OT in statement - has anyone got sensory integration provision

[loueytbg]

Has anyone successfully got sensory integration treatment in their DC's statement??? We have a good report stating he needs weekly OT and sensory integration therapy. The LA are saying that if he needs treatment offsite, then its not an educational need. He needs vestibular stimulation with swings etc which cannot be provided in schools (and certainly not in his current nursery). My argument is that without it, he can't sit still and his attention span is very poor. Plus he will try and escape - can't see why that is not an educational need.

I have said that I thought some LA's paid for children to have SIT off-site but she had never heard of that before. I am going to speak to his private OT to see if she can write (another) letter/report and the SEN officer has said she will take it to panel but I just thought someone might have experience of this.

I wrote a long post on my phone then lost it!

I think it comes down to 'many ways to skin a cat', tbh.

There are lots of things that can be done in school, with minimal resources to have similar effect to the labour intensive therapies that are suggested.

So, take for example 'joint compression' - must be done every 2 hours.

What DD1's OT recommended were simple strategies to have similar effect:

-Stack some books in a corner of the class. Ask the child to help tidy them away. Bending, stretching, lifting, carrying - all gives feedback to the joints.

-Put some tins in a rucksack and encourage the child to wear it for short periods - proprioceptive feedback to the shoulders.

-a stretchy neoprene vest can be worn for short periods while doing 'sitting' activities. Gives feedback to the torso, which reduces fiddling.

-weighted lap pads and neck pads. I can make one for around 2.50, not expensive.

-What about star jumps instead of a trampoline?

There is lots that can be done in school, with minimal resources, which will do the same thing as the very expensive SIT.

I think it is very important to remember that the Law provides for every child to have an 'adequate' 'suitable' education, not Gold Standard.

Star makes a good point that 'if it works, does it matter if the evidence is there to explain why?' The short answer is no, unless you are asking a LA with limited funds to pay for it.

Only ask for a very expensive off-site therapy if a) you have lots of evidence that it works b) that evidence shows that it is the thing you are asking for that works, specifically c) your child can't learn without it and d) only that thing can work for your child.

Lots of ABA cases, for example, are turned down at tribunal, because while the parents can show that their child would make excellent progress with ABA, the LA can show that they would make 'adequate' progress with their intervention. The Law only insists on 'adequate' provision, so the Tribunal can't favour the 'excellent' provision of ABA, even if they think it is the best thing.

This is very interesting post.

Ben Goldacre at the Guardian has some very interesting things to say about Brain Gym in Bad Science!

Anyway, I have a son who has a dx of SPD as well as Asperger's and I know the labels frequently obscure rather than illuminate his problems.

Hhe constantly rocks and moves and flops around. He can't sit still or hold his body in place. Our OT says proprioceptive feedback difficulties. She doesn't hold with SIT but can't really recommend anything else save to weight him down or eat a snack not sure about that one.

Anyway, he is hypermobile too - very. The OT would not refer to physio - 'he doesn't have hypermobility symdrome, he's just hypermobile' she says. The physio had also said previously her team don't deal with this kind of thing. So we paid privately to go to Gt Ormond St's specialist clinic.

They say - what's the difference between HMS and hypermobility? Nothing. The cild is floppy, his joints are lax, no wonder he lolls and flops and fidgets and has a poor sense of body awareness. Let's do something to build him up. And so we are.

Now, the point of all this is that I feel much happier thinking there is something I can do about a problem and then trying to get help for that issue than trying to convince people there is a syndrome at work they can't see and that needs strange strategies to reduce the problems.

DS lies on the floor in class chewing his laces. Answer - don't make him sit on the floor for so long and give him regular breaks. Keep him focused and engaged with extra help. Strangely that takes resources too but I suppose it feels more within a school's capability somehow.

Sorry a bit of a rant really but I really don't know whether all this SPD stuff has just taken me down a wrong turn and made me look for complications where none exist.

pipin...LGOmbudsman, to get compensation to pay for it yourself?

Just wondered how you are getting on OP as we are facing a similar battle with our lea.

She won! 6 months of SIT with a private OP paid for by the LEA!

OT changed their mind

Yeah, PipinJo.