EHCP without a diagnosis

[parrotonmyshoulder]

Has anyone had success in getting a needs assessment where there isn’t a particular diagnosis?
12 yo, always found social side of school very difficult, diagnosis of dyslexia but this isn’t the most challenging problem. Absolutely no friends at all, so understandably very, very reluctant to go to school each day. Spends all the time between lessons alone. She is very unhappy and needs friends! We have tried so much at home - facilitating any kind of friendship (play dates when little, meet ups now, but she doesn’t have them any more), clubs (nothing leads to friends), family stuff, play therapy/ counselling.
I want help working out what her needs are. I can’t do it on my own.
I have her on the waiting list for a change of school but it is not the ideal answer and, although she wants to leave this one, she knows that she will struggle in another huge secondary, especially starting new and having a long journey. There are no other school options really.
I wonder if a mixed sort of timetable could help - with some alternative provision some days - but I know that won’t happen without some serious work to get an EHCP.
Could anyone advise please? I’m feeling so desperate today. School has so far had the HOY meet her a couple of times to get her to go to the library to ‘meet people’. This is so far from being helpful, I’m losing all sense!

You don't need a diagnosis to get an EHCP, they are based on needs rather than diagnosis.

Have you spoken to the SENCO?

Sometimes secondary schools do use AP without an EHCP. Usually when the pupil is at risk of exclusion or becoming disengaged.

Your poor DD! I can really relate to this. My Ds is also 12. He has never, ever had a single friend. It's so hard isn't it? My heart breaks for him. My Ds has an ASD diagnosis and finds children of his own age completely baffling - in fact he calls them 'the children' - as if they are a separate species!

What do you feel are your DD's barriers to forming friends? What actually happens when she's with her peers? Does she ignore them? Monologue at them? (This is what my Ds does!)

As you have said yourself, my fear for your DD is that moving schools isn't going to really address the issues.

In answer to your question about an EHCP assessment, the legal bar is pretty low it's: 'does the child have - or may have - SEN'. There is no mention of diagnosis at all. As Imitatingdory says, it is based on need.
A decent EHCP should address not just academic goals but also social and emotional issues. Although having said that, my Ds has been doing all kinds of social skills work for years and to be honest, I really don't know how much it's helping in terms of teaching how to make friends.

toomanyminifigs “has or may have SEN” is the first part of the threshold for an EHCNA, the second part, and often the harder part to evidence, is “may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP.”