EHCP support thread no. 3

[Phineyj]

A new thread for when no. 2 is full up.
Link to thread no. 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4834986-ehcp-support-thread
Link to thread no. 2:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4989146-ehcp-support-thread-no-2

I am the mum of an 11 year old girl with SEN and have spent the last 20 months battling for my local authority to issue an EHCP to support her transition from primary to secondary school. We are currently after draft stage after two tribunals. I've had so much useful advice and moral support from posters on here.

This new thread is here to help everyone, whether you're just starting out or are a battle-hardened veteran of years of this.

There is no such thing as a stupid question and there are many acronyms and technical terms so please ask for an explanation of anything that you don't understand.

SEN: special educational needs (sometimes SEND: special educational needs and disability)
SENCO: teacher at school charged with overall responsibility for students on roll with SEN
ECHNA: education care and health needs assessment - the process of a local authority commissioning reports to find out a child's needs
EHCP: the education care and health plan that details a child's needs and the agreed provision to meet them; a legally binding document
SENDIST: the special educational needs and disability tribunal - an independent appeal panel which considers parental appeals against Education Authority decisions about special educational needs.

Jumping across, @Phineyj with a NC. So how are you feeling about the draft plan contents - are there things in it that will make a positive difference, do you think?

Apologies, should have been a comma after your name.

Well, I mainly wanted it so no-one can claim later on that they didn't know what the issue is if the wheels come off, so to speak.

It's very badly written and organised. Shame really when the reports were quite decent. I'm doing a rewrite, although goodness knows if they will accept that.

The original plan DC received attempted to suggest all needs could be met by QFT, and was written in a way which made it very difficult to establish whether or not any of it had actually been delivered (lots of all teachers/TAs all lessons). Unfortunately, having gone on to experience a year of excuses as to why the few tangible elements had not been implemented, it does seem as though the LA and school colluded to produce something primarily designed to impinge on their resources as little as possible, whilst closing down avenues for challenge.

The culture is 'we are a mainstream, therefore we're not doing it unless it is QFT'. Sadly, I suspect this will continue even though the LA has now conceded on much better specified provision. (Would move DC in a heartbeat but for the important social relationships they have established).

That kind of attitude is so shortsighted and unhelpful.

The whole point of SEN support is student needs go beyond what a reasonably competent teacher can meet in the classroom by themselves in the normal way of things.

I actually can't tell from the LA's behaviour (and now, writing) if they're taking thar kind of attitude or are just a bit dim and crap!

Social relationships are important though. A school with really good support where DC had no friends wouldn't be much good either.

Just checking in, thanks for the new thread. The EHC Hub still hasn’t been updated so I’m going to send an email to our EHCP coordinator to either send the reports to me directly or update the bloody hub!!

When I requested for the LA to seek advice and information from OT, it was declined. I sent a long complaint to the Director of Children’s Services who passed my email on to the SEN team. It’s been two weeks and I STILL haven’t had a response. Just another thing to chase up really

Hi all.

just joining the thread if that’s ok? 😊

DS is waiting for ASD/ADHD assessment but no diagnosis yet. He’s nearing the end of reception year and he hasn’t been able to engage in any learning at all this year despite huge support at school.

we applied for an ehcp assessment a few weeks ago and heard on Friday that this has been accepted and they’ll be doing as assessment.

I really don’t know what is actually going to help him to progress, he struggles so much 😞

Advice needed re EHCP annual review please. Have just seen the paperwork for GDs annual review and it was sent to LA three days before the meeting her father attended which he was told was the EHCP annual review. The review had just been held with his ex wife present and the report written up on that day.Dad was unaware that his ex had attended a separate review. He sent in his statement but wasn't given any others - there had been two but he was told there weren't any. Report said School asked for ehcp to be amended but dad didn't know about this, school told him no change. LA did not amend, dad not told. Dad had tried to get review report from school when he wasn't sent a copy after a fortnight but school said there was no report . After repeatedly emailing them he got a copy, 3 months later. He's complained to the LA. Has anyone else who's divorced had a similar experience and had separate reviews for each parent? It seems that school have misled him and the EHCP does not contain his views. He has PR and there is no court order. Can schools have an EHCP review and invite just mum? Headmaster has repeatedly given misinformation to dad and he doesn't understand why. We thought parents had to be treated equally. Dad is reluctant to complain to governors.
Any views/advice appreciated.

@cakecoffeecakecoffee welcome.

What does "cannot engage at all in learning" mean? Runs around, can't sit still? Leaves room? Can't understand what's being said? Upset?

Hopefully the Ed psych and speech and language part of the assessment will throw some light on this for you.

A bit of all of those really….

Not interested, doesn’t want to join in, unable to concentrate, easily distracted.
becomes dysregulated very easily then shouts, runs about, upturns furniture, hurts people.
lots of tics, echolalia and can only talk at one volume which is very loud. No hearing problems but he’s under speech and language and has trouble with pronunciation.

he’s very bright and definitely understands things but only wants to do what he wants to do.

he’s not learnt any phonics or writing at all. He says he can already do it so doesn’t need to learn.

he has a 1:1 all day, a bespoke curriculum, low demand language. Lots of interventions that I can’t think of right now as I’m so tired lol.

@cakecoffeecakecoffee my DS was very like that at that age. The assessment process should help to give information about what he needs. The Ed Psych report we got was really useful for that. We ended up with a move to a specialist setting as it worked best for my DS. He needed a very small environment and a lot of 1:1 even in that setting. There are definitely things that can help.

@UnendingSaga thank you.

The Ed Psyche for the academy (not the LA, so they may think differently) said he thinks it’s likely ASD with PDA traits. They use lots of low demand language amongst other things.

He actually loves school thank goodness, but it’s very disheartening that he doesn’t seem ready to learn. He’s so far behind his peers and the gap just gets bigger.

@cakecoffeecakecoffee sounds tough. But school sound like they're trying hard which is good.

My DD was a lot like that (apart from the loud part...I mean she can be v loud, but not in class). As she's got older - she's 11 now - I've realised she is learning even when it doesn't look like it.

Definitely keep on at the LA so things don't slip given the nearness of the summer break.

Yes, the school are amazing, they do so much for him and he loves it there and loves his teachers.

I will keep on, got a TAM meeting tomorrow as it happens, the school are very proactive too.

it’s going to be tough for him moving up to Y1 as it’s a different building, more formal than reception, different teacher and probably a different TA. I think we’re discussing enhanced transitions tomorrow.

cakecoffeecakecoffee on their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use to request the LA seeks SALT (even though DS is already under them the LA will need advice and information from them for the EHCNA) and OT advice during the EHCNA.

DuxburyGrans ex-SIL should have spoken to the LA when he didn’t receive the advice and information 2 weeks prior to the review meeting and the report afterwards within 2 weeks of the review meeting. He also needs to go via the courts to solve the wider context. There may well be valid reasons not to invite both parents to the same meeting.

Thanks for the new thread.

LA issued final drafts this morning but with a letter dated last Friday.

Still waiting for school consultations for DS's secondary place. Another one, our last choice school, has also claimed they can't support needs, specifically around sensory and EBSA. That's 3 out of 5 consulted MS state schools saying no. We're waiting for one more MS and one specialist private autism school to reply.

I think the MS will say yes but it's not our first choice. Has a lovely SENCo though.

This feels so utterly ridiculous.

@Phineyj thanks for the new thread!

Just wondering if anyone has any tips/advice on how to prepare for the meeting following the face-to-face ed psych assessment. In terms of questions I should ask/discussion points.

I’ve jotted down a few things e.g. barriers to learning, pros/cons of different types of setting, but wasn’t sure if there was anything else as don’t know what to expect.

@SpaceInvader321 now you have finalised EHCPs I would appeal so you get in the system. If the LA amend to your satisfaction at a later date brilliant, but if not you haven’t lost time.

@Ponche it can be helpful to make a timeline of events/previous assessments/diagnoses etc. Also think about, developmental history, strengths/difficulties, likes/dislikes, aspirations, what provision is already in place, what has previously been tried, what worked/didn’t work, what is needed but unable to be delivered, what you think DS needs. At the end of the meeting, finish by asking them to ensure the report is detailed, specified and quantified and to send you a copy of the report once it is written.

Ooops

Also posted on old thread. Sorry

Hi all, briefly introduced myself before, but today I've printed out all forms and been looking through IPSEA resources.

I'm looking and hoping for support and pointers for my EHCPNA application, particularly as my DD (yr 5) is academically top of her year (which I fear will be a barrier) However, she is also ASD. Essentially, what I'm asking for in an EHCP is a list of reasonable adjustments legally agreed if you like so that she will (or should 🙄) have all these things in place for her mainstream secondary school. My DD has extreme levels of anxiety, overwhelm, and lots of sensory processing issues as well as social and comprehension issues like literal thinking, not understanding sarcasm, facial expressions etc. All are being carefully managed by her one special teacher she can confide in in school (which isn’t her class teacher!) and a support plan full of reasonable adjustments which has just been updated to increase what’s being offered in response to my daughters increasing need. As is often documented in girls, we are seeing the wheels well and truly begin to fall off at home, the beginnings of school refusal and difficultly maintaining her one friendship. She also has ARFID (although not officially diagnosed, but definitely has it).

So in terms of me, I’m a mum of two and completely overwhelmed. I don’t have any family in my life and no enduring friendships (I’m ND too, no surprises, self diagnosed), so support is pretty much MN, my husband and the school.

I plan to include the following in my application:

ASD report
Copy of sensory diet school questionnaire
School support plan
Letter from SENDCo
Email from clinical psychologist detailing very elevated scores for anxiety on Conner’s questionnaire for ADHD screening performed recently as marked by the school

Can anyone think of anything else? Or any professionals I could ask to assess?

I’m so sorry if this all sounds idiotic. I’ve been trying to follow the thread and realise I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m reading all the resources I can find, but also very much hoping to hear from anyone applying where their child is actually excelling academically. It almost feels like because of this there’s no point in me applying. But she won’t be able to manage school at all because of emotional and social issues if this isnt taken very seriously. 😟

Please help!

@addies EHCPs are about more than academic ability. I have 2 academically able DSs with EHCPs. LAs and some schools sometimes incorrectly tell parents their DC won’t get an EHCP because the child isn’t struggling academically, but that isn’t true.

If the LA agrees to assess you can request SALT and OT assessments as part of that, but you don’t need to pay for assessments before requesting an EHCNA.

Do you have any other relevant correspondence from the school?

@BrumToTheRescue

Hi, thanks for replying. The only other correspondence additionally to her support plan and the sensory diet questionnaire, which is actually filled out by me anyway, would be the paperwork they were asked to complete for DDs autism diagnosis. Other than that, we have had several meetings discussing and deciding on some adjustments for her, but nothing else of note unfortunately. The primary school don't believe she needs anything other than the smallish amount they're doing currently but said they do understand how she will very much struggle without these things in a secondary setting.

@addies going forward, follow up verbal conversations and meetings with emails so you have a paper trail as evidence should you need it at a later date.

@addies you mention "several meetings discussing and deciding on some adjustments for her, but nothing else of note unfortunately."

This suggests, that there have been changes to warrant adjustments imo. If these are in writing, they go towards the evidence you need. If not, as Brum says, follow up by email setting out the conclusions these meetings came to.

For me, thanks for thread 3. Slowly going through each provider with the LA. Looks like they will miss the 20 week deadline but we will see. Got a call with Ed Psych tomorrow so also interested in questions - thank you @Ponche for asking as my call to set the meeting up just came in.

Weird one. Been looking at a specialist school. They won't accept visits, will answer questions by email only. They can only be put forward and named by the LA on the final EHCP. We queried how they can be named if we don't know anything about their environment or have a feel to see if a good fit for our son but they're not budging.

@Bendattheknees thank you. I have them in writing in a sense, as what we discussed was then put on a support plan that they are using in school. There was no email afterwards to log what was said as the reasonable adjustments were listed on the support plan. I was planning on including that.

I wouldn’t delay requesting an EHCNA, but you can make a SAR to the school in order to gather further evidence.