School denying diagnosed SEN. Where to turn?

If he copes at school - I can't understand why you would be seeking one for him. School are managing his needs well.

OP’s DS clearly isn’t coping in school, and school clearly aren’t managing his needs well.

It is possible to get an EHCP for a child who masks at school.

No, not all pupils mask like some autistic pupils do.

I think, in your position, I would write off primary school as he’s nearly finished anyway but make absolutely sure that you have confidence in the SENCO at his High school. Arrange to meet them in advance, take all documentation and get the right school support in place.

It’s ridiculous to imagine autistic people can’t be outgoing. Shocking that school feel they can make decisions based on outdated cliches.

Based on this then I need one for my child. Never stops moving. Ever.

If EHCPs were granted on home alone then I would suspect about 80% of children in schools would have one which is untenable.

If he copes at school - I can't understand why you would be seeking one for him. School are managing his needs well. That's great news.

All children 'mask' in school. That's pretty normal conformity right there. Reasonable adjustments work for these children.

Sounds like you need support at home. You - yourself may need the support OP.

And you can use the report recommendations to go in the EHCP.

@CanYouSeeWhatISee we used a company called ACE SEN who were based in Essex. It was set up by a lady called Nicola who used to work as an LA Autism Advisory teacher. She then set up on her own.

They are very reasonably priced (much cheaper than all of the other private reports we got) and can do remote assessments if you are too far away but I know that they do travel hundreds of miles to support people. I think that Nicola's assessment of our kids really helped us in getting the EHCPs. She is willing to attend tribunal too.

We don't personally know her, we just happened to come across her company and we're very grateful for the help that she gave us. She saw exactly what we see and we didn't give her a heads up either!

The autism advisory teacher will talk to your child about school and can also go into school to observe them in class. They make recommendations on what can be done in class to support the child.

Yes - it does occur that teachers and schools fill in forms, etc with info that vastly differs from the info provided from all the other sources.

Just remember, the info any school provides is just a small part in the overall scheme of things; schools don't play as big a part as they might think they do.

You, the parent, are the one that makes the real difference by negotiating your dc through the 'maze'.

I can provide some light at the end of the tunnel.

OK, he's struggling now. But he will be in secondary soon.

Secondary are going to see it more clearly. There is such a change in expectations and routine; he will also be beginning there with the diagnosis in place.

It took til my eldest began secondary for his autism and adhd to be noticed - I knew, I'd lived with him 11 years! But primary had denied there were issues despite him having speech delay, double incontinence, no attention span for classes or for listening, stimming, no social skills and a lot of food issues.

I pulled my youngest from primary to home ed til secondary, referring her for an assessment during that period. Best thing j ever did.

@Itsanotherhreatday that’s not true in our area.

This isn't true.

Ds was diagnosed by a developmental paediatrician and DD by a SaLT in the neurodevelopmental team.

Maybe it's true for your area as all are different.

We had this with the primary school, denied need for 3-4 years despite an NHS diagnosis for both kids.

Applied for EHCPs and the school fought us the whole way. Eldest got their EHCP in the summer term of year 6. Lasted 5 months of year 7 before having a complete breakdown and no more attending mainstream secondary. Started a specialist setting at the beginning of year 8. Academically able but really struggles socially (something that I saw happening throughout primary which the school denied).

Second child stopped coping with school half way through year 6 and never went back. Got their EHCP in the first term of year 7. By the February of year 7 couldn't cope despite the secondary really trying to help. Hasn't been back since and it's been over a year. By the time they start their specialist setting, they will have been out of school for two years. Again, academically able but just cannot cope from a sensory perspective.

Incidentally, the secondary school spotted the needs immediately and backed us regarding the EHCPs.

If I'd known then what I know now, I would have removed them from that Primary School.

However, it did feel good bumping into the head and making them aware of the expensive education my kids are now getting, despite them resorting to underhand methods to try to stop my kids getting the support they needed. An education they probably wouldn't have needed, had they been properly supported when they were younger.

Apply for that EHCP, the school won't back you but make sure you get your own private ed psych and perhaps private autism advisory teacher reports for evidence.The LA and NHS ones won't be worth the paper they're written on!

There are organisations that can help:
SOS SEN
IPSEA

Just be aware that many children like our can really struggle when they transfer to secondary. Start talking to the secondary SENCO now.

Targets do not have to be educational, they can be based around SEMH

If he is on the register, he is entitled to an individualised plan and termly meetings by law.

Who did the referral for the sensory needs assessment? Not familiar with this as DS didn’t have one probably due to age when finally diagnosed and that behaviour stopped during teen years. Can you go back them and say he needs to be observed in school?

As recent ASD diagnosis, can you contact community paediatrician or whoever did it if different from the sensory referral and ask for advice as well?

Is he on the school SEN register? Does he have an IEP/Assess, plan, do, review or whatever your school calls it? This should be a termly plan that issues targets based on reports provided by external agencies where relevant, or decided by the teacher/SENDco if no outside agency involvement. They should be allow both pupil and parental voice and be reviewed termly at a meeting outside of the usual parents meetings.

Has school actually said ‘we don’t agree with the diagnosis’ or have they said ‘we can meet his needs in school without an EHCP”?
When he got his diagnosis, did you not have a meeting in school with someone from CAMHs / paediatrics autism team to look at how to support him? That’s what happens in my LA even if they don’t have an EHCP.

Hes not doing that at school though OP? So unless they are reporting concerns and he is coping at school, meeting attainment levels, there’s not much else you can do as regards to an EHCP at the moment.

They do have to make reasonable adjustments though as you know, so make sure you put what you feel he needs in writing and ensure it is carried out. Complain, complain, complain if not.

With regards to the school not accepting an NHS diagnosis of Autism, I’d put in a formal complaint to Head including who said this and when. I assume you’ve shared the diagnostic report with them?

I have to say, my DS was very similar to yours at that age in terms of spinning around, running all over the place, and was totally fearless climbing trees, jumping off high walls, parkour etc. We had to take him out for runs as you would a dog! He also did this at school though and was very behind in attainment as he wasn’t interested in anything academic and lived in his head full of superheroes and monsters. He was very popular and sociable as well as he was hilarious. His primary thought he was just badly behaved. He wasn’t actually properly NHS diagnosed with ASD and a mild learning disability until he was 17. He had an NHS diagnosis of learning difficulties at 11 but didn’t meet the criteria for ASD.

Things got very hard for DS in secondary school who were horrendous with him.

You’ll have to see how he copes at secondary and apply again for EHCP assessment if there are problems. If the school refuse to engage, like my DSs did, make sure you complain very loudly up to Governors.

We had to apply 3 times for assessment from Yr 7 to Yr10 as LA kept saying school weren’t showing what support he was getting (because he got none). Had to complain to Governors in Yr10 for successful assessment and he finally got an EHCP at the end of Yr10.

I’d make an appointment with the secondary school and discuss with them before he starts, following up by email with what’s been said. I did that with DSs secondary school, fat lot of good that did, but hopefully yours won’t be as bad!

DD was diagnosed with ADHD and it wasn't a psychiatrist that diagnosed her it was a pediatrician at our local hospital.

The majority of all appeals are upheld, the success rate for refusal to assess is slightly higher than refusal to issue but it is still the majority. This article (and the statistics linked if you’re interested) is worth a read.