STS - son been referred to the specialist teaching services

[Ljstar]

My son is 7, diagnosed with ASD,
on the pathway for ADHD, on the SEN register and has just been referred to the specialist teaching service.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

He is behind academically but does make some progress

I regularly refer children to the STT for assessment. They provide a very comprehensive report into specific difficulties ( ours cover working memory, processing speed, single word reading, spelling etc , etc) and suggest useful strategies to support any areas of weakness for both home and school to use. We tend to have reports completed for each child every 2/3 years ( I would prefer more often but the assessments are expensive!,) and can then monitor progress using the scaled scores they provide. They are also used as supporting evidence for EHCPs.

The specialist teaching service can help the school better meet DS’s needs.

Consider requesting an EHCNA. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

Thanks for the reply.

So really it's an external body coming in and assessing him and then offering advice on best way to support him? and then potentially he'll be reassessed every 2-3 years

They did mention they may look at a
dyslexia screening, but our council do not diagnose this so it would be done to me to pay privately
for an assessment

Thanks for replying.

I have never heard of this before, is this different to an EHCP?

Yes, it is ( in my local authority) a service where specialists come into school, carry out a bank of different tests and come up with assessments , levels and suggestions to support. Ours can assess dyslexia too but , as you say, not all can. Each assessment costs me around £4-500, depends on how much I ask them to look at- they can focus on literacy, numeracy, learning behaviours or the whole lot- a dyslexia assessment costs me well over £750 so is a big chunk out of my budget!
An EHCNA is the Education, Health Care needs assessment, which can lead to the Education, Health Care Plan ( so an EHCNA can lead to an EHCP!)

It varies depending on the area. Not all carry out assessments that give levels/scores. Some base their support only on observations/speaking to staff and the student (and sometimes the parent).

ah ok. I am due a meeting with the specialist teacher after she observes my son so I will ask her about this and perhaps the senco too

I asked my senco about an EHCP and she said he catergorically would not be eligible and it's completely pointless applying 😐

thanks for all your info!

Ignore the SENCO. Unfortunately some schools incorrectly tell parents their Dc won’t get or don’t need an EHCP but the parents go on to successfully make the request themselves even if they have to appeal.

The first threshold to focus on is that of the EHCNA. The threshold for an EHCNA is relatively low - a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP. You should request an EHCNA yourself using IPSEA’s model letter.