Completing parental statement for the SA - help!

[debs40]

I've spent bloody ages on this parental statement and it's now 45 pages long.

I'm trying to pull together all the salient evidence from reports which supports what we are saying and identify areas which have failed to be explored - like the LA EP's dismally poor report which identifies very poor working memory with no strategy to deal with it (her report in facts lacks any comment on provision for the list of recommendations she makes).

I suppose provision is the key concern. The reports are generally poor at commenting on what is needed to achieve progress or even meet the recommendations. For example, the EP's report simply lists three pages of recommendations but doesn't say what is needed in terms of provision to carry them out.

I know SEN COP is clear about identifying provision in reports and I know that experts are supposed to consider future needs as well as present (which of course they don't) so I have dealt wiht all that.

My question is, should I pull the recommendations from the reports together and comment on provision, even just to say something like 'the provision required to achieve adequate progress must be clearly specified and quantified', where no comment is made by the relevant expert?

Have the LA got any special schools to cater for the specific condition of your child?

I suggest that you ask that your child is given a place in a Special school who are experts to provide an excellent education for your child.

I want him to stay in mainstream with support Lucinda

How I did it.

Background

Developmental History from birth

Difficulties displayed (Highlighted Extracts from reports)

Difficulties he has experienced during his school life (i.e. how his needs are not currently being met)

What sort of provision I want for him

Which totalled a 60+ page rant.

Thanks Wet.

I think mine is kind of the same. Lots of extracts from reports.

I have set out lots of the difficulties in school life bit in the previous statement to ask for an SA and I have appended that to this one.

I have used as much law as I can too!

Definitely going to have a battle for SALT I think.

It's so difficult to leave it be isn't it??

It's a terrifying responsibility.

Isn't it?! I mean you won't get what you ask for, so you certainly won't get what you don't ask for [hshock]

I dunno debs. I asked for fortnightly SALT at this stage. By the time we'd been through the tribunal process it turned into weekly, which we got.

We asked for OT fortnightly at a clinic, we got weekly and she travelled to the school.

We didn't ask for any autism outreach at all, but we got one full session in nursery per week.

We asked for a TA, we got a higher rate TA with 6 yrs SALT base experience.

BUT, as you know we asked for ABA which we didn't get. Your equivelant might be private tutoring during the holidays so that your ds can 'catch up' with his peers. You might need to get some advice as to the viability of this but it isn't as crazy a request as it seems.

Set your expectations high. You'll still be disappointed, but you'll be disappointed with better provision.

I find it hard not to say too much! Am I not just making their case even tighter for when they refuse me by setting everything out??

You haven't yet seen the reports from schol, EP etc that will be Appendices to any Statement, so you'll have a lot more ammo idc - plus of course Ruth's.

Thanks Wet, I've sent it off. Blooming heck, it was almost as bad as submitting a PhD chapter. I've probably gone well overboard with footnotes!

Found out lots of useful legal stuff while I was doing it though so shout out anyone who wants some helpful legal points to use!

That will probably be me then at some point!

OMg I just sent one in for DS and am sure it was nowhere near as detailed as it should have been.

Hideous form to complete.

TheGhostly....quantity is not quality!! I have said the same thing a million times!

Will cut and paste useful legal references together and post when have a moment.

hmmm I'm doing mine so anything helpful would be good