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Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Worry or not?

6 replies

Specter1989 · 04/09/2025 14:23

My child (11 next month and in yr 6) has ASD,ADHD and tic disorder.
He goes very part time and has a 1 to 1 when in school.
He is behind on all learning math is his strong point but English is more at a year 1 level.
I stayed with him for the very short time he was in school as we are gradually building up as the summer holidays have obviously set him back.

He literally could not remember how to do a 4, I had to teach him how to do it again.
Is this a concern? Do I need to worry?

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 05/09/2025 09:58

I think it would warrant further thought and support.

Does DS have an EHCP? Is he in MS? Why is he very part-time? Is alternative provision in place? When did he last see an ed psych?

Specter1989 · 05/09/2025 11:29

Yes he does have an EHCP and is in MS, he can not manage more then what he is doing in school at the moment.
It's not the right place for him (we know that,school knows this but unfortunately LA knows better).
School does do there absolute best.
EP was involved in his last EHCP but nothing ever really gets said about his inability to be able to write and now not being able to remember how to write simple numbers.
Just get told it will be ok because he can use a laptop.

We did try AP in the form of a PRU for children with SMEH needs in the last school term (it was awful so I pulled him out as his mental health was bad).

OP posts:
Specter1989 · 05/09/2025 11:30

EHCP review that was ment for the last EP involvement back in March.

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 05/09/2025 16:05

Are you appealing the EHCP? If so, have you requested an expedited hearing? If you are not already appealing the EHCP, request an early review in order to try to get the right of appeal. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

IPSEA also has a model letter to request alternative provision. AP comes in many forms. It doesn’t have to be at a PRU.

What support, including therapies, is in the EHCP? Even if DS can’t attend school full time, the LA still has a duty to ensure it is provided.

Specter1989 · 06/09/2025 15:15

It will have to be an early review, the LA was crafty and I was told (I had asked for specialist school because school can not meet need that they would name the MS he was already at then consult the specialist).
It's been over 2 months and have heard nothing even though the school and I have been asking LA.
So to late to appeal and I didn't realise they should have consulted the school of my choice before naming a school on EHCP!

In his EHCP section F

Will participate in short
movement breaks, that are supported
by an adult on a 1:1 basis for 30 mins each Morning and afternoon sessions.

learning environment will be
structured through predictable routines
and timetables, with language that is
supported by personalised visuals to
support his understanding of structure,
expectations and change (e.g., ‘now/next’
boards). He will have prewarning for any
changes to his typical timetable.

greeted by a familiar adult and supported on
a small group or 1:1 basis for a minimum of
one hour to engage in a chosen low demand
activity (e.g., football) so that he has an
opportunity and targeted support to regulate
his emotions before being expected to
engage in learning activities.

learning tasks will be adapted to
account for his emotional needs (including
sustaining attention) and gaps in knowledge,
such as presenting tasks in 15-minute bursts
followed by a short sensory / low demand /
reward activity, maximising opportunities for
practical and visual learning, and facilitating
alternative ways to writing to record work
when appropriate.

Teaching will occur in a
quiet, calm space within a class with a high
adult
-to
-pupil ratio alongside peers who have
similar needs to him. Adults must:  Present all information in small
chunks that keeps a fast pace, break
down longer tasks into smaller steps
(e.g., by creating ‘to
-do’ style
checklists),
 Offer choices within the remit of the
task, tailor tasks to his interests,
support him to plan extended writing
tasks,
 Provide positively
-framed or low
-key
verbal and visual prompts to direct
and sustain his attention and/or
provide emotional reassurance.

will have an adult to recognise, from
his physical presentation, when his emotions
are starting to escalate or he is starting to
lose focus on an activit
y. Adults will embody
a PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity
and empathy) approach and use strategies
such as emotion coaching and wondering
aloud to deduce how xxxxx is feeling and
direct him to a strategy to support him to
develop vocabulary and strategies to
communicate and manage his regulation.

Xxxxx will have a personalised curriculum
that includes daily structured activities and
opportunities
to develop his understanding of
his social and emotional strengths and needs
as well as his repertoire of strategies that he
uses to manage socially and emotionally
challenging situations.
• Focus areas of these sessions will include:
self
-esteem (e.g., supporting him to identify
and celebrate his strengths), emotions (e.g.,
supporting him to recognise triggers and
identify strategies that he uses to manage
them) and social relationships (e.g.,
supporting him to identify strategies for
managing challenging social situations).
• To address the areas that involve developing
strategies to manage challenges through xxxxx
school day, adults will need to
structure the discussion using visual
resources (e.g., Comic Strip Conversations)

to help him to talk through a situation,
consider other people’s perspectives, and
imagine alternative actions and outcomes.

• The adult who delivers this intervention will
have to liaise with adults who support xxxxx
throughout the school day to promote
consistency in practised strategies for
communicating and managing his emotions
in a socially appropriate way.

will have targeted support to practise
with technology that supports him to record
pieces of writing through alternative methods
to handwriting (e.g., typing on a laptop or
tablet) throughout the whole school day.
• will have targeted support to maintain A good work speed.

will have targeted support to follow
the routines within the classroom and to help
him when the routines change.
• xxxxx will have a range of need appropriate
evidence based visual supports for the week,
appropriate for his age, to enable xxxxx to
understand and adapt to the daily demands
throughout the whole school day.
• xxxxxx will have the SPARK gross motor
program activities, a minimum of 2–3 times
per week (a minimum of 20-30 minutes each
time), specifically focusing on building
bilateral integration and balance.
•xxxxx will have the SPARK fine motor
program for a minimum of 10 – 15 minutes
daily to improve his fine motor skills and
hand strength needed for manual dexterity
and writing.
•xxxxx will have targeted support with
dressing changes or when tying shoelaces;
as such, when getting changed for PE
lessons, he will need extra time and adult(s)
available.
• xxxxx will have need appropriate evidencebased resources in the classroom that
support him to regulate his sensory input. He
will experiment with different resources (e.g.,
fidget toys) to identify what supports him to
focus on teacher input or learning tasks
throughout the whole school day.

Unfortunately none of these have been able to be implemented because he isn't there long enough or engaged because of anxiety.
I'm not blaming the school what so ever they have tried, there just not able to meet needs.

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 06/09/2025 18:33

Request an early review using IPSEA’s model letter. As well as pursuing a change of placement, you should look to improve section F. It is vague and woolly. It needs to be detailed, specified and quantified - who, what, when, where, how…

Not an exhaustive list, but for example:
What ‘adult’ and ‘familiar adult'? - job role, training/qualifications/experience. Is familiar someone DS has seen once or...
What is a ‘small group’?
What is ‘short’?
What is a 'high adult-to-pupil ratio'?
Several elements don’t state how long for or how frequently.
e.g. and such as don’t mean the examples will be provided.

He also needs far more therapeutic input.

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