There is an ABA / VB school nearby

[MistsandMellowMilady]

Children can attend from three and it's a about 25 minutes / 12 miles away.

Sadly it's not my LEA and the website says that children are referred by their LEA, different council to where I live.

Do I have any hope at all getting a place for DS? I'm not sure how it all works. There are other special schools the same sort of distance from me within our council but this one sounds fantastic.

Thanks.

My dd attends an ABA school, out of county.

It was a fight, but we managed it (and my LEA has very good, sought after state ASD provision, as well as in-county ABA school)

Oh thanks silverfrog. Now I know that it's possible I can start planning. Brilliant

how old is your ds?

do you already do ABA at home?

is yuor ds in any other provision at the moment? (pre-school/nursery, etc?)

dd1 started at ABA school last December, when she was 5.4 (we basically refused to send her to the school LEA wanted, and self-funded while we fought for ABA school named on Statement)

whereabouts are you in Statemtning?

what we did, which took quite a while, but has been worth it in the end, was to prove that La preferred provision failed dd. so we sent her to MS pre-school, while doing ABa part time at home, and paper-trailed the fact that there was no progress at MS vs lots of progress at home.

we then moved county (long story!) and sent dd to an ASD pre-school, which, if it had worked for her, would have meant dd going to the LA ASD provision (very sought after, parents figth tribunals to get in, always over-subscribed)

ASD pre-school didn't work out (teacch based, and again no progress, as openly admitted by pre-school). we re-started ABA, and progress took off again.

La ed psych assessed dd at pre-school, noted all the issues.

then saw her at home and was blown away by the difference (open, happy, relaxed, chatty - getting him to join in with her games, etc)

he then saw her at ABA school after she started there, and was even more blown away.

we had to threaten Tribunal, and apply, etc - gather evidence, but LA settled well before date.

He's 3.3, part-time MS nursery, part-time development group and has had no ABA yet.

The professionals are very scathing about it but from what I've seen on this board it seems to be the way to go, especially now that I know the specialist SALT is going to be no help at all.

The people from the LEA have told me that we need to start the statementing process around Christmas so I'll use this term to gather evidence and learn as much as I can about the process.

Glad it worked out in the end for you and dd1

You will need to be doing ABA at home to prove efficacy. Also, start statement ASAP. Yes, technically it should take 6 months, but, in all likelihood, if you are asking for something out of the ordinary (and sometimes even if what you are asking for is standard), it can take well over that (ot took us 2.6 years to even get to proposed statement level!) and its better to start early.

If you leave it until Christmas, if there are any delays at all, then it is likely your ds would start school (assuming he would be going into reception next Sept?) without a statement, as LA close down over the summer (they ate not supposdd to, but they do)

Really? God I'll start it now then. I do expect him to start in September next year.

Could I do ABA at home myself? There is a tutor nearby who could advise but I don't think we can afford many hours, and I'm home in the afternoons with DS.

Thanks so much for the advice!

I too am desperate for information on this subject. My DS1, 3.8, is statemented, and has been on an LEA-funded ABA home programme for 18months now, and made excellent progress. Not enough that he's anywhere near ready for MS though, and there's no way I want him going to anywhere which promises 'eclectic' provision (mostly teacch, obviously). So for a long time now I have been set on getting him into a VB school next Sep (I wonder if it's the same one as you milady), and the school have given us the written offer of a place. But the more I think about it the more negative I am about our chances, firstly because he is so young, secondly because the fees are £50k pa (plus transport) and the financial climate is so terrible and thirdly, and most significantly, because DS hasn't been anywhere else and failed yet (although we did try and get by with the LA SALT/ Portage provision initially, before being appalled at the inadequacy of it all and begging family for money to kick off an ABA/VB prog). Sadly, those are the only circumstances in which I've ever heard of a child being LA funded at an independent, out of borough SN school.

We have the all-important Annual Review next month, to decide where he goes to school, and I am expecting (and preparing) to go to tribunal. But still, I have an awful feeling that we will have to reverse his progress and prove that he wouldn't be helped in another setting before we have any hope of success. Especially as he is very passive, with no challenging behaviour (touch wood!). It just breaks my heart to think that he is probably going to be sent like a lamb to the slaughter either to some substandard local SN school or left to flounder in MS...

The one I'm looking at is under local management / LA so I hope there aren't fees. 50k

Your little DS sounds delightful CM, I really hope the Annual Review goes well.

ABA school fees tend to be around the 50k mark, plus or minister a few thousand

Am just about to have supper, so must dash, it will return later with a more comprehensive answer to any queries.

Grr, phone autocorrect - that's plus or minus a few thousand...

milady thanks so much for your kind words and good wishes. It's all so stressful at the moment, but it's good to know I'm not alone (not that I'd wish what I'm going through on others!). It's all about knowing what's best for your own DC isn't it...and mine is going to fall between the cracks if he doesn't get the right help, especially as he would be no trouble even in a MS classroom, would sit there like an angel, but learning precisely nothing, and retreating inside himself more by the day, and that's why I'm so worried.

+silverfrog* I so appreciate any help or advice you can give. Is your DD's school in London? And do you think there's any way of convincing an LA to agree to send a child to an ABA school unless it's seen as absolutely a last resort? Thanks in advance!

I'm seeing someone from the LA this week so I'll get right to it.

It's this school I'm looking at by the way. What do you think?

Wish I'd started with the statement as soon as he was diagnosed / referred to Education now but I was promised all sorts of miracles from the specialist SALT, the ever-elusive sensory-trained OT etc etc

Cerys it's so hard isn't it, especially when you know the potential your son has...

That's an idea. The SALT thing really bothered me. We waited six months for a specialist so there was me thinking she'd know how to encourage DS to communicate rather than working on the quality of his speech (for example) and we were packed off after one visit, no follow-up, no appointments just general advice and do the activities in Hanen.

That might well form the basis of it actually.

I also (sadly) know from reading your threads to keep very clear records of all communication with dates, times for evidence.

Thank you