Statementing, ADHD,

[ACH]

Is there anybody with a child with adhd. Struggling with school and getting a statement?

I do know someone who is- she is having a nightmare with the school though. If the school are being difficult you can request a statement yourself. (I did this for my son - not because the nursery were being dificult just because the LEA were messing around with funding).

Have a look on the IPSEA website (don;t know url but type IPSEA into google)- there's loads of info there.

My ds has ADD he was diagnosed at the age of 6. It depends on the age of your child and his needs, the younger the child you stand a better chance of getting statemented. If your child has difficulties other than ADHD this will also help towards the statementing process. What year is your child? what stage IEP? and has he been assessed by all the school professionals ie.Education Psychologist, school paediatrician etc.
My ds also has fine motor difficulties. On his final assessment, the speech and language therapist reported he was at least 2 years behind in his developement, language, reading and writing. It took us just over 2 years to get my ds statemented. He has a learning support assistant for 2 hours each day and his behaviour has improved immensely.
I know a few parents of children with ADHD, and they are finding it incredibly diffficult to get a statement because their children are very bright.
Ach, if you could give me more details about your child I may be able to give you more advice.

ACH, it also depends on your LEA. Some are very good about statementing, whilst others are awful. You have to have alot of evidence, involvement from agencies outside the school eg: behaviour clinic, paediatrician, Ed Psych, to get a statement granted. This can take a long time, especially as these other people are so stretched. Is there anyone locally that you know that you could ask, someone who might be going through the statementing process, for any reason?
The thing about statements is that once your child has one, then the LEA has a legal obligation to provide the support that is written in the statement, and some LEA's baulk at this on grounds of cost. So you may have a fight on your hands. I think Myalias is right, it is often hard to get a statement on behavioural grounds alone - they often work on the premiss that because a child is bright they don't need the extra help. Interestingly, my LEA doesn't include bright children on the Special Needs Audit, although they do provide training for the 'Able child'. The person who did my school's training day admitted that bright children have as many special needs as the ones who are academically poor!

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, then the school should have copies of the relevant reports and your child should have an IEP. If they are being difficult, ask to speak to the SENCO - Special Needs Co-ordinator. If you get no joy there, go to the head, and if you still feel that they are being difficult, then maybe looking for a more sympathetic school is the answer.

If you as a parent request an assessment is done to see whether the lea should assess for a statement lots of legal time limits kick in.

kyliebump where are you???

Myalias, My son is 8 years old and was diagnosed at 5. He is now in year 4 at school and it is his worst year so far. He was on ritalin for a year which has now stopped. We have had a meeting at school with ed welfare officer, ed phy,TASS, child therapist,behaviour support unit,SENCO, headteacher & class teacher. The teachers all expect answers to the problems straight away & just keep excluding him at dinnertimes which isnt getting anyone anywhere. D also suffers with severe excema & psoriasis & has a wheat & dairy allergy. He is quite unhappy & feels he gets the blame at school as they never listen to what he is saying. I do not know what to do next. Any advice greatfully received.

Ach it sounds like you've seen all the relevant people. I would seriously consider speaking to other schools in your area to see what their special needs policies are. I think excluding a child at lunchtimes is defintely not the answer. It's also making your child very unhappy which must be very upsetting for you, especially as your child is at the age where other children will pick up on him being excluded and he may be teased by them.
My son and a few of his friends used to get a yellow sticker if they misbehaved, they are given out by the lunchtime supervisors. I think personally some of these ladies are on a power trip, as the same ladies always singled out my son. I actually complained to the head and asked her to make the supervisors aware of the children with ADD/ADHD. They did seem to back off a bit after my chat with the head.
Back to the statementing process, at each parents consultation my ds was given an IEP (Individual Education Plan). This was tasks that had to be met until the next parent consultation, if the tasks were not met and his behaviour and concentration had not improved he would move to a stage 2 IEP. Once it reaches a stage 4, I was informed that this is considered as serious enough to put ds towards statementing.
If you haven't already I would have a chat with your GP and see if you could get a referral for you son to see a child psychologist or child psychiatrist. If you have seen any other health professionals keep all reports in date order and keep in a file.
I would also talk to the school paediatrician as her input helped considerably in getting my ds statemented. Speak to school paed directly don't wait for school to set up future meetings as it takes along time.
Ach why is your son not taking ritalin anymore?
I would also try ringing your LEA and see what they can suggest.
I really sympathise with you and your ds and I really wish that mumsnet had been around when I was going through this with my ds.

Myalias, D was taken off of ritalin by his phsychiatrist because it was no longer working. Our GP has just put him on anti-depressants to help him sleep and to make sure he doesn't get too down. The school psychologist has referred him to PRU at the end of march and we are waiting to hear the outcome. It is quite a relief that it is half term although he is hard work at home it gives us all a break from the schools constant critisim. I only work 8 hours a week and even this is proving very difficult with the regular exclusions at lunchtime. I don't think any of the teachers know anything about ADHD. When the classteacher explained about what D does at school the child & family therapist tried to explain to her that it is down to the fact he has ADHD. Its very frustrating that teachers, dinnerladies and even headteachers do not seem to know anything about ADHD and just dismiss it as a naughty child. D hasn't had a IEP since year 1. They really dont seem keen on statementing, obviously because of the funding. Thank you for your replies so far. Its good to talk to somebody that actually understands.

Jimjams, I looked at the IPSEA website and found it very helpful. Thank you for the advice.

Lara2, Thank you for your reply. Tried everyone that you listed even the SENCO she is still trying to help but I think everyone is coming to the end of thier tether with D. Different school has crossed my mind But as D is at the end of year 4 I think it will take him too long to settle into another school.

Ach it might be worth having another chat with the head to see if there are any other children that are statemented or experiencing similar difficulties in the school. There must be another child with ADHD/ADD in the school. If there are other children it might be worth asking if the head could arrange for you to meet up with other parents that are going through similar experiences. With ADHD/ADD on the increase I wouldn't have thought that D was the only one.
My ds SENCO set up a behaviour workshop after school with other parents that had children with ADD/ADHD and other behaviour and special needs difficulties. I was amazed that nearly all the parents that attended the meeting were parents of children in ds class. I really got to know the parents well and we discussed ways of supporting the children's behaviour at home and working with the school in helping with school work, breaking down tasks required etc. It did dawn on us that all of the children in the school that had ADD/ADHD and behaviour difficulties were all put in the same class. It made matters worse that this group of 6 children are all good friends and are notoriously known as the trouble makers and have been in the same class for 2 years. Even ds class teacher told me it was bad luck that she had all of these children in her class, and it has been an incredibly difficult 2 years for her coping with them. After speaking to the parents, a few of us have requested that they should not be in the same class when they move up to year 3.
My ds has never taken ritalin, I had all the health professionals advising me that he should take it. I always wanted to see if he would respond to other methods ie.stop,think,do - it's a programme that speech and language therapists use. Also I think it's a teachers duty to respond to the individual childs needs, my child learns through sensory input. Every child has a different learning style ie.musical,physical etc. I can't remember the rest but there is a test that you can do online. Luckily for my ds the teacher knew his learning style. I'm sure it's because he has responded to a different teacher and he has a teaching method that works for him, it's really calmed him down. I now feel and his head teacher agreed that he has improved so much in the last 6 months that it would be a mistake to put him ritalin.
I received a letter from my LEA last year, it mentioned that they were looking into the whole statementing system. In LEA's where schools have more special needs children than others, it suggested that the schools in LEA's that had few or no statemented children at all, pooled their budget and assisted the schools with children awaiting statementing. When I mentioned this letter to my son's SENCO she said that she hadn't received a copy of this letter and didn't think it was ever likely to happen as schools are overstretched to the limit anyway.
I hope you can get more support from your school when you go back. Your ds needs all the help and encouragement he so rightly deserves.

ACH, I'm speechless that your son hasn't had an IEP since year !!!!!! If they are excluding him at lunchtimes, then he bloody well should have one - Step 3 as he has outside agencies involved PLUS they should be providing a pastoral support programme for him so that they can find ways of supporting him!!! If I were you, i'd be hot footing it to the phone to contact the parent liason officer at your local LEA. It's bloody disgraceful - their attitude stinks! I have buckets of sympathy for you, and really understand your point about it taking him a long time to settle into a new school. However, he's only in Year 4 - do you really want him to stay where he is for another 2 years? A more supportive and sympathetic approach will do wonders for him and your family as a whole. Just something to think about.
I'm sorry if I sound strident, but my eldest has ADHD and my school has several ADHD children who are extremely well supported and it makes me spit blood when I hear about schools labelling ADHD children as plain naughty. It's totally inexcusable!!!

Lara2, When D goes back to school I will be finding out about the IEP and why they have not carried on since year1. Also on the 29th April the child & Family therapist is coming round and she was the one of the only one's at the school meeting who seemed to have a positive approach and know what she was talking about. We've also had an appointment come through for the skin specialist at the hospital and if we can get Ds skin under control a bit I'm sure it will help a little. I'm also going to find out about our LEA. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how its all going.

Myalias, Ds class teacher has actually said he enjoys physical and practical work but dont think she's come up with anything else yet and do not think she will either. I like D to go out the front and play with other children when he is at home but he seems unable to get on with the other children for any length of time which is causing a lot of trouble at the moment with the hols. Any ideas of how to get around this as its the same sort of trouble he has at dinnertimes and until he can get on with his friends out the front I dont know what hope there is at school.

I find it astonishing that the teachers and even headteacher at you ds's school have so little understanding of ADHD. I'm wondering if you have the time/energy to put it to the school governors that their staff need some training in ADHD and the issues it raises for classroom/individual management.

Ach I totally understand what you're going through with your ds playing with his friends. Up until recently I had to invite just one friend round to play in the garden, anymore than one and there would be complete chaos. I let him play out the front with other children if he's playing well with his friend. I used to ground him if he was really naughty ie.using our car as a trampoline, digging up plants,etc. I feel that grounding him is harder for me as his behaviour would get worse. I use a sticker reward chart for good behaviour. I break it down into smaller tasks for him to do throughout the day ie.homework,keeping his room tidy,playing well with friends etc. he loves getting his stickers. Once his chart is full I give him a choice of 3 things to buy usually a book,cd or video. I know it's bribery but it works really well for my ds and for keeping the peace in our family.
You mentioned that your ds is physical does he enjoy swimming? my dh takes our son swimming once a week it's their quality time together and it really calms him down. I also take him for a bike ride everyday in the holidays and end up taking him to the park for a good 40 minutes.
My friends ds has ADHD he only takes ritalin during school hours, she has also had the same problems with her son playing out the front. She rang me yesterday and mentioned that her son is on a football course at the local school for four days. He is really enjoying playing with the other boys and the coach hasn't had any problems with his behaviour. I'm going to send my ds to the next course.

myalias D has swimming lessons once a week which he is getting on really well in his swimming instructors are very understanding. I agree with the bit about grounding ds dad will ground him but as its the easter hols I'm the one left with d when he is even worse because he is bored and cant go out on his bike or scooter or play football on the green with the rest of the boys. Although when he is out there it ends up with the door bell constantly ringing telling me that he is winding them all up throwing things and generally being really annoying to them. I can't win either way. next week he is going to his nan while I work for a couple of days.At the end of the week I plan on a couple of outings to a theme park or something to keep him occupied. D does enjoy football he isn't very good at it even when he went to soccer school every week although that has stopped because it clashed with cubs. Cubs issue yellow & red cards for behaviour which so far seems to have worked a little bit for D he has only had to miss one week so far and since then he hasn't had a red card again. Hopefully this will carry on as he will be going camping with them in May. I also agree that bribery works but only sometimes in ds case. I'm going to try a reward chart again like you mentioned with stickers and see how we get on.

judetheobscure I am at the stage when I will give as much of my time/energy as it takes if it helps d get on at school.When he goes back to school after the easter hols I shall contact the governors and keep you posted with the outcome.