star - i asked for the reason and what work would she be doing with him etc etc at the beginning of dec to the womans boss. they ignored me. when i found out she was trying to see him last weds, i emailed again and said i could not give consent due to the complete last minute of it - i got the phone call at 9am from the school, i had to drive back from my others sons school spoke to school who emailed the sen woman whilst i was stood there and then went home and sent an email again - again said no due to how quick they were trying to see him plus i asked again for a reply to my email on 7th dec and asked that i be informed when they would be seeing him and i wanted a few days notice. on thurs school told me outreach woman had emailed them asking to come next weds for an hour. noone from the LA have contacted me to tell me despite me asking in writing that they did, they outreach woman has never spoken to me which i find odd - apparently she got all the info of his file and we all know how accurate the info on that could be!

the LA do not know yet that i have both copies of the report. was going to submit both versions when i submit further evidence - i have made reference to it in my case statement. their response from oct makes reference to 'inclusion officer has confirmed that joe has responded well in respect to the additional support made available to him at school ' total lie - there has been nothing and ive also got all teh emails from the head asking repeatedly when they will be coming in 'as promised' the LA been quite sneaky and they have responded to the heads emails by phone calls so no record of their response but ive got enough in writing to show that the head was promised help - both in her emails to the LA and to me. also doesnt helo the LA that when i have asked for the emails from the LA they have admitted the emails have been 'deleted' how convienent!!!

[bjkmummy]

also last week after the school emailed and said mum says no, the head sen woman phoned the school very quickly as she was concerned the outreach woman was already there. the secretary said no she isnt and anyway why would she be here at 9.30am when the email said 11.30am? makes me wonder if it was a deliberate ploy to see him before i found out. i had previously given permission but did also ask what she was going to be doing with him plus i didnt know she wasnt a qualified teacher or that the two seperate reports exsisted. the email to the school last week saying she was coming - she wrote that she was 'unexpectedly' available - more like the LA had a meeting the day before about the impending tribunal! i think that as also last weds is when i got the helpful email from the LA solicitor. this tribunal stuff is stressfull!!!

[Inaflap]

I would ask if there is any way that the school could have someone sit in and observe what happens under the guise of cpd. Your head sounds good and the school are on your side. The outreach worker is she from an asd school or is she the lea bod? If the letter then yes she's been forced to go in. If the former then she could well have been told by the lea to go in but should be a little more removed from then. What you really want is for your son not to respond to anything this person does. Mean on your son but better for him in the lomg run. Perhaps if the school knows of a trigger it could be gently pressed before she arrives. Machiavelian I know but my son's school did this before the lea EP saw him by ensuring he did PE after the maths SATS and lets just say he exploded but we got what we wanted. Talk to the school first.

[bjkmummy]

She is the LA person. I'm really struggling with the thought of her working with him especially as every report she has done is the complete opposite to all of the professional reports. Her report went on about his constant touching of his skin and she wonders whether he is picking at a spot. All the other reports mention this behaviour but state quite clearly it is anxiety based and he is desperately trying to calm himself down but yet she says she see no signs of anxiety.

Just had an updated report this morning from our OT, she saw him last week and the report is damning. He has made no progress and detiorated in the last 8 months. He simply cannot cope in a mainstream environment. All of the reports now say this but you can bet the outreach woman will write a report saying he is fine. She has behaved appallingly towards my son and has never had his best interests at heart. I know part of this is because she is employed by the LA and is new in post so been sent in with an agenda but I just think she behaves so unprofessionally.

The LA ed psych has been nowhere near him since last may and they are calling him as a witness to the tribunal! I'm expecting that they will try and move for him to see him as well but with 3 days to the deadline getting close.

Also have it in writing that this outreach woman will take no part in the tribunal so if I say no I guess they can't now say I'm stoping them having access to my son which I know the tribunal may raise an eyebrow at. Also they will struggle I suppose if the LA try to get an order for her to see him as she isn't a suitably qualified person so I guess I am answering my own query. I just want to do the right thing even if the LA don't.

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

I think you have answered your own question! No way should this woman see your DS before the tribunal. I'm so sorry they seem so unprofessional. The equivalent service in my LA is great and were the ones pushing for a statement. It seems so unfair that your bunch are so obstructive.

[cornyclam]

what are her qualifications?

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Just respond that when you know the purpose of the visit you'll be in a position to give consent, if you deem it appropriate.

If you want, you can be blatant and spell it out for the tribunal by adding 'however, I do not consider an urgent visit for the purpose of seeking evidence against the parents appeal to tribunal whilst having been previously unable to deliver on promises of visits for support, appropriate.'

Again, please clarify.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

........As per my request of the 7th Dec, which if answered then would have given plenty of time to visit.

[mariammama]

There are a number of good, freelance, properly qualified ASD teachers about. Tell them that you don't consent for him to see any half-trained workers.

And if the LA insist that an ASD advisory service report is essential, you can agree and offer to organise an independent one ... to advise how much qualified ASD teacher input he will need in his statement.

[bjkmummy]

well think my son has decided it for me anyway - he has been vomiting again tonight and is saying he isnt going to school - enough is enough - im not going to send him. sending him is not helping him, just making him more anxious. hes made no progress at all according to the reports in the last 8 months that i have been sending him in part time so think i am just building up more problems for him by trying to play along with the stupid game playing. 4 weeks to tribunal now - no sign of the EWO in the last 6 months. the report today is damning, no sign of our social worker, TAC meetings were withdraw when we said we were going to tribunal - ive had enough of it all. time to take a step back and enjoy my son and try and keep him safe and healthy