Services for children with SEN or disabilities: tell the Government your views!

[HelenMumsnet]

Hello.

We thought you all might like to know that the Government is preparing a Green Paper on Children And Young People With Special Educational Needs And Disabilities.

And Sarah Teather, the Minister of State for Children and Families, has invited views from everyone with an interest in services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities in England.

All views and perspectives received will be considered as part of developing proposals for a Green Paper on SEN and disability, to be published this autumn.

You can respond with your views here

And, of course, we'd love you to share your views on this thread, too - if you'd like to.

Well, my good friend has just been refused a Carer's Assessment for her ASD son when she can't physically get him to school and faces potential court action as a result of not getting him to school.

I think that says it all frankly doesn't it?

Starlight- you DO know someone in the DM or indeed the Government will quote that seriously dontcha?

Can we have some coherence between services please.. Oh and be told what's going on.. Rather than having to chase all departments up and then relay this information to other professionals for them.. Because they cannot talk to each other!

also do not cut money to our services.. I'm talking about CAMHs and such like having a 12 month wait for aa ADOS test... 18 months for OT.. Let alone anything else... And that before any support gets put in for our children. Basically this causes already delayed children not become more delayed... So much for early intervention.

oh and can you please TRAIN SENcos in asd and make them train all school staff.. Schools get enough inset days to do this.. and it would be more useful that changing the names of already existing teaching stratagies and spend a day doing so.

And make IEPs legally binding please! It would save money on some statements..

If you want to save money look at ways to enable people to work, not create a system that barrs them then cut money anyway.

Get people into trianing- make HE chidlare funding allowed to be used to fund a Nanny instead of just CM or Nursery when SN is in the equation. It'll pay off in the long run.

Can you please tell Nottinghamshire that Statements are not as bad as they make out - they are not the work of the devil and they actually help children.

Also, please dont close our parent partnership, its been a lifeline for us!

can you tell them not to move my dd to an inadequate college when she is 16 and let her stay at the school she is at(which has a 16 plus) they only want to mover her to save money

Actually yes.. Early intervention is key to spending less on services and benefits later on... Why not ask schools to send out an scq out to each parent of children entering school and key stage two.. They are not hard to score and would highlight children who may need further investigation.
Also why not make all schools asd friendly.. The stratagies we use for our children translate verywell to NT children .. And would help cut down on some services needed later on.. Due to anxiety and behaviour.

Build more Special schools.

Re-open Special schools which have been closed over the last 16 years.

Train more teachers to understand a range of Special needs and disabilities.

Set up a National Complaints Agency.

Prosecute teachers who are cruel to ASD children.

Helenmumsnet I asked HQ if we could get Teather for a webchat did that idea go anywhere?

She is probably too scared!

ASD children will always be misunderstood in Mainstream schools.

The next school to us operates an ASD friendly system; all routine, visuals (sorry Star ) etc

very good

CAn I get ds4 there whilst managing the others?

Can I heck.

Star.. I think it mayhave been some of their research papers I was Reading.. It sounds very familiar.. And doable!

Sancti.. Ha haaaa I have the perfect school for ds2 .. It's a short drive away.. It has asd friendly status.. And it in proposals for an on site unit...
It is very very over subscribed... I am fighting like hell to get him in there!
Trouble is I can't just have a quiet word with the head these days as all admissions now go through the lea not the schools.

I filled out the form yesterday.

-insufficient training for teachers/tas

-reality of inclusion is very patchy - some mainstream schools are experienced and well-motivated - but not all.

-lack of early intervention and support for parents of pre-schoolers with SN - local inclusion services refused to help me with applying for a mainstream school place as he was still on the waiting list to see the paediatrician, so had no official diagnosis and "all mainstream schools take kids with all types of SN these days"

-use the restricted money there is more effectively and accountably.

-lack of knowledge of professionals outside their specific job area - e.g. professionals not mentioning DLA to parents, or not knowing if there is a local ASD or SN support group.

-take into account the links between language/communication impairment, social exclusion and offending. as others have pointed out, early intervention can save money (and lives) in the long run

Don't allow LEA's to have their own SEN policies. Make LEA's use the SEN Code of Practice NOT their own, invented, convoluted, distorted local policies for Statutory Assessment, Statements and SEN funding.

Police the LEA's properly and effectively - Judicial Review is not an accessible, practical way to make LEA's comply with the law, especially without access to legal aid!

Stop paying lip service "Every Disabled Child Matters" (But only if we can spend as little as possible on them and palm them off with inadequate services and make the parents feel guilty for asking for proper provision!)

Make award of costs at SENDIST much easier for parents to obtain in the case of downright unreasonable LEA's who use Tribunal as a way of intimidating parents, hoping they will back down and saving money on the provision they are not providing.

Change the odds - at the moment it is like David and Goliath, as parents you are fighting a large public body, complete with an extensive legal department. Many parents have to rely on voluntary advice from IPSEA SOSSEN and similar and information gained from the internet (MN and Google!)

I seem to remember that the Lamb Inquiry recommend making advice more available to parents.

Scrap Parent Partnership - in my LEA they are in the pockets of the LEA. Pay volunteer parents an allowance/expenses instead to help other parents a la Dave's "Big Society"

There, that should get them started!

Also disagree very strongly with the statement that ASD children will always be misunderstood in mainstreams schools.

My kids' mainstream school, on the whole, tries very hard with them but staff need far more training than they've been able to access and far more resources. They need ready access to specialist advice from OT and PT as well as SALT (This seems to be somewhat better catered for, but is still sketchy.) This advice needs to be provided without a lengthy referral process so that entire academic years aren't lost in the wait for services.

The postcode lottery for education and services for kids with ASD desperately needs to end. I live in what is, on the whole, a good area. I've had no more than minor niggles with the boys' NHS provision, usually solved by a few phonecalls. Others have been far less fortunate.

On the other hand, I can't see my future experiences being so good, given the removal of the 18 week waiting limit. Even in a good area like this (Durham), everything takes far too long, already.