Parental Request for an Assessment for a Statement of Educational Needs

[mrsforgetful]

Please can i check my understanding of this.

My ds1 (10yrs) has ASPERGERS and ADHD

He's in mainstream school without any support- his head/senco says he is a very able boy who will unfortunately not reach his potential. However she says that statementing is not needed.

If i request an assessment- will the LEA meet me so i can explain my concerns...then they may to do a 'pre-assessment' to check whether they need to progress to the 'oficial' stuff...as someone told me yesterday who used to be on the local board of govenors at the LEA... that it was well worth doing because even if it was decided that he does not need a statement that he would still be reviewd every year and 'be in the system'- and i would have a 'name' to contact if things change...

or is it that i request- they say no and thaten i have to appeal?

The reason i sound negative is it would be easier if i had someone 'oficial' behind me- but i'm hoping that if i could at least get an imformal meeting set up with someone from the LEA then i could explain my concerns and they could confirm what the 'school action plus ' funding should be covering.... i always feel awkward talking to the school senco as she is also the head...and incharge to some degree of the purse strings!!

NO the LEAw won't meet you, although I suppose you could request a meeting with a statementing officer.

I'm not sure of the situation in NI. The first bit of the assessment is when they gather information to see whether a statement is necessary. You would be in a stronger position if you had independent reports from an ed psych saying a statement was needed.

In many ways I think you need to concentrate on what support is needed, rather than a statement. It may be that the school has enough money to meet his needs- are you looking for individual support, and if so when for, how many hours etc?

Have you spoken to IPSEA they have a separate NI number. The other people to try are your local parent partnership- they can be helpful.

Jimjams is right. If they decide not to assess, for whatever reason, they will not have any further dealings with you. You may find a sympathetic person (parent liaison?) who will discuss the situation with you direct but don't hold your breath! I definitely think you should contact IPSEA to talk to someone, maybe try the NAS helpline too. What about requesting an assessment, possibly leaading to statement yourself? Presumably you haven't done that, what have you got to lose? Also agree that independent opinion on your son's difficulties could help. I requested my own son's assessment and statement myself but it was pretty clear cut and he had a diagnosis from Gillian Baird.

I'm actually in england- so think what you've both said applies to me!!!!

This i what i've decided to do:

request that the outreach team observe ds1 at school in his 'problem ' areas (rather than the last visit when he was seen on the computer and science) I have mentioned this to the head of his school and will specifically detail where i'd like him observed and why...they probably won't be able to see it all but for example in the playground to the 'untrained eye ' he is 'joining in with football' but if you look properly you will see a child running up and down- never getting the ball- never being passed the ball and never getting oppertunity to score. Then in the dinner hall he sits vacantly staring around and forgets to swallow his food- he came home again having only eaten the eqivalent of 1 slice of bread with no crusts and dairylea- and 1 finger of kit kat- he is out the house from 8.30 till 3.30 so know he needs to eat more- this affects his concentration already reduced due to ADHD and Aspergers- and when it comes to hot dinners he struggles with cutlery- so i feel i'll end up fetching him home every day for lunch as his school don't think his eating is their responsibility- i'd like honesty here...if i start mentioning things like this on my assement request are they just going to laugh? (at home he's been known to chew the same mouthful for 5 minutes or more- and i have to remind him to swallow)

Also his abilities are good achademically but he has probs with anything written and comprehension literacy (and recently i've noticed his lack of being able to write creatively)
Now the school's attitude is they allow him to use a pc where possible...but i feel that 'they' should still try to improve his weak areas- however is their attitude seems to be that just as someone who is parylsed & cannot walk- then he has aspergers so cannot do 'XYZ' ???? This just doesn't feel right. I know he'll not win any prizes for hanwriting....but rather than send him off round classrooms updating computers etc when 'they don't know what to do with him'...i'd rather he had support for the things he finds hard?

At home he will not let me help him- he cannot accept that at home i can help him with school....as far as he is concerned the two do not combine.

Getting your Gp on your side is also very useful to push thing along more quickly

Your ds souds very much like a boy who I teach with aspergers in terms of acadmeic ability
he has a statement

I thought you were in NI! Who'sin NI then?

I think the food thing is important to mention. It may be that the areas your son needs most help with is things like in the playground and in the dinner hall. LEA's have problems getting their heads round that one though. Definitely worth asking the outreach team to observe again imo.

Using the PC may be fair enough in general, but maybe the school should factor in writing practice. Does he have a sloping desk? OOT's can provide those- apparently it makes a world of difference. The OT has told me she will ensure ds1 gets one when necessary (as he is dyspraxic).

You could put a parental request in- I'd chat to IPSEA.

Just to add to what jimjams said. WE have several pupils with asperger's in mainstream all of whom have support for breaks and luncthimes as part of their statements. The sloping desks are quite cheap and the SEN dept ay well have some.....but then ours is a large school ...maybe smaller schools won't.

MrsF (Meg!), I think what you've put here is excellent. If you can tidy it up for publc consumption I think it all makes sense. What you've said shows that you really understand his difficulties and you need to point out to them where these lie. They DO need to address his problems with writing, always substituting using the computer is a bit of a bodge, they need to try some teaching!

Usually money for sloping desks etc can be provided by the LEA anyway. The LEA has just been asked to provide software for my son- it goes before the statementing resources panel (you don't have to be statemented to receive money from there though).

I even suggested a workstation- there is not 1 pupil at his school with one....and the head said that it would encourage him to remove himself- i just don't feel that ANYONE we have seen so far REALLY understands what it's like to have ASD- when ds1 was 5 or 6 he REALLY had terrible problems withoding the urge to grap peoples pencils and sharpen them when he noticed they needed doing....he reckoned that his brain kept telling him to do this....and now he finds sharing text books/equptment difficult as if he sees someone looking towards his work he thinks they are copying his. Both these difficulties would benefit from the 'workstation' concept- and it need not cost a penny- all they need is a screen. The sloping desk sounds great- and i also believe he is dyspraxic- so an assemmenet by a different paed would reassure me.

At SCHOOL ACTION PLUS am i right in thinking that the school have a small sum of money allocated from the lea to cover basic support? In that case i think that is why the head is digging her heels in- as on paper he is down for 1 hour support daily- which in november she said was as a single block daily- not 5 minutes every hour etc- so i felt it was a start- however i've now discovered that infact he has not had this since october ---now should the LEA 'inspect' the record they will see he has 1 hr support- however in reality this does not happen.....now if i request an assesssment then i assume they decide whether the school could be better supporting him without additional funding?? So- the head is hardly going to encourage me when he is 'managing' as then she would have to provide the support by law.

Why Oh Why once a child is diagnosed is it not common practice for an ed psych to assess the child so it can be decided whether a statement may be needed- all this inclusion stuf makes me so mad- ok it was wrong before when there was no choice and a disabled child HAD to go to a 'special' school- but now 'capable disabled' kids are included in environments where there is no atomatic guaranteed provision or assements.

JIMJAMS i remember on one of first posts when i said we'd got the DX for aspergers- that you explained that 'the dx is just the start'...You were so right- so far for ds1 the dx has meant we get DLA (which is great...we're using some to get a lamiator for our 'schedule' velcro picture cards) and i got him into a arts and crafts club run by the outreach team...and i am at present attending a fortnightly group which has professional speakers (ie paeds,psychs and ot's etc) - again at the outreach centre! But appart from that his diagnosis has changed nothing at school- and they were the ones pushing for a dx!

MrsF I agree with you- I think a workstation is essential. Can the autism outreach team help with this sort of thing (this doesn't go into statements so you would still need someone to implement it). The autism outreach team set up my son's. He works there, but also has a place on a class table for group work when he does it.

Your problems are very familiar to parent of HFA children. You could join aut-uk- there are many parents there who have been through all this and may be able to offer you more advice. You can join it here . A number of adult autistics belong to the list as well which always provides an interesting perspective.

ok - i've joined the autuk group- just waiting to be confirmed.
Thanks for the advise about the outreach -not lea/statement organising workstations...i have 'easy' access to the outreach unit- so feel at least this is something i can actually get on to!
coppertop tells me that on this autuk there are lots of posts about statementing etc- so hopefully i will get a better idea of what is and is not relevant- and if not whether the outreach can assist

Nice one, MrsF! I'll look out for your posts.

there will be NO escape!!! Do i need a nickname? If so it will have to have 'MEG' in there somewhere!!!! (just imagine THEY will be thinking of Meg &Mog....and we will be thinking of Mrs Forgetful:THE MOVIE!)

oh are you on aut-uk coppertop? I am as well

I thought one of the posters sounded familiar, Jimjams! It'll be like a Mumsnet reunion at this rate.

lol coppertop. I haven't posted for ages in aut-uk although I've been reading. I think my friend may have posted about the SALT crapness down here recently.

That might have been the post I was thinking of. Don't worry though. Whatever's on the list stays on the list IYKWIM. If a MN'er talked about something on the aut-uk list I would never mention anything about it on MN.

lol coppertop

I hope i've not caused probs by saying that i'd been told that on aut-uk there are posts about statementing- I also would NEVER share information. So farumsnet has been my only support and to think that there is 'something else' that can help is just fantastic- i'm hoping by just reading other's comments i will find ways to explain myself in a more direct way- i always feel walked over by the professional as i 'beat arround the bush'- i want to be able to speak direct and to the point!

Bless, MrsF. No problems here!

mrsF don't be daft I've talked on here before about spats on aut-uk (thankfully now no more it seems- much more peacefull place). Aut-uk is a great place for information and support.