statement- how long?

[tiredmummyneedswineandsleep]

having multi agency meeting asap about ds 3.1 adhd and asd and was wondering realistically how long statementing takes? pre school with lots of sen experience can't cope with him as behaviour disturbs all other children in setting.
have found a school other side of town with an autism and communication and language unit that would be ideal for him when starts reception next year.
how long do statements usually take as have to submit our primary school admissions by jan at latest so time not on my side!
many thanks

Hi tiredmummy, unless you have an emergency statement application, which can be done, the normal statementing procedure takes 26 weeks.

I applied last September for DD1 and it took 20 weeks, but I was happy with the proposed statement, so it finalised early.

thanks im hoping they'll go for emergency as head who is extremely experienced esp in sen said that ds is by far the worst he has seen in early years.

is that the kind of situation they would do emergency statement in do you think? thanks

It is great that you have an experienced head.

My DD had a 10 minute observation when she started preschool (I only found that out last month, when they gave me all her paperwork on leaving the preschool). It was just a spiderweb of activity - she had literally been crossing the room in all directions every few seconds

It took a while for me to realise that I was the only one who would take action, and thankfully she is now in a Special school which is fab for her.

glad you were able to help her lougle must be huge relief
what diagnosis does she have if you don't mind me asking?
yes very lucky in that respect. the school is ofsted outstanding and ofsted couldnt praise early years enough when they came in summer. head also does a lot across county and has worked in other parts of country so it was hard to hear how severe ds is but at least he's in the system i guess.
did you get emergency statement?
ds like that darts around at everything for literally seconds and then moves on. he has no spacial awareness and runs through others games etc and no empathy.

Thanks very much. not really what I wanted to hear but thought it would be the case I have a long battle ahead...

tiredmummy DD1 has a brain malformation, cortical dysplasia, with epilepsy and GDD.

We were very fortunate that the preschool picked up DD1's problems - all my concerns had been dismissed by HVs, and although I did have concerns, by the time she got to preschool, I had resolved that she was just 'active'.

Preschool noticed her walking (she didn't walk 'til 23 months, and started preschool at 2.6) but I pointed out that she only started walking 7 months earlier.

They got her observed, and started full 1:1. Then she started falling over for no reason, got fast-tracked to the hospital and dx with epilepsy, then MRI showed the malformation.

I requested a statutory assessment, made my parental advice very thorough, very specific, but stated that if they could keep her safe, then I would consider mainstream, but it would have to be 1:1 support from the moment she arrived to the moment she left. The LA chose Special School.

Star is right, I think. I had already visited the Special school, so once I saw that, and talked to them, I could see that they would do whatever DD1 needed. So I didn't have to bother at all with what was in the statement itself, really. having the place was enough.

If she had a MS statement, I would have had to pin it all down, make sure it was quantified, specified, no wriggle room.