EHCP support thread

[Phineyj]

My DD (10) is being assessed for EHCP. The council refused to assess (despite her already being diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, hypermobility and vision problems following eye surgery).

School have been supportive throughout and they are going above and beyond to keep her engaged in education.

She's about to go into year 6 though.

I took the LA to the tribunal and won.

They must produce the plan by 4th August. I think they probably will (they've stuck to deadlines so far...ish...). But I've got all the IPSEA complaint letter templates primed!

The hardest thing about the whole process is that no-one else in my life understands it or what it's like to spend all your free time essentially begging people to document the deficits your child has.

It is also a hard realisation that no-one cares much about your child's education except you.

I am also a teacher so I feel sad on behalf of the SEN DC I teach as I am told little about their needs (I spent a whole day doing DofE with one recently...I don't even know what her EHCP says...)

Join me if you are also grimly trekking through the EHCP jungle!!

@TeaInTheGarden Yay! this is fantastic news, so happy to hear this..... onwards and upwards....hope your son is doing ok, I know you mentioned he might go part time....either way I am delighted for you 🙂

Well done @TeaInTheGarden!

Congratulations @TeaInTheGarden.

<sounds klaxon>

May I join in please?

DC has just started at high school and it flopped at week 4. DC now not attending at all. In spite of this, our (horrendous) education authority insist DC needs can be met at current school, in spite of non attendance.

A hearing for declining to issue is in place for December.

@HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom welcome and sorry to hear this.

Is the school sending work? Not so you can do it, unless DC wants to, but because it's your right they do that after 15 days out.

What stage are you at with EHCP?

Welcome @HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom. Sorry to hear it's been a poor start in Secondary for DC. Lots of our kids find this such a tough transition.

And well done @TeaInTheGarden. Do you know what assessments you need/want? I had to really keep on it with my LA. They requested assessments but then didn't chase them.

You know, it's a funny thing @Phineyj, but schools (OK, academies in my experience), can really push back on that, as the obligation is with the LA.

And don't get me startedon LA's refusing to do assessments reasonably requested by parents...

Welcome @HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom.

@Phineyj schools don't have 5 send work home. It is the LA’s responsibility to ensure those unable to attend school receive a suitable full-time education, not the school’s responsibility, and work sent home is not enough to discharge their duty.

Thanks all!
@MrsLamb I’m so chuffed to get the klaxon sounded, didn’t expect that to happen for months!
@Phineyj the case worker suggested OT which I agreed with and I also asked for SALT. They’re doing CAMHS too, not sure if that’s a statutory one or not.
She said Ed Psych might not be in person which is shocking so I’m glad we’ve got a private one booked in!

That's interesting! I know that but I don't think my Head does...

I honestly can't see the point in remote Ed psych. You need to see the child and there must be so many kids not in school who wouldn't be able to engage with that.

We had an expensive disaster with some online psychology in lockdown 3...

@TeaInTheGarden you need to request a particular HCP as part of CAMHS e,g, a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist otherwise it could be anyone from CAMHS.

@Phineyj some LAs try to pass on the responsibility to schools, so it may be your head believes the LA’s line. However, it is a non-delegable duty.

I requested OT and optometrist for our ECHNA and never got any response to the letters (I used the Ipsea ones). They did do OT eventually (after I'd paid for one myself) but they just uploaded the existing report the optometrist wrote for us (which we'd paid for and which didn't have any Section F recommendations). They never contacted the NHS paediatrician at all...

I was really unimpressed with them tbh.

If it comes up I'll mention it.

He's a decent bloke.

@Phineyj Thank you. I’ve not heard anything at all from school, no offer of support, no work, nothing. A poster on my other thread mentioned some out of school provision and I’m going to look at that to get DC work.

My appeal is a decline to issue. Hearing in December.

That's really rubbish! You must be extremely fed up. There is a charity called MindJam that it might be worth looking at if DC likes gaming.

Thank you for the welcomes. I’ve read through some of the pages and see we are all fighting the same battles.

I will explore MindJam for DC.

Sorry if I’ve missed it, but does anyone here have a DC not attending school? How do you deal with it?

I am racked with guilt that I’m not trying hard enough. DC unexpectedly attended on Monday but later in the evening, had a very lengthy meltdown which extended in to Tuesday morning. It was the anxiety relating to the expectation of attending again. I told him there was no pressure to go and as his mood deteriorated and anger rose, I made the decision to not send him in. Do I seem like I’m being too soft with him?

At this point, I’m not sure it is worth his mental health but I am racked with guilt.

@HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom the government guidance on mental health and school attendance is a good starting point in terms of dealing with school
www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-issues-affecting-a-pupils-attendance-guidance-for-schools

I recommend making an appointment with the GP if health professionals are not already aware. Not that they will be able to offer much immediate help usually, but that the issues are then recorded! When my DD had anxiety related issues, the GP response was " we can't write a letter to confirm that as we weren't aware". I did ask them what they would have done if we had seen them and they admitted there was not much they could.do in the short term but then they would at least have had a record and been able to write letters of support....

@HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom you are in good company. I attended an ACAMH seminar on emotionally based school avoidance last week and, for example, 30% of autistic children do not attend school regularly. So remember there are systemic issues playing out here in terms of some groups of children not having their needs met in school, and finding the environment intolerable, rather than taking this all on your shoulders. (Key themes from then seminar were understanding child in wider environment, not blaming child or family, plus the need for compassion, patience, understanding and home/school collaboration)

The approach being followed by health specialists with my DC is long term and patient, and, that word again, compassionate. This has involved working with school to try to make the environment feel safer, and trying to strengthen relationships, and then very slowly seeing how that has a positive effect on participation. Health professionals are also acknowledging absolute limits in terms of tolerances and levels of adaptive functioning, and that these may make full time attendance unrealistic a lot of the time at the moment. This managing of expectations makes a big difference in silencing any judging of DC or us as a family.

That said, whilst School has followed their general approach, it has put very little of the provision suggested by health care professionals in place. It remains a battle to get/keep adjustments and provision needed to meet DCs needs.

Did the LA EP have anything helpful to say on this? One of the awful things is the threshold is very high to get specialist health input.

Have you see any of the Not Fine in School resources?

@HellHathNoFuryLikeASENMom forcing DC to attend is likely to cause more harm and trauma which in turn causes further issues long term. DC don’t learn when forced into an unsuitable environment that isn’t meeting their needs.

I have a DC who has EOTAS rather than attending school.