Wait after ADOS till we find out….

Don’t let the school fob you off requesting an EHCNA. Some incorrectly say it isn’t necessary/DC won’t get an EHCP.

The school should be able to provide a daily timetable in advance. There might occasionally need to be changes but they could notify you/DD as soon as they are aware. The school and staff should already be aware of DD’s needs, but reiterating that to staff and updating them on the diagnosis should happen.

A better transition into school could be looked at too. For example, would it help DD if she arrived 5/10 mins early or late via a quieter entrance? Do they have someone who could meet her each morning? Do they have somewhere where they could provide a softer start in the morning?

@Headfirstintothewild Thank you, this is all really helpful.

I have a short meeting with the SENCO and class teacher next week; the SENCO is quite patronising and 'takes charge' of the conversation, so I find it hard to be assertive with her.

I also think she doubted any ND and I've felt quite fobbed off by her. She also seems okay at coming up with practical solutions to immediate problems, but fails to look at the big picture. (Ie uniform accommodations, but fails to see that the sensory issues are worse because of school anxiety).

DD also finds it hard to articulate why she doesn't want to go to school.

On response to telling the SENCO about DD's diagnosis, she just said that she was looking forward to seeing the report and the recommendations it might provide.

What sort of things do you think it would be good to suggest they implement in the meantime?

• Are schools able to provide a daily timetable in advance so DD knows exactly what's happening that day before she goes in? (They do have a class visual timetable in the room)

• A more consistent transition into school? Not sure what this would look like or whether it would help...

• Just general understanding? DD had to ask her teacher last week for her spare trousers as hers had got wet at lunch. DD asked her teacher where she should change. Instead of just telling her, her teacher asked her where she thought she should get changed. DD knew the answer, but I think wanted to be certain.

@Namechange65475

I wouldn’t delay requesting an EHCNA. The legal threshold is relatively low (has or may have SEN, and may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP) and based on needs, not diagnosis.

If you request an EHCNA and the LA agrees to assess, an EP report will be part of the needs assessment. SALT, OT and clinical psychologist assessments can too.

Personally, unless money is no object, I wouldn’t seek an independent EP assessment now before applying for an EHCNA. Anyone good will have a waiting list and you don’t want to delay applying for an EHCNA. Also, if you apply for an EHCP and have to appeal at a later date, as many do, by the time you get to a hearing, any report now may well be considered out of date. And, if the LA e.g. agree to assess but not issue you may decide instead you desperately need to target your money at e.g. independent OT and SALT reports and the LA EP report will do (not brilliant but satisfactory compared to the need to get independent SALT and OT).

Whether you decide to look at private therapy sessions and tutoring now is up to you. But, if the choice is between paying for therapy sessions &/or tuition now or being able to afford independent assessments should you need to appeal, potentially more than once, during the EHCP process, then I would always choose the latter. To explain, independent assessments to secure support via an EHCP will in the longer term provide far more support for DD than the majority of parents would be able to fund themselves.

@Headfirstintothewild I assume that it's best to wait for the diagnostic report before applying for the EHCNA? (Said the report would be 4-6 weeks).

I had been thinking about getting a private educational psychologist assessment; should we wait?

Also, I think DD would benefit from OT, play therapy and tutoring: should we start looking into (some or all) privately now?

Thank you 🙂

@Namechange65475 definitely request an EHCNA.

@Headfirstintothewild No, but I think I will be applying for an assessment.

As above, despite the school refusal (we are frequently late and although sometimes she is okay going in, other times she displays distressed behaviour), there is no consistent transition process into school (we do go through the office, even on days she is on time and okay about going in, but that is only because she requested we do that one day and now it has become a routine, nothing the school suggested).

I arranged a private OT sensory assessment which concluded that she had "significant sensory modulation differences" and apart from putting a band on her chair, none of the other recommendations have been implemented.

She has gone down from greater depth to expected in reading and nothing has been looked into as to why.

She struggles a bit with handwriting (large and messy for her age, awkward grip, complains her hand hurts). I've given her a pencil grip, which she says helps (and the OT subsequently approved), but again, the school didn't pick up on this and have done nothing else with her apart from a very short small group intervention in year 2, which doesn't seem to have really helped. (She's not the worst in the class for handwriting skills so I think the school just shrug their shoulders a bit).

I did feel as though I was going crazy a bit as due to the lack of intervention, the school has made me feel as though it's all in my head!

@Namechange65475 does DD have an EHCP?

Thank you. In addition to everything else, I think it will give me the confidence to be more pushy with the school.

There are a lot of high needs in the school so I can maybe see how children slip under the radar when compared to the ones who are non-verbal and/or have very outwardly-facing behaviours. And their report was done six months ago; I think some of her behaviours have been a bit more obvious to her teacher since then as she has become more comfortable with her (DD told me she tried to lick her teacher's lanyard yesterday as she was marking her work; she said she didn't know why she did it).

But we've been dealing with intermittent school-refusal for the past 18 months, they're aware of her massive sensory issues with clothes and her anxiety around toileting. On a day a couple of weeks ago when we'd struggled to get her in, even one of the office staff referred to her son, by saying he also had SEN, for goodness sake. What does it say when the office staff can pick up on SEN, but the SENCO can't?!

I feel pretty gaslit by them tbh, as I have been really doubting myself and going crazy by over-analysing everything.

Oh and also, because of the school's report, they had originally refused to assess (was a private provider, via RTC) - despite the fact that she had been seen by an NHS paediatrician and accepted on the NHS waiting list.

@Namechange65475 I am glad you have a diagnosis now. at the school saying there’s no issues.

Thanks also to @Headfirstintothewild for your reassurance both on this thread and others 🙂

Sorry for not responding earlier! That's great they've picked up on your concerns, it must be a relief.

My DD has also just been diagnosed. The report the school gave them said they had no concerns 🙄 but she met the threshold in both the ADOS and in my information.

The ADOS report apparently said that she was very friendly, well-behaved, creative and imaginative, but that she had unusual eye-contact, struggled with two-way conversation, had little understanding of emotions or relationships and displayed sensory-seeking behaviours.

@Lmgb1981 Good luck for tomorrow...

Our final appointment is next Friday..

@Headfirstintothewild @Lmgb1981

That's interesting.... I don't think my DS would either (he's just turned six). I'm pretty sure he's not ND, but he's quite sensitive and can be quite shy (more so than DD) in certain situations.

@Namechange65475 lots of DC would ask where the assessor was going. As I said though it isn’t just about what is said/not said.

I realised I put the quote marks in the wrong place in my pp. DS3 had had enough by that point in the ADOS and wasn’t at his best, but he can be just as direct now.

@Headfirstintothewild Ha, nothing if not direct!

Having to wait so long for the outcome has made me think about it too much in general though.

Like, module 3 (which I think can be used from about 5/6 if verbally fluent?) is quite skewed towards older, more confident children.

Like, would a NT 5/6/7 year old really ask an adult they've only just met where they were going in response to "I'm going on an aeroplane"?

@Namechange65475 It may well do. It isn’t just about what they say (or don’t say) but how/body language etc.

DS3 (ASD diagnosis) didn’t ask for the puzzle pieces either. He tried to get them himself a few times and when the assessor put her hand on them so he couldn’t get them DS3 loudly sighed and “exclaimed how do you expect me to finish if you won’t give me the last pieces?”

Thank you... I have been driving myself crazy over-analysing it. (And going just by what my DD told me about it!).

This was with a private provider via Right to Choose. However on the NHS letter sent confirming DD was on the waiting list, it talked about next steps (2-3 years away in our area! 🙄) and in reference to the ADOS, it stated that 4 out of 5 who are assessed (I guess in our area) receive an ASD diagnosis.

@Headfirstintothewild Yes it is quite clever the way it has been designed.

I feel like my DD was quite ambiguous. Like the puzzle task, not asking at first, but then saying something. (Would saying "I need more pieces" score differently to "Please can I have some more pieces?" or "Please can you pass me some pieces?" ?) Answering some of the emotions questions, but not all. Playing imaginatively, but not asking personal questions. I think she would have scored something, but whether that is enough to reach the threshold, who knows.

@Namechange65475 when DD2 had her ADOS (diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome - prior to the switch to ASD) the puzzle task was interesting. She is articulate but when she needed the remaining pieces she didn’t ask for them even when the assessor repeatedly moved them out of her reach.

Your DD’s ADOS may have used a different scenario other than a birthday party.