EHCP

[Whatcouldpossiblygowrong]

Right.
New to this. We have a diagnosis - very hugh functioning asd with lots of anxiety. I have no idea about the EHCP process. I imagine it’s hellish and then many don’t qualify due to cuts and no funding. Is this the case? What are the pros of going for it gIven it’s unliely he will get it? All advice welcome

How old is he?
How much difficulty does he have, accessing education ?
I needn't be 'hellish'.
Why do you say it is unlikely he will get it ?
Having a diagnosis doesn't automatically mean a person needs an EHCP - I know several high functioning adults with autism who accessed education very, very well (including Professors). Of course, there are many others who do need the support of an EHCP.

If you could let us know how old he is and what the school are saying, that gives a better starting point.

Cuts and funding don't affect the law's requirements, though it may affect the way some councils try to get out of complying.

You might find SOS SEN's booklets helpful - www.sossen.org/shop/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=8sg6n0ib9714mo1i3sqdebsur1

Hi - thanks for the link!
He's 8. Currently has an IEP - on the surface of it he's doing ok - but in comparison to first three yrs of school things are sliding - refuses to go in, bottles up anxieties in the day that come out at home and says he is either bored or too pressurised by the work. Currently I don't think he would meet criteria as he gets on with things in the day and then tells us how unhappy he has been at school after we get home. However the psychologist that did his assessment was pushing for us to apply for an EHCP since she felt he did require things like smaller group time, assistance at play times and intervention around social skills

I'm quite new to this as well - and people keep saying that with regard to a ehcp needs assessment the bar is quite low, but we have found that there is a lot of resistance as the idea is to show evidence that a child needs provision over and above what a school can achieve without additional funding as schools have to fund the first 10,000 of interventions anyway and a lot can be achieved with that money. Most places have different waves of SEN support so a child can receive lots of SEN support without an ehcp in principle.

So a school would need to show that they have planned, done and reviewed things within that budget that haven't worked. And you would need to work closely with the school with regard to showing the impact at home by asking them to help you create a way to record refusal to go in, and what comes out at home as evidence that whatever has done at school hasn't worked well.

A lot of schools can do interventions around social skills and playtime support so they would need to literally show that they planned this activities, did them, they didn't work and therefore something more special is needed. So he already did lego group, had a nurture room in lunchtimes, did the special extra 'sports' club that was all about social skills really and he needs more.

I've found this out as my childs school didn't write down the interventions they tried or evaluate them and the council rejected our first try as 'not enough evidence' they kept banging on about plan do review.

The figure usually quoted for what the school funds is £6000, not £10,000. That's because the other £4000 is the notional figure the school gets for each pupil whether they have SEN or not, and it's what funds staffing costs and all the other costs of running the school. And it's a myth anyway - see councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/SEND%20Myths%20%2717.pdf.

It's certainly true that some councils put a lot of barriers in the way of agreeing to assessment, but appealing against refusals to assess is relatively easy, and over 85% of appeals of this type are either conceded by local authorities or won by parents.

i've no doubt I've been fed a bunch of half truths by the LA but sadly that's the system as it has been in reality. The appeal was easy, but it was another delay which is frustrating if your child is stable but ours was rapidly declining so has had a huge consequence as by the time they agreed to assess his needs to see what would support him in school, he was no longer in school!

I would recommend that the OP gets on with the ehcp application now in case things decline. The school is likely overworked and will spend weeks getting together their part and there might be a few things they introduce as part of thinking about what they have done that actually help. They might realise that they forgot to get the specialist outreach school in, or haven't run a social skills group this term.

When they assess his needs you would hopefully get lots of useful information whether this leads to an actual ehcp or not and can be built into his IEP so it still useful.

Basically op, don't wait for a crisis - get the ball rolling.

I would be Great-full for any advice.
my son,Adam is 14 years old.He has lots of problems suffering from night time epilepsy, very poor reading and writing. He has difficulty keeping up with the school level of reading and writing. His literacy levels are about 5-6 years old, but he is a bright boy orally. Also physically he looks like 9-10years old.
Adam has an EHCP at school and currently in year 9.
His epilepsy affects his concentration, focus, energy levels and his emotions.

Before we knew about his epilepsy he always seemed to be a happy and healthy child. Even after he was diagnosed at the age of 4, he was still very energetic happy, well mannered and socialized boy.
But by year 3&4 of his school I became concerned about him as he was at the level of reception class in reading and writing. Otherwise he seemed a normal and clever boy. However, I did notice his concentration and focus was poor from the beginning even from year one .

So after applying and “re-appealing” for statement of education needs at year 4, he finally got statements of special education needs in year 7 in secondary! Frankly I think this took far too long and didn't provide enough support early enough and he still finds reading and writing still very difficult which makes his learning very limited .
As he moved to secondary school he seemed more stressed about level of his learning compared to his peers.
In October 2017 he became so low on mood and his confidence went even more down as he was becoming more aware of his inabilities at school compared to his classmates. Plus he was also getting bullied by kids saying, “why are you like this ?“ or “you can’t read the signs and the board etc or that why does the TA has to write for you?”
At one point He didn’t even want to go to school anymore as it was stressing him not being able to do much at school and he seemed very distanced from learning and doing things compared to other students.
We had a battle nearly every day to send him to school. And this was worrying as he was always a happy boy in primary and loved school even though he still had same problems at primary. However he had lots of friends there. His teachers used to say in “each” parent consultation that he is very polite , happy, kind to others and a Popular boy in school!
So now he was becoming more sad and “angry” boy who most nights would become tearful before sleep just to think about school, while at school he had to act like a big boy and normal to other kids..... and this year he has recently started REACTING to kid’s bullies at school in such a way that puts him in trouble with school rules ...
We have been seeing school staff about his difficulty issues many times but the school would to say that they are doing as much as they can and said that he needs special, tailored help for him which our school is not able to provide.This is why we don’t want him go to a mainstream school anymore .
We have some special schools in mind which the borough rejects and gives a list of other mainstream school to him which will be exact same situation for him as he is in now. The school also suggested us to visit a special school to see if he can go there but as parents we didn’t think Adam fits there as there were more of physical disabilities which would put a question into Adams head that he has something more into his disabilities than just a slow learner in reading and writing ... and it will bring him even more down ...
the special need schools which we had in mind and think he fits there well the education borough is not welling to provide.....

The fact that the school system and his educational needs are not being met has made a huge affect on his confidence, emotions and mental health. In fact it has become so bad that we have started seeing a psychologist at CAMHS , and we have full report from him if needed.
He suggested Adam has anxiety and is developing anger problems....
Sadly he also discharged him last week after seeing him for about six months believing that he can’t help him until his academic needs are met and said that the reason for his mood and anxiety and “a few other problems “ is the education system that he has been offered throughout his life. He suggested that finding the right education provision is the main priority.

He suggested we get legal advice about how to get Adam’s needs met in the best way and to know what rights we or he has for meeting his educational needs.

I really don't understand the system very well I could do with some really good advice.
Is there a possibility to offer the borough some percentage of contributing towards the cost of some special schools if they are private? Or, are there any schools like some special private school which have less of physical Disabilities and more for his type of difficulties like dyslexia etc ...which borough could provide free...

I'm prepared to fight if somebody can give me ideas about who to turn to, the kind of information I need to ask for and how to put the pressure on.
So sorry for such a long letter ..

JessLondon - I would advise you to talk to one of the many charities and groups set up to support.
For example SOS!SEN or IPSEA or Contact

Great. thanks so much . I will look into those you mentioned.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice especially grasspigeons. We’ve decided to let the school make their plan and put it into place in the NY. We will keep a close record at home of how we think it’s going based on what DS says and any communication with school. By Feb half term if things haven’t improved we will start to prepare to apply for EHCP.

Hi, I applied for an EHCP for my then 2 year old in August and it came through in December. I am now facing the issue around the level of funding. The nursery my son attends is saying the level of funding which was granted at band C is not enough for him to get one to one support. The professional reports from CDT and Physio suggest that he requires one to one support in a busy environment and in order to use playground apparatus. Im stuck and dont know what to do. The nursery tells me one thing and the local authority something else. We live in Tower Hamlets borough. Any advice of where we can turn to woukd be appreciated. He is waiting for a diagnosis of autism, currently has no speech, slow mobility and still unstable. Globally delayed.

Yassin17, funding isn't really your concern, but the contents of the EHCP are. If Section F of the EHCP is sufficiently detailed and specific and provides for 1:1 support, then it has to be provided come what may, and you can tell the nursery to go and have the argument with the LA. However, if it isn't in the EHCP then there's not a whole lot you can do in the short term, irrespective of what the reports say.

If the required support isn't in the EHCP, you need to ask at the next review for the plan to be amended. Reviews have to be held at least once a year, and at this age it's recommended that they should be every six months, so I suggest you contact the nursery to see if they're setting up a review now. If the LA won't amend the EHCP, or if it does amend, you have a right to appeal to the tribunal. Ideally you need professional evidence, e.g. an independent educational psychologist, to support your case.

Thank you very much. I will definately follow up on your advice above.

Hi, ive looked at the plan again and section F mentions that he will need support and help from nursery and speech and language therapists. It doesnt specifically say "one to one support" in the column where it details where help should come from. In the body of that section it refers to providing him with consistent motivators and encouragement, encouraging him to sit at group activities and play settings. I am guessing section F wont be sufficient to ask for one to one support? I will have to speak with the Parents Advice Centre and see what they say. Would be grateful for any advice from anyonr who has a plan in place. Thanks