Speech and language assessment

[Meadowbreeze]

DD has an EHCP. Most for speech issues. Out of nowhere, she came home saying she's just had an assessment. She's had at least 5 before so she knows what they are like. She's not due a review so can't be a statutory one. We've had no info or consent request from school. School just confirmed it took place but can't tell me what kind of is and just apologised. Is this legal?

Bump

Was this information gathering prior to the official review? I do believe this is permitted. Any outcomes should be shared with you ahead of the official review. It’s not legal for a review to take place without you but assessment of progress in advance of the official review is allowed I believe. If all the normal people were present, DD, SENDCO, EP but not you, I would want to know why. If it was just school staff then it’s not a formal review because you were absent and you had no information about your DDs progress or notice of the meeting. When is the meeting due? Who convenes it?

@TizerorFizz It's nothing to do with a review, she's not due one till next Jan. I've said in the OP she's not due one otherwise I could kind of understand.
She's just been taken to do a SALT assessment without our knowledge.

In my LEA we have specialist teachers who come in to see particular children on their caseload. No additional consent is required from parents for this, though the report is shared with parents afterwards.

Occasionally the speech therapist will come in and do assessments at school but this is only when parents are struggling to get the child to the clinic in person.

@Shinyandnew1 it's very strange. She's had 2 SALT assessments at this school before and we've always been told, even if it was the one near a review. I'm just curious whether this is legal.

I'm a SLT though no longer work in schools. Is she on caseload with SLT provision detailed in her EHCP? I had children who I would see regularly (weekly/fortnightly/termly etc) and I might do a reassessment or an assessment of a particular thing without any prior warning in a session that otherwise would have been for therapy. Sometimes to minimise the testing so it wasn't a big deal, sometimes because resources were limited and I actually had that particular test on me for that day/week and the opportunity to use it. Some students I would assess regularly alongside input. Others would never been to assess with formal assessment.

If you weren't expecting any SLT input at all it is slightly more unusual. You would gain parental consent to see a child in school, bit this would be expected to be ongoing for a period of time not requested before each appointment. Sometimes therapists visiting school with no explicit consent a best interests decision was made though this was more for physio than SLT

Why would your first thought be wondering if this was illegal?!

Also thinking more, how old is your child? I have some children who have been judged to have capacity and so it's their consent i need to seek (though generally only comes up if they are not consenting).

@littleducks Yes she's on the caseload. I think this is what has happened we would just normally be told. She's old enough to give consent but they didn't ask her. They just said it's happening and her expressive language is at the 0.5 percentile so it's unlikely she would say no even if she wanted to. It is very frustrating as the school is aware that we need a private assessment and this now won't be possible for 6 months. I don't think they did this out of spite at all. They probably thought it was just convenient, as you say, the SALT probably had what they needed with them.

@Shinyandnew1 What makes you think that's my first thought? That's just one aspect I want to check. The rest is frankly none of your concern and I don't plan to out my daughter's business in detail so you can get context and give me approval.

No reason why she needs to wait six months for an assessment privately. The same tools can't be used but you can gain an assessment using different tools for a second opinion. The important thing is to be sure your private SLT knows what was used, when and if possible the scores (SAR request may be needed).

This should really go both ways with you sharing private SLT assessment details to prevent a SLT wasting time administering tests which are invalid.

I would wonder if she was reassessed in preparation of whatever the reason you wanted an assessment eg. For a tribunial etc

Wrt to consent to be fair SLTs are the people who would generally be involved in gaining consent/refusal of consent for decisions for people with language difficulties. However I think you have given consent for SLT input which can include reassessment at any time, if you think about it makes sense to assess if a concept had been grasped rather than just keep working on it.

@littleducks I agree with you completely. The school is aware we are trying to move her to a private special school and they have been very supportive of this and know the dates of the assessment so I do think this was a complete oversight. The special school has a long waiting list and they don't have time to wait for scores and can't perform the speech assessment they need. The assessment is very waffly and doesn't include much detail. We actually asked for her to not be seen by the NHS salt who was coming into the school as there was no communication with us at all. We didn't know what she was covering, when her sessions were and her therapist seemed to change weekly. We've been paying for a weekly private SALT anyway. She's not seen the school SALT for well over a year although she's on the caseload. She only stayed on as it was a requirement on her plan. That's why I was so surprised when she came home and told me she had a random assessment done. It's just baffling to me and a waste of an assessment that could've been done on a child that needs it.