EHCP Declined - Do I appeal?

[Honeybeeee]

Hi everyone,

so today I found out my 4 year old girls EHCP has been declined after her assessment.

she is 5 in November, starting school in September, diagnosed ASD & GDD - but overall she is coming on really great.

she’s toilet trained, is starting to say a lot of words and putting together 4 word sentences, although she is going through (what I’m hoping is) a phase at the moment of being really emotional and crying over anything, but apart from that she is a happy child who loves to be sociable. Her main issue is speech, alot of it isn’t understood except by people that know her well. This will cause he issues when trying to learn how to read and she can’t articulate her sounds properly at all.
after the Educational phycologist visited her, she rang me and said I should be proud of my little girl, and although she is very behind on her speech, she was pleasantly surprise how well she done on the assessment and she doesn’t know if speech alone is enough to warrant an EHCP.

fast forward to the decline today…. My question is, is it worth me appealing? I hear horror stories from other parents whose children are completely non verbal/in nappies/ have huge sensory issues and they also get rejected which is appalling. So I just don’t want to go through the process of appealing to get the same result at the end of it.

just looking for some opinions or advise from other people? Sorry for the essay!

She’s starting school next month and presumably they know that speech is a difficulty for her. You have the assessment, she’s making progress which is encouraging and you’re advocating for her, so I might suggest letting her settle in at school, see how they’re supporting her and then reassess.

If she doesn’t continue to make progress, then I’d think about a re referral, when their will be evidence from school to support it.

But she’s made so much progress, it might just be the start of her flying.

Thank you both for your feedback, when a EHCP was first mentioned by her nursery she was a lot further behind than now, she wasn’t interacting with children, making eye contact or speaking. And all of a sudden she zoomed forward which was great.

sorry to be a pain- and just for complete clarity, as I keep beating myself up for deciding not to go ahead with the appeal, these are the notes from the ed phycs report (all names covered) from reading this would you agree I am correct in holding off now now and seeing how she gets on in reception? She turns 5 in November.

Yes appeal. The vast majority of appeals are upheld. Personally, I wouldn’t wait and then request another EHCNA. If you do that you need to know if the LA then refuse to assess there is no right of appeal if there has been a needs assessment within 6 months. If you do appeal, think about your reports, do you need any independent assessments?

I think the only other thing I could perhaps get is a report from a private SALT since the speech is her main issue. I will have a look at the appeal process, does it involve the Ed Phy coming back out again do you know? Or is it a case of you resubmit more evidence and it gets looked at again.

An independent SALT assessment would be worthwhile. You could also consider an independent EP or OT assessment. Check whether you are eligible for legal aid as that can fund independent assessments. If not, but you can’t afford them contact Parents in Need as they can sometimes help.

Sometimes LAs want to review/update assessments during the appeals process, but sometimes they don’t.

Yes! I reckon LAs don't even read first attempts. Decline mediation; get a certificate. Fill in the appropriate SENDIST appeal form. It took 5 months for us to get a decision. You can collect a load more evidence in 5 months.