can anyone give me information about applying for a statement

[southeastastra]

for my son?

school said they would get him and educational pyschologist but this was in july and since then we've had a real staff turnaround at the school.

can i apply for this myself (i've found an online form) or is it better to go through the school

Yes you can definitely apply yourself and it is probably a better idea. Here's what to do - find out who is in charge of assessment for special needs or statutory assessments in the LEA education bit of your local council (it will be on their website)- then write a letter to that person, copied to the school, saying "I would like to request an assessment of my son for special educational needs, under the 1996 Education Act". (This is legal wording, and they are now allowed to ignore it). Then put a few lines about what your son's difficulties are (make them sound bad at this stage). This triggers an exact timed process which the council have to stick to (the timings will be on the web somewhere under statutory assessment for SEN process - google should get you it, I think the first bit they have 12 weeks to get reports in). The LEA will get an Ed Psych on the case, who will visit your DS at home and/or school. But till you start the clock ticking with this exact wording, you will get fobbed off by school and LEA (as the basic truth is that neither LEA or school want to give out statements at all because they end up costing money!). You get to submit a report during the assessment process too, as do any other experts who know your DS, so make sure you play up to the fullest all the problems your DS has - the things that make life so different for him compared to a "normal" kid his age, and any behaviours/problems which impact his ability to learn. Good luck!

fab advice thank you so much sickofsocalledexperts will get together all his reports now and get typing!