Need advice while I wait for statement, please?

[starfish71]

I haven't posted for months but have been 'popping in' to gain advice from threads even if I haven't contributed to any but am feeling very overwhelmed at moment and need some good clear advice - know I will get that here!

DS2 has recently (about 2 weeks ago) finally finished his assessments etc and has a diagnosis of ASD. Am very slowly coming to grips with it but it is all a bit surreal to be honest and am still going back to forth to check the diagnosis letter in case I have imagined the whole thing! Sounds a bit nuts I know but it is so strange to be given a diagnosis even when you half expect it.

My reason for posting today is that DS2 has been undergoing SA since February and I was told that panel would be sitting in summer holidays as they had quite a few children on their list but that has fallen through and it is now due to be held on Mon 6th Sept. There have been loads of delays - the main one being the SALT report which took weeks to come through.

DS's school have already told me before holidays that they feel that they are not equipped to deal with his needs and they are most certainly not an ASD friendly school. They start back next Thursday, DS has been moved to another class - going into year 2 - even though I did ask as his teacher was going to be teaching year 2 this year if DS could stay with them until statement stuff and probable change of schools goes ahead. They refused and he has been spilt from some of his friends (you know what I mean) and going to be put with a new teacher who has only met him once for 40 minutes before holidays. I practically begged for him to be kept with his teacher as he will be moving schools shortly I am sure.

Should I tell the LEA that DS will be staying at home until statement is finalised and new provision provided or shall I send him back next week hope he can cope with the change and then put him through more transition when he has to start new school?

I hope this all makes sense, my brain is completely frazzled at the moment but would really appreciate your thoughts or have any experience. Thanks

Just wanted to say good luck, am in the process of appealing to LA for SA for my ds after being refused and I have been given brilliant advice from parents on here.

Thank you all so much - am hoping to get my email off to LEA tonight or first thing. Tried ringing today but it seems no one can tell me anything. According to the lady I spoke to (my liaison officer) that they haven't breached guidelines as they had to wait for the S & L report which took ages and they did lots of chasing up! She sounded a bit surprised that I was even telling her that they had missed all these timeframes!

My real concern is that do I send my DS to a school on Thursday that are not sympathetic and to be honest are quite keen to send him off to another school or do I keep him home (with a 'cold') until I get panel's decision on Tuesday morning. That's the bit that is causing me real anxiety - just want to do the best of ds. Will pop back on later if I can - taking ds up to bed. Thank you again.

Hmm, not sure that the delay with S&L report can justify breaching their guidelines, especially over such a long period. I expect she was surprised as she was used to other parents accepting their excuses at face value!

It's much better to stick to making these queries in writing - often the people on the phone don't have the authority to make the serious decisions anyway and at least emails can be passed on to the more senior staff. It's also very important to keep a paper/electronic trail.

As for keeping your son home - I think it sounds like the current school is definitely not the right place for him and I can understand why you'd want to keep him home. However, although the panel will sit on Monday, it will be some time before you get the final statement and all the provision it describes.

The panel at this stage will be considering the SA evidence and deciding whether to give him a statement or a note in lieu. If they do decide to statement him, they'll issue a proposed statement first (takes 2 weeks) and then a final statement (8 weeks or longer if you want to negotiate on the wording/provision, which is likely).

In other words, if you want to keep your son home until the final statement is issued, he could be out of school for half a term. Is that something you could manage and do you think it would be best for him?

Usually the provision would not be changed until his final statement is issued, although you could have grounds to request an emergency placement at the unit before his statement his finalised.