EHCP - how young is too young?

[sowingtheseedsofmud]

My AC was placed with me last year.
Aged 2.5 but delayed developmentally (not according to the adoption agency as their lack of development was minimised/ignored).
I'm finally getting round to applying for DLA (been suggested to me by a few different professionals) I think we might get middle rate for care.
AC goes to nursery for 15 hours pw - loves it there and no concerns, developing, but they are still massively behind.
Generally rated as 12 months old developmentally across the board, but did start walking at 2 yrs old at least.
Same with the HV 2.5 years milestones check. Massively behind.

Under the care of:
Community Paediatrician (global D Delay)
Physiotherapist (mobility issues)
Audiology (has hearing loss but 2 year waiting list for op and no hearing aids yet)
SALT (waiting list)

Luckily sight is fine (I think!) as this has been tested at the hospital recently.

Is waiting for genome blood test results (hyper-mobility, EDS etc).

Medics & I have concerns about possible ASD, they definitely present as ND especially because of delays and behaviours.

No history of abuse/neglect (was relinquished at birth)

They are a charming confident happy child, very lovely and very easy to parent & love, but I'm very concerned about them starting school and being completely unable to cope. Have no idea how I will potty train etc.

Should I be asking for a EHCP?

I'm asking on here rather than the SN board because I find that board rather overwhelming and adoption is its own thing with its own things... hard to explain to people not in the 'club'

I'm very much of the view of if you don't ask you don't get.
Given how difficult it can be to get an EHCP I'd take advice from IPSEA/Sendiass
Good luck

You can but try. As Ted says, all these things generally take ages. There certainly are children who start school with an EHCP. You say that he isn't having difficulties in nursery, but that he is significantly behind. Depending on what that looks like, there could be an argument for him needing more support at nursery. I would definitely at least attempt to get the ball rolling for an EHCP as soon as you can so that you have the best chance of getting an EHCP in place before school. If you were considering a specialist setting for primary, I don't think you would have a leg to stand on if you didn't have an EHCP.

I would also be asking questions about ASC diagnosis to your community paediatrician. In some areas it's the community paediatrics team that diagnoses ASD/ASC or they might need to refer you on depending on how things are done in your area. My experience with these teams though is that they don't assess unless you explicitly ask them to, and even then they will still look for reasons not to assess or not to diagnose. Depending on how the child presents, it might be hard to diagnose in such a young child, because ASC toddler behaviour can have some overlap with NT toddler behaviour, which is why some children don't get diagnosed until they are older. Some children do start school with a diagnosis though. Again, if you were looking at a specialist setting, for schools specifically for autistic children, a diagnosis is a prerequisite to entry, so if you are able to move this forward now, even if it's just to get on a waiting list, I would.

My child had an EHCP for generalised delay and attachment/trauma issues at the age of 2.5 (and still has one now as a teenager).

Definitely worth going for. A lot of the information you will be collating to go with your DLA application will also be useful for an EHCP attempt so it makes sense to do them virtually in tandem if you can manage it.

The threshold for an EHCP may well actually be lower at this age than it will be for DLA because the assumption with a young child and DLA is that their peers would also need fairly constant adult attention to function.

If an EHCP is agreed, they may not allocate many hours before school age- so be prepared to fight for more in the year before school starts. That fight will be easier if an EHCP is already in place - so go for it!

I would echo what others have said, go for it. If the nursery won't support, do a parental application. The only thing they could do is say no, and even if they do you can just resubmit. They legally have to do an assessment of need, and that will give you the opportunity to spell out exactly what he needs and why.

If he is behind, I would be banging on every door and making referrals to as many people as possible- how are they planning on supporting him to make progress during these critical years? It's all very well and good them saying it's ok to be behind because he is making progress but actually when you have a 4 year old acting like a 2 year old, it cuts very differently. Are they planning to help him when he is 3? 4? What interventions will they offer then that they couldn't at least have him on a waiting list for now, given that most waiting lists and assessments for asd ADHD and other stuff is 2 years?

I dunno, I feel like it is easy for other people to dismiss adoptive parent concerns on a subliminal level by thinking that it's ok because adopted children will just struggle, and it is inherent to their situation. Obviously they will have their struggles, but to my mind that means professionals should be putting extra stuff into place at the very first sign they fall behind.

The statistics for LAC and PLAC kids educational achievement are dire, especially around exclusion. EHCPs help to quantify and codify the support your child will need so if they attend a provision that suddenly becomes less supportive, or they try to cut costs, it is less likely to be your child that suffers because you have that legal protection.

I would say if you are doing DLA applications as it is, then go for it, there will be significant overlap.

Adopted Mum and SENCo here. The sooner you start the better. Is it right that you will have to fight tooth and nail for every bit of support? No. Will you have to? Yes. If you think it is appropriate, the sooner you get an EHCP in place the better.

Thanks everyone.
F me it's exhausting.

I'm knocking on every door I can, but they never open first time, we've been to so many appointments I can't tell you, but they never actually lead to anything actually happening or any health professionals taking responsibility.

AC came with a clean sheet of health and no concerns (future ones of course due to circumstances surrounding birth and placement into care).
When I raised concerns regarding lack of development before matching panel I was shot down and gaslit.
I'm so furious they were in 'care' so long and reams and reams of paperwork and medicals were produced of zero value/reality, AC was expected to return to BM and so that was another reason nobody gave a shit.

I'm a solo parent and I am scared I don't have enough energy for the fight even at this age, and I'm sick and tired of everyone just accepting AC's delays because they are adopted.
It makes me so F ing angry.

They are such a delightful child, and so full of joy, I hate the idea of them hating school and potentially struggling their entire lives because I couldn't get the help they needed in these critical years.

I hate how these kids are written off

@sowingtheseedsofmud oh I get this completely. We started pressing for answers about why stuff wasn't picked up on and refered on pre AO and were told very much that it was just them taking time to settle down, that there was nothing to worry about, yadder yadder yadder.

My favourite part was all the LAC medicals that just left half the stuff blank because it wasn't needed or thought to be required. I attended their last medical for each of them and it was so ineffectual that I was actually scared. Nothing was actually measured looked at, examined, it was just a vague chat with me, then when I pressed about issues they said I should just raise them with the gp if I was worried. What is the point of a LAC medical then?!

It was shocking, honestly.

Stuff we applied for 18 months ago is just about coming into fruition because we ignored everyone who told us to let them settle in and got them assessed and seen. It's just about now coming into àction, which is good or else we would be absolutely at crisis point.

Anyway, as a solo adopter you must be knackered. Do keep fighting because it all ultimately gives you a chance of respite later on, and because the sooner stuff is in place the better it will be later on. But give yourself time to rest and space to work things out, else you will exhaust yourself.

I'm glad LO is happy- they sound like an absolute treasure, and like they light up a room when you walk in. I agree, it's terrible how people just let stuff slide when they are in care and expect adopted parents to do the same. Like, I don't prize academic progress over all else, but I also feel that if they arent where they should be, it isn't their fault and therefore extra attention should be put into making sure they get there, not just accepting that they are behind and that's it!

Keep on trucking and apply anyway. And for the DLA make sure you write about your worst days.

It is exhausting, especially as a solo parent.

Prioritise what needs doing first, what might feed into or be helpful for another thing on the list...

Try to set aside a particular time to get one job done - a friend has just used Citizens Advive Bureau to help her fill in DLA forms, not because she wasn't capable of doing them on her own - but because it gave her a dedicated time slot and some support/advice.

Definitely start as soon as you can manage because as in our experience the applications can often get rejected. Our local authority gatekeeped and tried all sorts of things to fob us off. We ended up taking our local authority to tribunal (which was actually fairly easy, but more forms!). The value of our son having an EHCP is huge and we got his in place just before he started school. I can’t imagine how he would function at school without the support the EHCP gives to him and it brings stability and school is generally one less thing to worry about (or worry less about). We didn’t know about DLA until afterward but as another poster has said, the info is largely the same. Good luck!

I own a nursery and apply for EHCPs for children of this age all the time - at least 3 or 4 every year. Most children get them in my experience.

I would try and be a bit more positive if I were you. Kids of this age can make a lot of progress very quickly. I have literally seen children go from having no attention span whatsoever, running round the room and pulling things off shelves, to reading the year after. The progress they make between 2 and 4/5 is astonishing really. You do need the right setting though.