to not be impressed by the EHCNA currently in progress?

[listlesscat]

Context - we applied as parents for our 12 year old whose transition to secondary school uncovered a whole range of SEND issues that had been missed at primary (and by us his parents)

LA refused to assess, we appealed and before appeal was heard LA changed their mind after i shared the appeal material (more thorough than original request) and are now assessing.

Having lost confidence in LA I'm expecting it all to be disappointing and trying to brace myself for another appeal.

The only appointment that was made as part of the LA's assessment was with a Dr for an overall health check. Is that unusual? I would have thought they'd arrange for EP/SALT to actually meet my son etc. Are they really just going to work with the material we presented while requesting the EHCP?
is that normal?

I'm also concerned that LA don't seem to be involving OT, even though we presented the case for it. I don't know whey they would not be gathering POV of SALT but not OT?

Anyway, having realised that LA's OT's are not necessarily experts in ASD etc., and expecting to have to fight the appeal, we commissioned our own OT assessment, and i'm expecting an EHCP report from OT to arrive, coincidentally, the day before that the LA have set as a deadline for gathering info from professionals.

Does anyone have any idea if they are likely to take our OT report seriously if they have not ticked the OT box on the forms they've shared with me (whereas they have ticked SALT and EP)?

All the LEAs are struggling at the moment. If you're in England, Google and see if you have a Sendias near you. Otherwise look up Ipsea. Both have excellent services for support, there are also good groups to join on Facebook. Good luck, it's all such a battle.

The LA did take account of our OT report as we comissioned the same OT firm that they were using to mop up their backlog. Very bizarrely, and this isn't standard, they refunded is the fee! I will never know how we achieved that.

I wrote a long complaint about how my childs primary area of need was sensory and physical and having no OT report was a farce and somehow it was listened to

I remember, quite a long time ago, that OT wouldn’t come into school to assess and give advice, until the school had worked through exercises that they sent in a folder. When that had been evaluated, we could refer.

Requesting a needs assessment required detailed evidence of what the school had done to improve outcomes, with timescales and reviews. There was a report from the EP and any other professional involved.

I know it’s much more difficult to access these reports these days, unless you’re in a position to pay for them.

@Bluevelvetsofa that's the thing, i have paid for an OT assessment, and i told the LA we were doing that (we booked it while still in appeal against refusal to assess). I'm just keen they don't try to wriggle out of reading it and including its recommendation in ehcp. I feel bad enough that my son's SEND were spotted so late that I'm hoping we can skip further delays involved in another appeal but realise its unlikely