Does an FASD diagnosis count as Sen?

[scarfonthestairs]

Hi,
I'd really appreciate any help or advice but I appreciate this is quite a small area.

My adopted son has fasd. He is at or above target educationally but emotionally he is very immature, he struggles with spd amd can be innapropriate with both his words and hiw he will be heavy handed with his friends. He also can have huge meltdowns at home, us generally obsessive about things, shouts out and interrupts.

School say he does not need an ehcp because academically he is fine. They also won't give him an iep etc because they say he has not got an sen.
So do you think an fasd (and spd and persistent vocal tic) diagnosis can be classed as sen?

SEN is based on whether the child needs provision that is additional to, or different from, their peers. Does he have interventions etc.?

Utter bollocks to say that you can't get an EHCP without being behind academically.

Yes he does sensory circuits twice a day, has a session with the home school link worker once a week and has to be watched in freetime more as this is where issues happen

They just keep saying my fears are for when he's in high school (he's year 5 now) and they can't give it to him "on the offchance" he also gets very hot up about going into school and has school refused several times.

Sadly some schools often say DC don’t need or won’t get an EHCP, but their parents go on to successfully apply themselves.

You can request an EHCNA yourself, on their website IPSEA have a model letter you can use. The initial threshold you should focus on is that for an EHCNA, it is a relatively low threshold - a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP. Anything else such as being 2+ years behind, 2 assess/plan/do/review cycles, the school need to have spent £6k… is unlawful.

The definition of SEN is set out in s.20 of the CAFA 2014 - “1) A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.”

When deciding whether to assess and issue an EHCP the LA should not only consider short term needs, where the child will shortly be transitioning to secondary that should be considered. There’s case law on this.

It may be worth contacting your LA's 'virtual school' for LAC and/or post adoption support. The EHCP system seems to me to be set up for children to have to fail before they can get one, but children that are coping OK in primary can fail on the transition to secondary.

As have written, you can apply for an EHCP yourself. As they take considerable time to do these days, it's worth applying, even if your child is doing academically well for now.