independent Ed Psych assessment ... your views please

[coogar]

Any advice or personal views welcome please !

My son has an appointment with a pead for ADHD assessment referred via our GP on the recommendation of his school. We are very cool with this as we realise he is struggling somewhat at school. During the same GP appointment, she recommended we had an independent educational psychologist assessment carried out. She indicated that waiting lists are long if done via schools but also added that their psychs work under the LEA's umbrella and may bias the schools opinions. She felt that by having an assessment either in the classroom or at a learning centre, we would get a more 'honest' report that we could use to determine if the current school is right for him etc etc. What do you think? or have you had experience doing just this? Many thanks in advance.

Your GP is absolutley correct and very astute to have realised that LA Ed Pyschs work to the LA's own agenda.

It's definitly worth getting an independant Ed Pysch assessment - we did.

Sausage how did you go about finding a reputable one and did you have the assessment carried out at school ? I don't really know what to do next .. all a bit new to this. Thanks !

I'm not sure schools are obliged to let and independent one into their classrooms though. Also they may not agree with the recommendations as they don't take ownership. Ask the school what the waiting times are, gp may not be in the best place to know. ds had his assessments at home.

Lizs you're right .. would probably be at the schools discretion if they let an independent in. I think my GP was giving the advise based on her experience with other similar 'patients' iyswim. Anyone assessing my son would need to see him in the school environment as that's where most of is problems are. Waiting lists are roughly 6-8 months in our area and have not been discussed by our school as they are 'expensive' according to DH. We were able to have an independent SALT assessment done at his previous school. Thanks!

electra thanks for reply. Oh god, that's what I thought. Would I just be wasting time and money getting one done ? I really want an 'honest' report, not one written by someone in the pocket of the LEA I'm also looking into the future - if we ever want to change schools or move into the private sector for education, I assume an independent report would be valuable .... ??

Sorry to be controversial - but I think first off you should get the EP done through the school.

Firstly if you can convince the school to assess him - then they are more likely to follow the advice. Think how receptive they may be to and Ed Pysch report they didn't ask for.

Secondly, these things are expensive. £300+ I believe. Why should you pay for it? Absolutely no guarantee it's any better than a LEA report.

Thirdly, I think it was very unproffesional of a NHS GP to recommend this. For all you know he has targets of 'how many kids to refer to an EP' that he's trying to meet....

What happened to us was the Paed saw my DS to asses him for ASD. Then got the school EP to see him. I would be very surprised if your paed didn't request the school EP to see him - and then the school will have to agree and follow the advice and it will be free.

If the school have already recommended you see the GP about ADHD there's no reason why they should turn down your request for your son to be seen by the EP. You might have to wait a term or two - but you're in this for the long term.

The EP report is no more magic than a dx. I would rather spend that money on treatements / therapies / resources to help DS.

Paying for anything that benefits him in the short or long term is something I would be prepared to do. Not sure doc would have targets for this kind of thing to be honest .. how would she keep track if they were done independently of her knowledge? The waiting is what I do not want to do. School already had a behaviour teacher in to assess him and were happy we had referred him to paed via GP. She had no new ideas to suggest to school, so she was pretty much a waste of time. My thoughts were that I do not want anyone assessing him that has a vested/financial interest in the outcome and not his best interest. I think a non-bias, independent report would help us more in the long term. I'd rather do that then wait for something that will never happen iyswim. Thank you for your replies so far ladies.

HI,

It is up to the school whether they allow your private EP in. It would not look good if they don't beause the tribunal would naturally ask why not. It is also in your child's interest for you to assess in the school environmnet because your EP can then assess and observe how your child copes and interacts with other children, whether the environment is inclusive etc. In the situation where the school refuses your EP in, you may like to try to get an assessment with some similarities eg. sports or activities club that your child goes to.

The LA EP would assess the child but would not give such a detailed report. I think only some would make firm recommendations on what type of environment would suit your child. Rmemember that they are employed by the LA and would have in mind their working realtionship with the school. When school wanted to stop a some specialist class for my ds, the EP helped them to come up with a cheaper model and backed them, saying that we could try it for a few months and then maybe go back to the specialist provision if the new arrangement is not working - she could have said don't mess with something that is working so well for the child.

You can call one of the charities for recommendations for EP. Try SOS!SEN. What is your relationship with your GP? I am quite sure that my GP would use a pte EP if it were her child.

Thank you keep. My relationship with GP is good and it was her that suggested a private assessment. Thanks for tips etc - really appreciate hearing people's personal experiences and the outcome.

Yes, def consider a private assessment. We did and the school allowed it to be carried out there. They weren't exactly over the moon, but I think realised I was actually right when I said I wanted an objective non-biased assessment for our son. The school were on his side albeit I think they knew the LEA would probably disregard it. We have never needed to use it so far in a formal capacity regarding a statement as my ds does not have one, but it's really help the school to see what his needs are in their environment. We've also got it 'on file' in case we need it at a later date. Good luck!!

I agree that we shouldn't have to pay but the reality is:

LA EP report - 8 pages reporting what I say, school says, a few tests and a load of generic strategies

Independent EP - 35 page report based on the assessments, how he dealt with them, what this means for his learning profile, what it means for his academic future, what he needs specifically in school

Everyone should get the latter free but you don't. Why? Because if you don't identify needs fully, you don't have to meet them. So, even though we have been offered a statement on the basis of the LA EP's report, DS would not me having his needs met without the independent EP's report.

This means you are paying not just for an assessment but for the flag posting of a lifetime of support.

We avoided LA EPs by getting our assessment done by an NHS clinical psychologist via the child development centre where our ds1's developmental paediatrician was based. School was more than happy with this - more or less manufactured it that way, you could say (I think maybe they don't find the usual EP advice that helpful...). It will be interesting to see, when applying for a statement, what reaction there is to the advice and report being given by an extremely experienced clinical psychologist (who has school, parental, paediatrician and peer backing) as opposed to an EP...

Rabbit I'm interested in the fact you had your assessment done via your devt centre. What was your son's dx if you don't mind me asking? Do you think they do this as a matter of course if asked by parents? Our appointment is with a paed at hospital....maybe I could wait and ask them if they could recommend similar. Thanks for replying.

Hi, coogar, my ds1 has aspergers syndrome (only just diagnosed), but we had a way in via the development centre because he also has a connective tissue disorder, which meant he came to the CDC's attention from when he was a few months old for gross motor skills delays. Instead of going via the Ed Psych, the school therefore used the school nurse to write to his existing developmental paediatrician, outlining their concerns...

I don't see the harm in asking the paediatrician you see if you could get a psych referral via him or her, instead of going back through the school, again. Maybe it sort of depends on whether the hospital you are going to has a CDC-based approach? (ie paediatric physio, OT, SLT, psychology and paediatricians all under one roof).

We had an independent report done for my daughter because the school were less than honest about how she was getting on. I wrote to the school and suggested several dates agreed with the EP before and they could then choose.

I know the HT and teacher were very nervous about it. The EP also interviewed me over the phone.

I think your GP has given you excellent advice and it really gave us a true picture and helped us get her into a non-maintained school outside the LEA. We also insisted on large parts of it being included in her statement.

Thank you all for replies so far - some great advice and support