Why won’t they assess my poor little boy?

[Candycanesallround]

My 4 year olds EHCP assessment request has just been turned down for the second time. First time was because his preschool hadn’t submitted enough cycles of evidence, second time because they felt more time was needed to see if their ideas helped him make any improvements. He’s been at the preschool 10 months. His ASD/ADHD has been confirmed by various professionals who have all assessed him and written reports confirming this. They have all recommended he needs the support of an EHCP. He has no learning disability and is very bright. But he is hugely impulsive, no danger awareness, very very hyperactive although when he is very interested in something he can hold his attention and focus well - but only when it is something he’s really into, like a puzzle. He has good language skills - not such great back and forth conversation skills. Physically very able which is good but his speed and strength combined with his impulsivity and lack of danger awareness terrify me. I am going to have to go through an appeal tribunal. No idea if I will be successful.
I have zero and I do mean zero support. I have a 7 year old daughter who is lovely but I constantly feel
guilty she plays second fiddle to her brother and his additional needs. I never have enough eyes or hands or time to do it all. I work part time. His dad lives with us but is basically a hologram in that he looks like he’s here but he isn’t really. He goes to work and watches tv the rest of the time; he hasn’t even read any of our sons reports and when I tearfully told him the EHCP assessment request I’ve been fighting for has been turned down again, his response was “I thought that was all sorted?” 🙄 No family. Lots of lovely friends but they all have their own kids and issues etc.
I cannot overstate how through the roof my stress levels are.
why won’t they assess him? Will they ever assess him? What happens if they don’t? Will he literally just be left to struggle in school without help?
I honestly cannot breathe sometimes with the worry.
any knowledge or advice appreciated. Thankyou

Maybe -@Phineyj but he is not in school yet. Always useful to consider progress when in school. Also need support from husband to support OP and son at home.

Don’t let anyone put you off appealing. You request a mediation certificate from the mediation company. To appeal, you submit the mediation certificate along with the SEND35a form, evidence and decision letter from the LA to SENDIST.

This is not true. The key part being that there has to be evidence that special provision (i.e. outside
Of universal and targeted provision) may be needed. The diagnosis is not in and of itself sufficient evidence of this, though of course it helps.

I am an ed psych.

Respectfully, I would first put your efforts into getting an EP to see him. They will likely have much useful advice and strategies to give school, and their report will support an ehcp application much more than a non-specialist. It is really not good for children and families that many LAs (due to funding cuts) have worn their EP service down to the barest minimum such that children are being put forward for statutory assessment before having the opportunity to work with an EP and benefit from their expertise.

An ehcp written without EP involvement is likely to be much much less targeted, accurate and helpful.

An ehcp written without EP involvement is likely to be much much less targeted, accurate and helpful.

Legally, an EHCP should never be written without advice and information from an EP (Reg 6(1)(d) SEN Regs 2014).

An EP assessment is not required prior to an EHCNA request. One is part of an NA.

But the EHCP assessment process involves the child being seen by an Ed Psych? And as far as I can tell that is all most LA Ed psychs are doing - EHCP assessments - so wouldn't it make sense for her to appeal for that?

I know when I tried to find an Ed psych privately earlier this year, most were unavailable because they too were working for LAs...

You've had better, more detailed advice but I just wanted to say don't be scared of the appeal. We found it much less frustrating than dealing with our LA. You expect it to be bigger and scarier but actually it was affirming, and a relief to feel believed for once. Like breaking up with someone who's been gaslighting you and moving on to a healthier relationship. They are set up to be navigable by a non-expert parent.

I do feel for you doing it alone though. That really is awful of your husband.

Loads of appeals get settled without it getting to a hearing, and if LA refuse to engage, SENDIST can compel them and ultimately ban them from the hearing.

What is it that you think an EHCP will achieve / change for your son?

But you can't just wait and see because EHCPs can take years. I know what I'm doing (in large part thanks to well informed posters on here) and am already 14 months into the process with another 8 to wait for the (second) tribunal date. I started in autumn of year 5 and at the rate we're going, my DD's not going to have the EHCP until after she starts secondary.

This isn't unusual. It's becoming the norm.

Things can snowball quickly if you wait and see.

Personally I want an EHCP because the school will not later be able to claim they knew nothing of her needs. Because it's statutory.

It is too dangerous to rely on goodwill and what people may promise, in these times.

Schools are legally obliged to provide the support any child needs, regardless whether they have an EHCP or not. The difficulty is that as your DC is only 4, many of your concerns about his behaviours will apply to most 4 year olds developmentally. If after a period of time those behaviours are still prevalent despite interventions being put in place, then a needs assessment may well be carried out again.
Who exactly diagnosed ASD or ADHD?

Thank you for informing me about my job, I have only been doing it 25 years.

It may not be required but as an actual EP I reiterate, it is far far far better to get an ep involved prior to requesting EHCP. That way we can work with a young person over time, suggest a range of strategies over time, learn about they way they respond to intervention, meet the family and give support. This is substantially more impactful, effective and frankly just better all round than calling in a highly stressed EP on a maximum 6 week deadline to observe, test and write a report on a kid they saw once for about 2 hours. And then grumble about the quality of the advice you received.

Advising that he has ASD ADHD ‘presentation’ isn’t necessarily a formal diagnosis. It sounds like they’re saying that yes, some of his behaviours fit the condition, but he would need to be formally assessed for an actual diagnosis.
I’ve never come across such a young child who’s even been assessed for ADHD, let alone obtain a diagnosis. Have you been offered a place on a parenting course such as PPP?

Whilst I agree with you, I would always get an EP report before submitting a needs assessment request especially with a young child where there may not yet be enough evidence but there IS a clear need. We have, in certain situations, submitted the NA request without one but the child would already have significant needs. I would let the SEN team know and they always instigate an EP report.

Well, as an EP, you should know that EP involvement is legally necessary before an EHCP is written and no EHCP should be written without EP involvement. Rather than write the sentence I quoted.

It also isn’t ‘grumbling’ to want the LA to actually adhere to the law.

I thought the waiting time was 26 weeks?! If it's over 2 years I'm really worried. Or is it longer because you've had to appeal?

It is brilliant you as a school can manage to do that, but many schools can’t. In many areas only statutory work is being undertaken.

96% of first tier tribunals last year found for the appellant (usually the parent)
Please appeal. It's not a pleasant process but you can do this.
As for the husband... he needs a wake up call, you all deserve better. Sorry

SOS:SEN sell 2 EHCP booklets for £5 each. I found them very helpful for applying for EHCPs and for appeals.

Their website is good as is the IPSEA one for tips, advice and template letters.

My advice is:

You will need your own private reports, especially an Ed Psych. Book a private one now as it can take up to a year to get it done.
There is a great company called ACE:SEN who can also help with ASD advisory reports and they are very reasonably priced compared to other reports.

Never believe or trust a word that the LA/School tell you. They will bullshit/gaslight you to high heaven to save money. Put everything in writing.

Find a local support group for Autism/ADHD, even if it's a FACEBOOK group and ask other local parents advice on schools/EHCPs . Other local parents knowledge will be invaluable. Knowledge is power. Plus they will help you get through this.

Schools are legally obliged to provide the support any child needs, regardless whether they have an EHCP or not.

Schools must make their best endeavours to meet a pupil’s SEN. That isn’t the same thing.

Incidentally the actual form of EP advice is not specified in the act and some LAs are now trying to cut out the assessment completely because if the tsunami of ehcp requests post COVID, and just getting them to attend a TAC meeting and sign off on the other people's opinions, esp if it's a clear cut case. This is in my view v poor practice and not in the spirit of the SEN regs, even if it isn't in direct contravention of them.

No they are not….they are legally obliged to make an effort to provide support….in reality , this mean they are obliged to do nothing

Oh and the LA and NHS reports won't be worth the paper they're written on. They will downplay everything so it doesn't cost them money. Hence, why you need your own private reports.

Don't delay as a PP also said. My first child's EHCP took about 15 months to get including tribunals for a decent plan and my second child's took about 2.5 years from starting the process off to getting the final plan following several tribunals.

Because he doesn’t need one? Maybe he is just naughty. Maybe he just lacks focus. Not everything is a sen need.

The form the advice and information takes isn’t stated but the actual act of seeking advice and information is.

LAs like to try to get away with a lot of underhand tactics. I have had success during the Tribunal process in requesting SENDIST order an actual assessment rather than the LA’s EP 1 page letter without actually seeing or speaking to the child/school/parents.