When to start statementing process

[notfromaroundhere]

Hi

I would really appreciate some advice on statementing. My DS1 is 3.5 and was DX with ASD in December. He doesn't currently have a statement at preschool although I believe we are going to be able to secure some funding for him through the Early Years? but its not a formal statement.

DS1 isn't due to start primary school until Sept 2010. We went to visit the local primary school today and were really impressed with their attitude and think if we get DS1 a statement he could do well there. The head told us without a statement they would only be able to provide 5 hours a week support for him and to basically push for a statement. The head said if they could help in anyway during the process to call them as they have lots of experience.

I am just not sure when to start the process. I know another parent at preschool who is going through the process now for their child starting school this September and she said it had been a complete farce and they weren't anywhere near getting one yet.

If I request the statutory assessment now will it be too soon to really mean anything for September 2010? I don't want to get turned down on the basis that he is doing o.k at preschool when I know he will not cope with primary school without a lot of support. (He was doing really well there until very recently but due to his keyworker leaving and a lot more children starting he is very unsettled there. He also goes to a small development nursery group that he really enjoys as its only him, 3 other boys and 2 specialist nursery assistants but that will finish at Easter).

He is due an assessment by the OT and his currently SALT is going to be passing him over to a colleague more experienced with ASD so would it be more helpful to our case to have those people on board first?

Sorry for the waffle and thanks if you have managed to read it all!

start now.

By the time you get rejected, figure that you are dealing with idiots, get your person at the LEA changed twice and lose the will to live a couple of times you may even end up just a little late

Thank you for the quick replies. I forgot to mention that I had a call from the Ed Psych yesterday and she is coming to see us in April. When DS1 was DX they did a notification to education and this is why she is coming and apparently she will do an "Initial Assessment Report". Any idea what this is and will it cause delays if I apply for a statement before its been done?

I am finding this whole system mind-bogglingly confusing

It is designed to be mind bogglingly difficult. It is designed forthe benefit ofthe LEA and not the parents. It is designed to define the very minimum care that the LEA can get away with and still provide that which is adequate. This makes it the cheapest possible.

DS2 has very very severe needs so I didn't have too much problem once we found provision as he so clearly needed it.
Nevertheless I got my own Ed Psych so I could bat back anything the LEAs could say.

Thanks again, I've also just got the DLA forms through so I'm going to have some fun-filled time in the next few weeks . That's a good point busybeingmum particularly as his current SALT will be going on Maternity leave in April and DS1 may be left SALT-less if the transferring of cases doesn't go smoothly.

Please right away write a letter to the Head of SEN at the LEA (look it up on the council's website) saying

"I am requesting a statutory assessment of my child, [insert name}, for special educational needs under the terms of the 1996 Education Act."

Then add a para on what his problems are, and what school etc have said to back up what the problems are, and how you feel he will struggle in the future. Make it sound bad, not good at this stage, even though naturally as a mum you want to look on the bright side.

Till you do this , in writing, you will get fobbed off again and again, as the main aim in life of the LEA (and their minions at the school, though your head sounds nice) is to keep your kid on School Early Action plus type schemes (= cheap) rather than to give out a statement and get full 1-to-1 support for a child (=expensive).

Once the LEA receive that letter, and put registered post on it to be extra sure, they are legally locked into an exact assessment process, the timings of which you can find online but I think they have 12 wks to assess.

It is good that the Ed Psych is coming , for an Initial Assessment report - I don't know what this is exactly, but it sounds promising. But ... she is under no obligation to write that in any hurry if you haven't set in motion the legal process. You will get told stuff like "oh, don't start the statementing process too early as he may come on in leaps and bounds and you don't want to underestimate his abilities by starting too early" (a clever one that, as it makes it feel like they are on your side!). It's bollocks, they speak with forked tongue!

I learned this the hard way, as I kept on asking for a statement verbally, from people who I naively thought wanted only the best for my darling boy, and I was fobbed off for 2 years!!! I was so annoyed that I found out that they need do NOTHING till they get a request in writing.

You have to be more cunning than a fox with this stuff! Good luck!

oh yes do it now i applied in dec and have just been awarded a statement so in good time to start school

i had education people come out to me who awarded him a specialist preschool teacher to go into preschool to help and advise staff on what to do to help ds also he was awarded 1 half hours a day 1-1 help

my specialist teacher gave me the rough draft letter to write statement from and helped me put it in and we have been awarded a a statement but not sure of terms yet as still gathering information and i have to send question pack back so definably best to start asap

good luck

An 'Initial Assessment Report' is not part of the Statementing process. It's probably because school called in the Ed Pysch. You know if the Statement process has been initiated because the LEA have a duty to inform you in writing that they will be starting it.
School may try to put him on Schools Action or Schools Action + (the 2 lower levels of SEN support) before they consider making any request to the LEA to start the Statementing process (if they even do).
If he needs a Statement the school itself should initiate the request to the LEA, however many don't so it often falls to the parent to do it themselves (I had to).

We started the process in Dec for DS4 who is also 3.5 and will start school in sept 2009. we have just received his proposed statement and it was actually very good. ( The SaLT needed to tweak her section a bit).

A friend is battling to get her son with a speech and language disorder statemented. We wree lucky in that it all seemed to go quite smoothly and was staright forward (DS4 has undx GDD, hypotonia and SAL probs). I am still waitinf for it to all go horribly wrong. (Probably when he doesn't get a place at the Special School we so desperately want)

I think the whole process for us atrted off with the EP doing a report and recommending that DS4 was statemented.

I found this iste very helpful www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice-about-education-for-parents/advice-booklets/asking-for-a-statutory-assessme nt.htm

My link takes you to a page about extra help for older children (sorry I had bookmarked it as my DS3 is currently on School Action and I was swotting up) There is another page on the site for early years.

Pagwatch speaks sense.
Bide her words.
(I'm a salt on an SN team.)

But is it always difficult? I was prepared for the worst after reading many, many posts on here about all the problems people have faced but so far it seems to have gone quite smoothly.

I am not being smug, nor am I denying that many parent have to fight bloody hard all the way. I was expecting a long slog but I didn't need to.

Am I being totally naive?

No,it's not always difficult and that is great.
Neither are most authorities bad. Incompetent, ill informed and disorganised, yes, but not bad.
However, always better to err on side of caution and if nothing goes awry, it is then a pleasant experience.

true - I am still waiting for it all to go tits up here

Thanks all, its good to hear that statementing does sometimes go smoothly. I have nosed around my LEA's website and found their SEN strategy report. They are allegedly putting more funding and training in to early years etc but when it came to the "how we will know if we have been successful" part it stated that a 5% reduction in statements being issued for 2009 would be one of them. The cynic in me wonders if cutting down the number of statements will come before providing more help...

busybeingmum may I ask how far in advance was your DS2's statement finalised? I'm just wondering as there is 18 months til DS1 starts school if it would be too early to accurately assess his needs if things went well.

Thanks busybeingmum. I'd heard a few things that had made me quite suspicious of our LEA that's why I was having a nose around .

I rang a local charity today that helps with statementing and talked it all through with them. As there are a few problems at preschool atm and we are still waiting on DS1 being seen by a couple of people the advice was to hold off until we've got things straightened out and have the maximum evidence possible. I'm thinking I will likely start the process in May as that should still give plenty of time even if we end up at appeal....