Anyone know about EHCPs? Advice needed

[Appleseesaw]

Hi. Apologies if I’ve posted in the wrong place.

My DC almost certainly has Autism. She is 2 and attends nursery. They have said for a while that they intend to apply for an EHCP, but they haven’t done so yet. The last time I spoke to them, they said they were trying to work out which authority to apply to (they said there’s a choice).

I’m getting concerned that they don’t seem to be getting round to applying. Perhaps I’m being unreasonable. How important is it that an application is made soon? How will an EHCP benefit my child? I have to apply to primary school in September. My DC’s doctor seemed unsure as to whether mainstream or a special needs school would be more appropriate.

Should I apply for an EHCP myself?

Apologies if I have inadvertently caused offence or if anything I’ve said doesn’t make sense. I’m very worried about my DC.

Thank you.

You can apply for an EHCNA yourself, you don’t need to wait for the nursery to apply. IPSEA have a model letter you can use on their website.

There isn’t a choice as to which LA to apply to. You apply to the one you live in (even if that’s different to the one the nursery is in).

You should apply as soon as possible to give you as much time as possible to get an EHCP in place. The process takes 20 weeks if you don’t have to appeal, but sadly many do have to appeal, some more than once, and appeals are currently taking a long time. Unless you have a finalised EHCP by January you should make an application via the normal admissions deadline.

You are highly unlikely to get a special school place without an EHCP. Although a few areas have assessment places in early years while the pupil is going through the EHCNA process. If you want a special school place you preferably want to be considered alongside all the other DC needing a special school place rather than after other pupils’ places have already been decided - another reason to apply asap.

Thank you very very much for your reply. I’m so new to all of this and feeling a bit overwhelmed and I’m not thinking clearly.

Yes, the nursery is in a different LA area to where I live. Thank you for confirming that there’s no choice. Surely the nursery should know this. I’ve had suspicions that they’ve been putting off applying, but I don’t know why and I may be being very unfair.

I think I will apply myself. At the moment I just don’t know if my DC will need a special school or not. I so wish I had a crystal ball. I keep hoping things will change drastically in the near future. Thanks again.

@Appleseesaw

Information here:

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

Use the model letter here to apply:

www.ipsea.org.uk/making-a-request-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment

I'd definitely put the application in yourself, once it's started the nursery will still need to provide all the same evidence they would if they started the application, but they would have to stick to the timescale so that it is complete within 20 weeks.

They'll collect evidence of what your DD needs, DS's was based on schools report, Ed Phyc assessment and SALT, but you could ask for input from other professionals relevant to DD's needs. Once they had assessed what DS needed they consulted with several schools, each school had to reply with if they felt they could meet his needs and I went to look round them all to discuss it with them and choose my preference.

You can request they consult with any school, so could look at both special schools and mainstream. You'd then have a meeting with the SENCO at each school, and get a better idea of where would be best for her. (We looked at 1 mainstream, 2 ARP's and 1 special school).