What did you guys do with your independent reports...

[adrianna22]

the ones which were originally used for tribunal?

I'm thinking of giving my GP DS independent reports, so that this can be updated on his medical file.. but I'm worried this may back fire, or used against me in future tribunals...

[ouryve]

Why would it?

I don't have any contact with the boys' GPs regarding their developmental stuff to be honest. They're fucking clueless, anyhow. All DS2's reports go to community paed and everything to do with DS1 is overseen by his CAMHS psychiatrist.

[adrianna22]

Hi ouryve

That's what I meant, sorry I call all doctors GP's. Yes I would like his reports to go to the community paed, so they have an updated file about him.

Incase someone looks his independent reports and they disagree with most aspects of the report etc.

[Ineedmorepatience]

Yes I shared stuff with the Paed, Dd3's assessments have been done across 2 boroughs and I have to pass reports from one to the other as they cannot possibly communicate!!

I also gave the paed a copy of the independent EP reports when she was writing her thing for the statutory assessment.

[Anomia10]

Well, IMO, the only people who could use them against you, are the LA - and they already have copies of the reports from the Tribunal. However, by the time you get to another tribunal, the reports are likely to be over a year old, and therefore everybody will regard them as obsolete?

There are certain decisions to be made with reports - for instance do parents want to chase an ASD diagnosis or not, depending on what provision they want? If they have got an ASD diagnosis, its not likely to be possible to go back on that, if they want provision later, where ASD counts against dc.

However, our LA has never used an independent report against us later - although I use them later, arguing that x,y,z are lifelong difficulties and dd is never going to grow out of them, although the way they present may change over time!

[adrianna22]

Anoima.. Say like the NHS paed, originally Made a diagnosis but when DS was assessed by the independent doctor that diagnosis was proved to be wrong. What happens if the paed sees the independent report stating the wrong diagnosis, and demands for DS to be retested????

[orangepudding]

My sons community paed thought that DS doesn't have ASD, she did refer him for assessment but felt he wouldn't get a diagnosis.
Two weeks later I took DS for a private assessment and he was diagnosed. The communication paed has accepted the diagnosis. I'm sure it happens fairly often.

[youarekiddingme]

For me this would depend on whether I had designs on using services of comm pead again or remaining private in the future.
If your likely to see comm pead for check up in a few months I'd send the forms for her to have an updated log of DS dx and difficulties.

I'd take their reaction to the information as my lead to whether I wished to continue having consults with them or not.

Is the dx the comm pead gave 'similar' to that of independent dr? If so its not that likely they would disagree IME.

[adrianna22]

youarekiddingme well.. the paed diagnosed DS with moderate learning difficulties, but when DS was formally assessed by the independent educational psychologist, DS came out with above average intelligence. I think in the future, I am highly likely to use their services again.

[youarekiddingme]

On that basis, personally I'd give her the report. There is a difference between having moderate learning difficulties and having 'normal' intelligence.
My DS is expected or way above for all academic subjects, not achieving PE targets (unsurprisingly!). But he does have moderate learning difficulties related to his hypotonia (writing) and ASD (social and emotional).

Also a comm pead is not an educational psychologist so they cannot argue their findings. they are trained to tests and look at different areas of development. My DS cons pead suggested he see an ex psych for further evaluation.

[Anomia10]

I agree with youarekiddingme that I'd give the community paed the report, and ITA with her that they assess different areas of development. A child with language disorder and dyspraxia can function at a MLD level, although the underlying intelligence is average or above. A paed does not usually do WISC or BAS. It takes an ed psy to do one of the IQ tests and look at the scores on the SLT and OT tests at the same time, to work out if a child is MLD or SLI+dyspraxia.

Its good to get it established now that your dc is of average intelligence, and therefore should be in specialist speech and language provision, otherwise you may come up against it at points of transition like primary to secondary, that the LA suggests a MLD school, as its cheaper. (A continual temptation for LAs, and certainly here if you walk around the MLD schools, you see lots of speech and language children, because the LA tells their unsuspecting parents now, that MLD schools are speech and language schools? Lofl!)

[adrianna22]

Thanks youarekiddingme and Anomia, you are both right..whats ITA?... I'm going to submit this to the comm paed.

Anomia When we went to tribunal, they used his moderate learning difficulties diagnosis so that they can put him into an MLD school. Luckily, my independent educational psychologist came as a witness and did a report on DS and argued that he didn't have MLD. Thankfully, the judge believed my witnesses and he will be going to a speech and language school.

[Anomia10]

I totally agree!