High masking asd, pda & adhd - send register

[Darksideoftheprune]

Hello!

My son is in y3. He was diagnosed privately in September with asd, pda, adhd & anxiety through a NICE regulated psychologist. He is such a high masker at school he presents a NT so we got in touch with early help and a family support worker to push his infant school to refer him for assessment using the nhs but he was rejected so I paid to go private.

He moved to a junior school in Sept and I had a meeting with the home school link worker and his teacher to discuss his diagnosis etc and they have allowed him fidgets in class and brain breaks but thats it so far. No learning plan as he is academically ok so far (he says he struggles with maths but his teacher says he is fine). I asked if he will be added to the send register and they almost laughed at me and said you don't automatically get added just from a diagnosis. Why wouldnt he be on the send regster? Is there criteria he doesnt meet?

My son school refuses quite a lot now and I have noticed escalation over the past year, he unmasks in public now whereas he never used to be before. I am aware of the statistics that say 70% of pda children don't access school and he find school so hard to attend some days I am conscious of the future. I think getting on the send register is the start of things but I dont think we can even do that because academically he is fine and seems fine at school on the surface.

This is not correct. Your child had a diagnosis, he should be on the SEND register. Children with medical needs are on it, children who are under SALT are on it, it’s not just children who struggle academically. I would speak to them again. Being on the SEND register doesn’t mean they are entitled to 1:1 support or an EHCP but it will detail things like the digit toys and brain breaks to make any teacher who covers the class aware of the needs of the child.

How can I handle this though? when I asked them they smiled and tittered like I'd told a joke. Is there something in concrete in law I can quote at them. I know a girl in y6 at the school who is asd & adhd (thought pda) and she school refuses and misses lots of days and isnt on the send register nor has an ehcp.

I feel like I need an education law degree to navigate this. Its a huge junior school with 400 pupil and 1 senco for the entire thing, it takes a month to get a meeting with the senco.

You can request an EHCNA yourself. On their website, ISPEA has a model letter you can use.

If DS is unable to attend school full-time, you should also request section 19 provision. IPSEA also has a model letter for this.

Any pupil who has SEN support should be on the SEN register. The definition of special educational provision is set out in section 21 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
“”Special educational provision”, for a child aged two or more or a young person, means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age in—
(a) mainstream schools in England,
(b) maintained nursery schools in England,
(c) mainstream post-16 institutions in England, or
(d) places in England at which relevant early years education is provided.
(2) “Special educational provision”, for a child aged under two, means educational provision of any kind.
(3) “Health care provision” means the provision of health care services as part of the comprehensive health service in England continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006.”

SEN is about more than academic ability.

Request another meeting with the school. Follow it up with an email so you have a paper trail as evidence. The school needs to be providing more support. They must make their best endeavours to meet DS's SEN. If they refuse to provide support, complain.

The school sounds extremely unsupportive.

Please do request an ECHNA yourself.

EHCP support thread no. 4 - www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/5197351-ehcp-support-thread-no-4