Complaining when the SENCO is the HEADTEACHER

[mrsforgetful]

Head teacher says son (ADHD/ASPERGERS) being managed well and says will not support assesment- despited him being targeted to achieve level 4 in literacy 'mock' SATs and 'only' acheiving 3 due to his aspergers meaning that when he reads he does great but fails with comprehension due to literal understanding and difficulty with feelings and reading between the lines -she's also the SENCO so i feel stuck about who to talk to- have looked at ipsea site and assume my 1st step is to get copy of his school records then request own assment- however he has only ever seen Community Paed and a Speech Language Therepist so wonder who else i could get to see him to strengthen my case- he's one of these'bright ' ones who at 9 spells/reads as a 13yr old,writes like a 6 year old (all his words touch-no spaces and if prints he spaces every letter with a large gap so again no idea where one word starts and another ends)- poor social skills in playground/lunch hall and yesterday asked me if he could have sex with me-he is quite obssessed with 'growing up, at the moment and i dread him saying something like this at school

Could you see a private Ed psych? You would then have the report and could submit as evidence. That might scare the school into supporting an application anwyay. What sort of support would you like the school to provide that they're not already? They may be able to do that without him being statemented......

Definitely think you need to see Ed Psych too. Also think you should not delay in requesting assessment direct with LEA yourself as that will then open up access to other professionals in your Borough. I sent a list of Ed Psychs to another thread recently, let me know if you want me to send it here again.

I think you can bypass the school in asking the L.E.A for your child to get an assessment from the Ed. Psy - and actually parental referal means it happens quicker than if the school did it (crazy hey!) . But I agress with Jimjiams what are you not getting that you think he needs? You might find that in todays cost cutting society he will not get any more support?

I do think if you put in a parental request you would be better doing it with some reports highlighting difficulties.

DAVROS/JIMJAMS - I HAVE REQUESTED HIS SCHOLL RECORDS AND WILL THEN LOKK AT THE LIST DAVROS POSTED REF ED-PSYCHOLOGIST- i decided this after the Jackson's programme the other night when i saw joe recieving an assesment which went on for hours and was very thourough- whereas so far all tom has had is paed observations which are 30mins then a 30 min discussion with us- all done in school- i feel that if we can get a similar assesmant done as was done for joe then at the end we will be confident that we will know exactly what he needs- as to be honest at the moment we are very confused...he's only 9 but reads/spells/computers/science is 14+ maths is ok BUT comprehension/writing/drawing/social skills as age 6/7years- something that psychologist on t.v said about SEN kids needing to be 'watched' is so true of thomas- so if we could even get him 5 hours 1:1 a week and access at all times to a laptop- then i think as he is now we';d be happy- however i am worried about his 'inappropriate sexual' comments and perhaps if this becomes a prob at school then the school may in light of that side of things sprong into action

good luck mrsforgetful! Joe's assessment was private- it's the only way you could get such an in depth assessment unfortunately. Davros has given some numbers of private ed psychs elewhere (can't remember where though).

It seems to make such a difference which school you send a child to, doesn't it? Some seem really helpful, and others are just obstructive.

I comment merely because I have sent my son (also ADHD/Aspergers) to school (long story, involving lots of crying on my behalf!) during the last part of last term. He was there for just under 5 weeks altogether, and was unsupported during this time (although I get the feeling the classroom assistant was kindof dealig with him to the exclusion of all else - so "officially unsupported". When he goes back next term he will have 15 hours one-to-one (basically all morning every morning). And this is without me even asking. A friend of mine suggested that his problems in the classroom must be quite severe in this case but the only comments his teacher has made are that they are surprised at how well he has settled in, how friendly he is and that they have discovered that every single thought he has immediately issues straight out of his mouth (that the thoughts are generally on-topic, interesting and advanced, but rather disruptive to the class!).

You do need to see and ed-pschy though - my ds had already seen one, so that wasn't a problem, and allowed the school to move surprisingly fast. Is there a Pupil and Parent support at the local LEA that you could contact? In our area there is (they actually have a desk at the children's library) and you can actually phone and speak to one of the LEA Ed Psychs to ask for advice.

Anyway. Just my 3 ha'pence worth.