Help. What do I want from the LEA?

[tensing]

Help. What do I want from the LEA?

As some of you are aware I applied for statutory assessment for my son Henry 5 (Asperger?s, Attention Deficiency, Hearing Impaired (wears Hearing Aid) Motor Skills problems, Bowel and Bladder control issues) and was refused. We are now in the process of appeal, and are also in mediation. I met with the mediator yesterday and have a mediation meeting with the mediator, head teacher and the LEA next week.

The mediator has asked me to put together a list of what I want from the LEA, and I suddenly thought I don?t really know.

I know I want an assessment to be carried out, but after that I don?t really know. I know he needs some 1:1 but I do not have any idea how much.

Please can you all give me some guidance of what I should be thinking about?

Thanks in advance.

Hi I never had to appeal so i don't know anything to help you there hopefully others here have. In brief here are some of my ds asd (5) needs which might give you some ideas he's ms at the mo. These include supervision/encouragement to do/take part in activities and also whilst doing activities, help to interact with the other children appropriately,encouragement to communicate, help to extend his concentration/listening skills and help to develope his fine motor skills. You might want to add help with his toileting issues and something like visual cues due to his hearing. HTH

Have you talked with IPSEA?. If you have not to date I would strongly urge you to contact them asap.

They may well be worth contacting especially as you are in the process of appealing. Am annoyed on your behalf that you have to go through all this at all - they refused to assess your son with all his needs?. Unbelieveable.

Their web address is www.ipsea.org.uk.

I have contacted both IPSEA and NAS and have had advice from both.

Okay I have written a small presentation on Henry, I always get carried away. Below is the summery of what I feel would be appropriate at the moment. Please take a look and tell me what you think.

Thanks in advance

Summery

It will only be after a full assessment that we can truly know Henry?s significant complex needs; an assessment would enable everyone working with Henry, a better insight in to his Strengths and Weaknesses.

I believe that Henry needs a full Assessment, and that an assessment will show that he needs help in the following.

? 1:1 Support to stay focused on independent work, and work that involves him interacting with a small group, when it easy for him to become distracted.
? 1:1 help in explaining what is required of him as Henry does not often understand instructions first time.
? 1:1 Support for PE, due to his coordination problems, lack of fear and poor impulse control I believe that he should have support when using equipment or apparatus, as he could pose a danger to himself and others. He also requires help with dressing and undressing.
? Support and extra supervision in the playground, so as to allow him safe access to other children?s games and build valuable social skills.
? Support with toileting, Henry has a bowel problem that means he frequently soils himself; he needs both training in how to cope with this and help in cleaning himself up. He also needs to be reminded to go to the toilet otherwise he simply forgets.
? Social skills help; Henry needs help in learning social skills, either through activities or social skills groups and stories.
? Recording Information, Henry needs help with recording information; this could either be in the form of 1:1 support or access to ICT equipment.
? Help organising himself and his equipment so that he does not lose things.
? Support when he is overcome by his irrational fears.
? Exercises to help develop his motor skills.
? Training for his teacher and LSA on Asperger?s Syndrome, Attention Deficiency and Coordination Problems.

Henry is an enigma, so much about him and his needs is yet to be discovered, and so a statutory assessment is the best way to gain the knowledge needed to find his premium learning methods. I feel that it essential that Henry receives help sooner rather than later, as although he may appear to be coping at the present I do not feel he is progressing as well as he should be.

Tensing, you've made a lot of good points there, but I'm dismayed that you got turned down in the first place. I also don't know what to expect with the LEA, but I have got "Guidelines for writing a parental contribution" with regards to the assesment. I can quickly copy it out for you if you like. It's not so much as to what to expect but more about how the letter should be composed with the type of information you should provide. It was given to me by my ds's SENCO.

That would be great,

As I said before the following won't help you in terms of what to expect from the LEA, but it might help you if you've been asked to write a letter when asking for an assesment. You've got a mediator so this might not even be helpful to you but it helped me when the school asked for my letter as I didn't have a clue as to what to write. The guidelines appear in Wolfendale's 'The parental contribution to assessment. Here goes:

EARLY YEARS
1 What was your child like as a baby
2 Were you happy about progress at the time
3 When did you first feel things were not right
4 What happened
5 Did you recieve any advice or help, from whom?
6 Were there any significant events or changes which affected your child in those early years.

WHAT IS YOUR CHILD LIKE NOW
(I've summarised this bit, as there's so much of it but you'll get the idea)

General Health - Eating, sleeping, general fitness ailments hospital?
Physical skills - Rolling, crawling walikng, jigsaws drawing, writing
Self Help - Dressing, feeding, toileting, brushing, washing
Communication - Points, gestures, eye contact, phrases, sentences, starts conversations
Playing and learning at home - Fave toys, sharing, finding out about things
Relationships - with parents brothers sisters. friends, adults, Is your child a loner
Behaviour at home - co-operates, shares listens, helps in house, fits in with routine, rules. Moods
Activities outside home - Playgroups, dealing with seperation
At school - Relationship with teachers, children playing reading, have you been asked to help with childs learning, with what and result

Your general views

1 how do you compare your child with others of same age
2 what is your child good at
3 what does your child enjoy doing
4 what does your child worry about, is your child aware of his difficulties
5 is there any information you would like to give, such as advice and reports from other people
6 what do you think your child SEN's are
7 how do you think these can be best provided for
8 with whom would you like more contact
9 what do you think of your family's needs and your needs?

Sorry if loads of mistakes but trying to rush it before picking ds up from school