Are IEPs always a part of Action+ ???

[genieinabottle]

Well, i'm back for a rant about school again.

DS (5, asd) has now been in MS school for 7 weeks now and they still haven't bothered to do an IEP for him.

But i was told yesterday that atm they are simply following recommendations from professionals' reports, no IEP has been written.

Two weeks ago, Senco said we would get a copy of the IEP at parents'evening (which is next week), so i asked to have extra minutes to discuss DS's additional needs. Got written reply from teacher said she would make sure we get a few extra minutes.

Today, as i ask teacher for the parent's evening appointments sheet, she says i'm sorry all the appointments are 10 minutes and i cannot get you a longer slot!

I'm bloody fuming! It feels like they are doing everything to work against us, and my guess is they are not supporting DS at all despite saying they do! They are always so very vague when they talk about what support he is getting.

Stuff like 'oh we make sure he understands...we talk slowly to him!' WTH!! is that all they do to support him? it feels like it sometimes.

Sorry forgot to say DS is on action+, with EP and SALT involvement atm.

Yes, he does need an IEP (although it is reasonable to take a few weeks to create one)

If they won't give you more time at parents meeting then - simple. Don't go, and go at a more convenient time when they can give you a whole hour (class teacher and SENCO obviously).

Sounds like a few of us are having some school problems!

We are waiting for our IEP too.

As indigo said - make an appointment and good luck

the SEN code of practice recommends that IEP should be used for all children on action and action plus.

You need to show that IEPs have been implemented and that the targets have not been met as part of the application for statutory assessment. That's the way that you show that the child's needs cannot be met from the resources held within school.

Sounds like you need to book a formal meeting to sort these issues out, preferably with the teacher, SENCO and PP if they'll come.

Thanks.

We have a meting planned with EP and Senco (not sure if teacher will be there but it would be nice) in 2 weeks.
EP was supposed to come in this morning to do a 30 mins obs of DS. And the meeting is to discuss this. But i intend to discuss all these difficulties with school!! Furthermore i will tell them that we are considering getting a private EP to do an assessment and according to what her report says we will apply for SA ourselves.

I'm not holding my breath about the LEA's EP tbh. 30 mins isn't much and DS apparently doesn't display extreme behaviours at school or so teacher says anyway. And she has seen DS last year when he was at nursery and told us his needs were mild and he wouldn't get a dx of asd (we were going through the autism dx process back then), but the team who assessed him gave him a dx of autism and speech and lang.disorder and warned us that becsue he was very passive we may find good support for him could be hard to get.
And boy were they right!

Anyway nothing at all was mentioned about EP's visit in his contact book and i was so fuming when i heard we couldn't get extra minutes that i forgot to ask if she has been.

Hello again genie,

I would now apply for the Statement regardless of what any private EP report says. Delays do not help you at all and you already have dxs for DS. Also LEAs do not always take much if any notice of privately written reports.

SA plus as well does not get the funding it needs and really has no teeth either as it is not legally binding.

Think you need a Statement for DS along with a new school in the longer term - this bunch keep giving you the runaround and even if there was a statement in place I doubt very much if they would be much better. IEPs should never be presented to the parents as a fait accompli and should always be completed termly with parents present. As we are now into the second term they are already late with the IEP.

I would argue that your DS is internalising all his frustrations of the school day only for you as his Mum to fully cop his frustrations when he is at home. This is also why they are not seeing any extreme behaviours at school. Yet another good reason to be applying for this document asap rather than leaving it any longer.

You should be seeing the EP post observation of DS to discuss her findings.

Speed things up, think carefully about what you would like to see in an IEP and then ask to be invited to an IEP meeting to consult on the contents (this is normal practice in many schools and fits in with the CoP. Not at all an unreasonable request).

Otherwise you'll battle for ages, finally get an IEP and spend another term arguing with them over the contents.

I got an IEP the day after my SENCO/teacher meeting...(very similar dx and school issues as genie)...it was two targets, around 4 lines long in total...after Id asked for it they obviously couldnt think about DD or recognise her additional needs at all :(...Still....SENCO hasnt even met her! Were also on week 6 of no visuals...even though inclusion supplied them...now inclusion are gone!!!

Im ringing a new school tomorrow to look around. Have you found anywhere suitable for your DS genie? Has SALT been any help in school? (mine gave an A4 page of clear IEP targets for DD..I dont think they have read it yet).

Im almost ready to start battling with school again...just done the dreaded DLA form. :(

I am confused around IEP's and Action + etc!!

My DS has a IEP so whats the different between them and a Action Plus!! x

An IEP is a specific plan which aims to help everyone work together to support a child in meeting a specific target.

School action is the stage of the SEN code of practice your child is at when they are getting some extra help from staff in school to support them in accessing the curriculum.

School action plus is the second stage where professionals from outside school are involved in supporting the child.

The next stage is when it can be shown that thr child still cannot achieve despite being on school action plus and needs a statutory assessment of SEN possibly leading to a statement of SEN being issued.

HTH

Woolytree, of yes SALT has been brilliant.
Following my 'distressed' phone call about 3 weeks ago, she went in to have an uninformal chat with teacher yesterday, then phoned me up to let me know of what was said.

She is going back to school to work with DS in 2 weeks.

Anyway here is what SALT reported:
Teacher said DS has many moments every day when he panics, cries, and can't explain clearly what is wrong.
So teacher or TA are having to take him aside and spend 15 mins to even get to understanding what the problem is. He is not forward with his explanations to their questions and relies on non-verbal communication, pointing and noises, which they find hard to understand.

SALT suggested they give him 'oops cards' for him to take to an adult when he is getting upset.

Also they are using this 'puppet' toy to help gain his co-operation, as apparently he will do activities for the puppet but not for the adult. And he is too reliant on the puppet.

(At home, we haven't got this puppet and he is challenging to the max in the evenings.)
So SALT suggested he gets less and less of the puppet strategy to start with taking a picture of the puppet and using that instead of the actual toy. And start re-introducing visual timelines and sandtimers (which is what we use at home, SALT and autism team also recommended these, school says they always use them but i straongly suspect they dont!).

So what SALT told me over the phone sounds very different to the 'no issues/no difficulties' i keep getting from Senco.
SALT knows DS very well, so she wasn't going to be easily fobbed off you see!

I can't understand why school keep on telling us everything is fine and dandy!

Its soooo frustrating!

I just emailed inclusion....moaned. :(

I know I need to go in and get more demanding, i suggested another meeting with inclusion to support me.

They tried to teach DD about fireworks...they dont recognise her hearing sensitivity...she is now confused if they are loud or quiet, if she likes them and very scared of bonfires....shes very anxious about tommorrow night now too! Good job school!

Can I borrow your SALT? :)

there are some schools around who are good and there are some terrible ones and sadly it seems you and i have hit the jackpot for unsupportiveness!

I hope inclusion does help sort things out for your DD and school (and for your sake too)

Yep, you can borrow our SALT.

Hugs. xx

Thanks genie! :)

I just wrote two pages in her home/school diary about DDs reaction to the fireworks lesson....and asked if they were using visuals as recommended by professionals. :)

...bet they dont read it.

Good luck with your battle! :)