Parent refusing to have their child assessed

[StrongCoffeeAvalanche]

Hi, I don't want to give too many details for obvious reasons.

I am a teacher. A student I teach has many signs of SEN. We realistically cannot cater for their needs as things are. We need to put extra support in place. However due to their strong beliefs the parent is refusing to allow any assessments or help to be offered. They say their child is lazy and just isn't working hard enough. The parent does no believe in neurological differences.

I have spoken to SENCO. For reasons I cannot disclose I also want to look into this myself.

Is this parent breaking any policies? I am wondering if it falls under being a form of child neglect? Is there anything we can do or does parent opinion mean we can't do anything?

The child is desperate for assessment. It is crushing them and their mental health.

Thanks.

This.

I find this odd. Schools can go down the EHCP route and secure additional funding without a formal diagnosis.

The SENCO can still put support into place without a diagnosis.

I remember one of my DDs was assessed by the SENCO for writing speed and fluency, I wasn’t aware until DD told me about it. There must be internal assessments that can be done and based on those support can be put in place. My DS has also had many interventions which I haven’t had to consent to. The child can be helped without his parents support.

It’s odd to me that any teacher would be asking this. It’s a desperately regular occurrence so I’m a bit surprised you haven’t come across it and appear so flummoxed by it.

I totally agree.

none of that requires diagnosis.

How does a student get extra consideration without some kind of evidence @Itisbetter? Can they get this without diagnosis? It will be needed to claim DSA at university?

A 16 year old can consent to their own medical treatment and make their own medical appointments. If a parent is preventing this because of their” beliefs’ surely that is a form of coercive control? Surely the school safeguarding team should involve SS so the teen has an independent advocate?

@RampantIvy How does a student get extra consideration without some kind of evidence @Itisbetter? Can they get this without diagnosis? It will be needed to claim DSA at university?

1. they will need evidence of support used consistently over time in school.
2. yes
3. I don’t have experience of claiming DSA at university

@Justmeandthedog1 surely exactly the same arguments could be made about this teachers input?

That is why the system provides for young people in that position to be provided with advocates. For immediate purposes, the school could get on with a formal request for an EHC Needs Assessment simply on the basis of the young person's consent, they do not need the parent's agreement.

I was below that age when I requested CAMHS (already involved) do an autism assessment. The child can do this if they want. I'm not sure it's neglect at this age.

Perhaps the child DOESN’T want???

The parents don’t care they call the child lazy. Another lost cause by the sounds of it.

It’s possible to be both ND and lazy, and it’s possible not to benefit from dx.

Yeah, and girls with ADHD are 4 x more likely to attempt suicide and boys 5 x more likely.

Let's assume that this anxious child's Teacher thinks this is more than laziness.

The rigid idea that diagnosis is a “solution” or even positive for everyone is a fallacy.

I googled lavender if you are talking about the Glasgow study then it is women and men (as in adults) with dx of adhd. The child in this OP wouldn’t fit that criteria. She is too young and not diagnosed so I think it would be hard to extrapolate her suicide risk. I’m not saying her anxiety isn’t a concern more that we need to be careful what’s driving our decision making.

Im really surprised the child doesn’t have significant input from learning support as she is almost at the end o& her education.

My colleague's parents refused to get a diagnosis for her neuro diversity as a child. She mentioned that she struggled as a child and was punished for her behaviour. Even now as an adult she struggles with authority and workplace culture. It is really sad to see an adult struggle in the way that she does and she doesn't stay more that 18 months in a job.

This is something for parents to consider when refusing to get a diagnosis for their child. Getting early interventions in place makes a massive difference especially when they become adults.

www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/

So, do you not think that interventions and support shouldn't be available?

I think they shouldn’t be (and certainly in school aren’t) dependent on diagnosis.

You are right - it shouldn’t be.
but funding is so tight, SEN departments have to justify every penny and unfortunately the students with a diagnosis will get priority as it is easier to prove the need for help. Budgets are tight, departments are short staffed, it shouldn’t be the way but it just is right now

That’s not my experience @DuchessOfDisco and I REALLY don’t think parents or children should be pressured into seeking medical diagnosis because schools are misdirecting funds. There’s a very clear line between education and health and a VERY different level of training and confidentiality. (I would imagine the consequences if OP was found to have posted this at work the fallout would be very different than if she was a paediatrician discussing a patient for example)

Im really surprised the child doesn’t have significant input from learning support as she is almost at the end o& her education.

Unless a child or young person (CYP) has considerable behaviour problems in class, I’d be really surprised if any CYP was getting significant input from learning support at any stage of their education, without a diagnosis or assessment of some kind identifying significant SEN. Certainly here, children with dyslexia or ASD might not even qualify for anything beyond in school support? From what I saw, children might get a statement/EHCP in primary and their support was taken away by the school in the 6th form, even if it was still specified in the statement/EHCP.

Girls, who tend to mask in school, and sit fairly quietly in class, but unraveled when they got home, were particularly likely to be overlooked in the mainstream education system, especially by 16/17 when they fall down the cracks between CAMHS and adult MH services? However, the effects of struggling all through secondary school can cause mental health problems in adult life?

@Itisbetter

The rigid idea that diagnosis is a “solution” or even positive for everyone is a fallacy.

Why? No diagnosis is ever a solution, because these ND conditions are what they are; but it can be helpful for the individual and family to know why - that it’s not because they are a failure in some way? They can look for strategies or in the case of ADHD, medication?

No adult has to ever disclose a diagnosis of ND to further/higher education or the world of work, or anyone else, if they don’t want to? The one diagnosis I would avoid is BPD, because there is prejudice against that in the NHS - however that is way down the line, for a 16/17 year old, and even that I suspect is misdiagnosed in women with ADHD/ASD?

As I said @Quisquam thats neither how it is supposed to work nor how it does in practice here. I’m sorry that the schools you’ve been in contact with haven’t been doing their jobs.
You most definitely can get an ehcp without major behavioural issues (ffs!) and without diagnosis because MANY quite impacted individuals don’t have a diagnosis. If you are being told you need a diagnosis to relieve support the person saying it is either lying or doesn’t understand the set up and YOU are perpetuating that misunderstanding. These hoops you insist people jump through simply aren’t barriers in the way you describe.

No diagnosis is ever a solution, because these ND conditions are what they are; but it can be helpful for the individual and family to know why - that it’s not because they are a failure in some way?
yes it can be helpful, but it isn’t appropriate in every case and it can be extremely UNHELPFUL in some cases. The idea that it’s a one size fits all path you must leap on to as early as possible is abhorrent. We are NOT all the same. We don’t all need diagnosing and possibly medicating. We are individuals and have the right to think about ourselves in the terms we choose and manage our strengths and weaknesses in our own way.

If a teacher felt moved to push my child towards a path I had clearly thought about while they were in crisis I would be expecting them to be severely reprimanded.

If you are being told you need a diagnosis to relieve support the person saying it is either lying or doesn’t understand the set up and YOU are perpetuating that misunderstanding. These hoops you insist people jump through simply aren’t barriers in the way you describe.

It was not what I was told by any LA officer, or teacher - I am going by my own experiences with two DDs with SEN; and what I heard from countless other parents; or independent professionals, who had belatedly assessed CYP in the mainstream system; or independent lay advocates; or experienced education lawyers.

Do you read the SEN boards and see how often parents are either writing about their appeal to the Tribunal, or other knowledgeable posters are advising them to seek judicial review? The SEND tribunal figures speak for themselves - they only ever seem to increase in absolute terms.

I never said people need medicating - as I said, nobody needs to ever tell anyone else, so how would the option of medication ever come up, unless they wanted to pursue it? After all, the meds for ADHD are usually controlled drugs and are not given out in packets of cornflakes.

However, you tell me when a diagnosis (apart from BPD) is unhelpful, given you don’t have to tell anyone else?

It was not what I was told by any LA officer, or teacher - I am going by my own experiences
then they misinformed you, lied to you, or you misunderstood.
It is FUNDAMENTAL to the entire process that support is based on need not diagnosis.
A diagnosis can provide evidence that you might need support but surely you know the level of need and what support is required for success simply can’t be found by saying X has Y so needs Z?????

However, you tell me when a diagnosis (apart from BPD) is unhelpful, given you don’t have to tell anyone else?
I obviously have no idea what this child’s set up might be but I could imagine,
She is in lower 6 and new to the school and post pandemic. Perhaps the last few years have been hard and she has suffered in ways that aren’t disclosed and are nothing to do with a deficit and more to do with trauma? Perhaps her parents agree that she is nd but know she won’t cope with assessment, new school, a levels and a big diagnosis? Perhaps they come from a culture or background where diagnosis will cause her significant disadvantage and they need to do things more quietly (and schools are horrendous at privacy)? Perhaps it’s as simple as they are planning to emigrate and diagnosis would mean they won’t get the visa? Perhaps they think it will terrify her?

More practically diagnosis of one condition can bar you from services, so it’s possible they are waiting for her to finish and be discharged from something. (Eg an ASD dx used to stop you from getting access to SALT and some CAMHS services)

Its all much more complicated and nuanced than the parents not wanting a dx because they’re phobic. It’s also a massive overstep from a teacher who’s probably spent very very little time with a child that has been nurtured and cared for for 16/17 years. By all means suggest they might think about assessment but the teachers focus should be “what does this child need to bridge the gap from where she is to where she could be”.

I’m not sure why you pick out BPD unless you are talking about misdiagnosis which is a whole different discussion.