SEN I don't know where to start

[ohhahhh789]

Hi all,

Please could I be given some advice. I'm struggling and don't know where to go from here. I have a 9 year old August born boy. He is 2 years behind in school and is undergoing assessment for adhd. He has scored high with Hyperactivity and Inattention. He struggles socially and doesn't really make friends apart from some isolated play. His speech is still very immature, he struggles to articulate himself, his handwriting is terrible and he really struggles with his comprehension and following tasks with more than one element to it. It needs to be really specific. He can't do comprehension tasks unless they are aimed for year 2 (he is year 5). He has to be reminded so many times when asked to follow an instruction. He constantly loses and forgets things.
So school say they are awaiting a diagnosis before they can progress anything in school. All he seems to have in school is a learner profile. I've seen no support plans and we have no regular meetings to review his progress. I feel like I need to be on at school now to progress things for him but I don't know where to start. Should I be requesting an Ed psych assessment? What if they say no? What next? Would these difficulties warrant a EHCP plan? I feel so let down by school and I'm so worried about him getting lost in the system when he gets to secondary. The current teacher seems to understand his needs much better. Last years was terrible. Please help because I find it so overwhelming and I don't know where to

Don't wait for the school to get their act together.

Apply for an EHCNA yourself and include everything you have listed here in your application. Send copies of any evidence you have eg school reports. You are right - things will only get worse in secondary. Information here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/ehc-needs-assessments

Thanks. I know that I'm going to have to be on school now. I'm going to ring them tomorrow and advise what the paediatrician has advised and ask if we can have a meeting to plan next steps, for me to see his learning support plan with targets and his timetable and also his current levels and then maybe ask to meet 6 weekly to review these and review what school are doing. I've requested support from wesail which is SENDIASS to guide me through it it I'm going to ask for the Ed psych assessment and tel them that if it isn't agreed then I'm going to go private because even though they might not accept it, I'll know what the situation is and know what doors to be banging on!! I'm also going to tel them that I'm considering making the application my self. If I feel no further forward by Christmas then I will request a private assessment and make the EHCP application myself but I suspect it won't be successful because they haven't implemented anything.

Why wait till Christmas for school to do something? Your son needs significant support now. He can't afford to wait any longer for them to do what they should have been doing for the last 5 years.

From the sounds of it, your son has been failed big time. They didn't need to wait for a diagnosis - they should have been putting things in place long ago. They are a disgrace.

How have they let him get to Y5 without asking the EP to come in before now or applying for an EHCNA themselves when he has all these difficulties? That poor child must hate going to school.

Apply for an EHCNA yourself with the IPSEA model letter.
www.ipsea.org.uk/making-a-request-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment

The legal test for an EHC Needs assessment is this:

If a local authority (“LA”) is requested to carry out an EHC needs assessment by a parent, young person, school or college, they must consider:

- whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (“SEN”); and
-whether they may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.

Any other tests, like the school have to spend £6000 or they have to do two terms of this, that or the other intervention are LA policies and are unlawful. They are not allowed to set any other criteria. The only test set out in the law is the one above.

You've got enough evidence already to show your son has special educational needs, and clearly the school aren't meeting his needs, so he may need an EHCP -

He's 2-3 years behind, he struggles socially, has no idea how to make friends, has huge difficulty processing information and instructions, he has difficulties expressing himself, struggles with handwriting, has poor concentration and has significant difficulties with executive function.

It can take ages to get an EHCP as people on here will testify. (It's supposed to be 20 weeks )

The sooner you start the process, the better. If the LA refuses, appeal. 90% of parents win refusal to assess appeals, and some LAs refuse as a matter of course and then back down when parents fight back.

Good luck

Oh thank you for this. I am so disappointed that school have let it go on for this long and . I should have pushed it sooner but I supposed I relied a lot on what school were telling me but now from doing more research and asking more questions I dont think they really intend to do an assessment for EHCP or a EP assessment and I think that this is probably because he's a child who isn't the best behaved but doesn't cause anyone any major issues so they dont need to to manage him.
Is there anything else I need to get from school before I start the process?

Just send any evidence you've got already. The school will be asked for evidence as part of the EHCNA.

Thanks. I'm not hopefully it will be agreed because I think school have massively let him down and I think there is so much they haven't done that they should/ could have. I asked today for his learning support plan but was told he doesn't have any and only learner profile. Is this right? Shouldn't he have something with specific targets and review?

This is what's suppose to happen in schools:

www.ipsea.org.uk/faqs/what-does-sen-support-in-school-mean

From what you say though, it doesn't sound as though your son's school is doing much.