EHCPA application, ASD, academically ok, pre-emptively for secondary school?

[User364837]

Has anyone got any advice what wording I could use for an application for an EHCP assessment for dd?

she is year 5
NHS ASD diagnosis
academically ok ish, but working below age related expectations.
main presenting issue at the moment is distress/anxiety/refusal to go into school 3-4 times a week. I have succeeded in getting her there but it’s challenging. She can run away from me, she also has attempted to leave school once at lunchtime.

there has been a rhetoric from school that she’s fine once she’s in, and I think this is true sometimes but she often also comes out and immediately crumples into tears and upset on some days. I think it’s friendship issues, noisy and busy environment, and the work all feeling a bit hard.

Obviously so far school have said no way she meets threshold for EHCP.

Whilst they are supporting her fairly well there I’m obviously worried about secondary school. We’re semi rural and there isn’t a lot of state school choice. Local one is a large 12 form entry academy. I can’t see her coping with the environment there.

theres not an obvious choice special school for her - they tend to be for moderate learning disabilities.

Im thinking I should apply for EHCP to get her assessed properly and open doors for secondary school options?
my fear if we don’t is that she ends up school refusing at secondary then it would take a long time to get EHCP in place.

But im struggling with what to write on the application.

Is it legitimate to talk about local secondary school not being able to meet her needs (I have chatted to them informally) and future planning for that? Or do I have to make it about the here and now.

Just to add - I am not but her dad (xH) is financially well off.
Should I say to him we need to pay for private ed psych assessment? Would that help us to understand what’s going on for her and what kind of school would work at secondary?

Given your post and the difficulties you describe now, I would focus more on the here and now. You can mention the transition to secondary, however, given the difficulties you describe, I would just do that briefly rather than it being the main focus. I would focus on describing DD’s needs, that she needs more support now, she needs assessment to fully understand (and thus meet) her needs now.

Ignore the school. They often incorrectly tell parents their DC don’t need or won’t get an EHCP. You can get EHCPs for DC where the school says DC is ‘fine’ in school (they are often anything but find).

Thank you
i can see letter templates online from IPSEA but Hampshire just have an online form with the headings:

What information about the child or young person’s Special Educational Needs is relevant?

What information about the child’s health needs is relevant?

what information about the child’s social care needs is relevant?

then a bit for views of the child/YP and parents with boxes for what is working well for them in their current setting, and what is not working well and what you think might help.

i have read about the legal threshold for EHCPA, given the boxes above are there any tips for what to put where?

i’m wondering for example which section her ASD diagnosis comes under as it’s sort of SEN, health and social care.

You don’t have to use the online form. IPSEA’s model will suffice even if the LA tells you otherwise.

ASD can come under all 3 sections.

If you want to use the LA’s online form start by thinking about what DD’s difficulties are, what has already been tried, what support is needed (including things like SALT, OT, mentoring, MH therapies), what her difficulties (e.g. the anxiety/overwhelm/refusals/social interaction difficulties)/strengths are, are her needs fully understood…

Thank you for the advice. I’ve let the school know today I’m making the application and have started having a go at drafting it.

I’ll be surprised if they don’t initially reject the application but we will see! 💪

I made an application for my similar sounding DD in October of year 5 and finally got the EHCP through in June of year 6 after two tribunals. So I don't think you're wrong to be thinking about secondary along with meeting her needs now.

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

I'm pleased to say DD is coming on in leaps and bounds at her secondary.

@Phineyj thank you for the link to the thread! It’s both informative and depressing 😞
that’s great your dd is doing well; what kind of secondary setting did you go for?

This is a little extreme but I decided as a secondary teacher myself, I'd better move to a school that would suit her (I was due a job change anyway). That gave me access to an inclusive comprehensive in the next borough, with a tiny catchment, that she wouldn't have got into otherwise. We don't have schools like that locally.

I knew the SEN team were good there and that there were lots of students like my daughter there.

I did manage to get the school named on her EHCP but I wouldn't have fancied only finding out the school in June for September! I mean I would have played the long game but DD would have been in a state with all her friends knowing what their schools were at that point.

That sounds good, I’m glad it’s working out.

I’m wondering whether an alternative state secondary might be the way to go for dd. Our local one is 12 form entry and a chat I had with once of the senco team was not encouraging.
she said if we do get an EHCP she would recommend going somewhere else.

there is another secondary about 20 mins drive away that I need to go and visit, but I think it has a better reputation for SEN and is half the size, 6 form entry.

BUT as I work full time (in the opposite direction) and am a single parent, it would only work if there was transport - there’s no public transport option and I think that would be too overwhelming anyway.

is it possible I could get the other secondary named and if so ask for taxi transport?

Transport is a possibility.

Without an EHCP, you wouldn’t get transport to the second school if you would have got a place at the nearer school had you applied/put it as a higher preference.

With an EHCP, it can still be possible to get transport to the second school. There are limited reasons the LA can refuse to name parental preference in EHCPs. Once it is named in an EHCP, transport can then be possible. If the parental preference isn’t the nearest school the LA believes is suitable, sometimes LAs will try to name parental preference with a caveat that the parents are responsible for the transport. If that happens, you can challenge it. Just being a bit more expensive doesn’t meet the threshold for inefficient use of resources. This SENTAS article explains more.