Tribunal witness

[appropriatelytrained]

This gets better.

LA applied for fourth witness. An additional S&LT who has never met my son but who could 'talk about the service'. Denied

They submitted witness CVs. But their EP CV was for a different witness to the one who was listed and who undertook the SA assessment. I queried this and they are changing witnesses.

This EP has never even met DS but gave the EB Plus course we went on and came into school once to advise. She has more ASD experience though.

No DS experience!

Seriously, this is all about the child isn't it? What are they up to?

we had this - they were going to bring the top person from each dept
Its good news
They will come to talk about 'the service'
Tribunals do not like this, they like people to talk about the child
When the LA got the SALT (who had never seen DS) knocked back they then changed their EP. They were going to bring the top ASD EP but then changed this to the one who had actually seen DS
The Tribunal Judge actually said to the EP on the day 'thank you for coming, I can see you were asked to be a witness at the last minute but obviously it makes much more sense for you to be here'
This is great news for you.
This means their case hinges entirely on what their service 'can do' in some mythical world but not what they have actually done for your child and will do for your child, which is what the Tribunal is concerned with.
when they wander off on some hyped up monologue about their service, you can just bring it back to DS and say this is all very interesting but I am here to talk about DS and I would prefer to concentrate on my child and what has actually been done and what needs to be done.

You got the EP with the tribunal training - that's all.

Agnes is right though that it is to your advantage (although an EP that had never met ds and with no written evidence told the panel that ds had made good progress in his preschool setting which appeared as a key reason for denying us ABA - but still - we were, I DO believe, exceptionally maltreated, and it isn't usual)

Thanks. That is encouraging. She is the one with the ASD knowledge which is, I assume, why they have gone for her.

What a waste of public resources. Instead of applying this 'expertise' to the child, which may secure better provision and collaborative working with parents, they apply it to the Tribunal in the hope of persuading them that their crap substandard (or in the case of the EP, non-existant) provision is enough. No one is suggesting the woman with expertise actually will work with DS though!!

Bizarre. They are so dedicated to the interests of the child though. I asked if they would consent to my application to file out S&LT report late as she is in Tribunal and they said no. They are completely aware the S&LT evidence is just an update and it is about a difference in models, but no, with their focus on the best interest of the child, they refuse.

Of course, I know it is a matter for Tribunal and I have written them about it but it really shows where their interests lie.

Just a quick question: there is one TA who works with DS who has known him for a couple of years and who really understands his difficulties.

I was thinking of asking her to write something about her knowledge of him in school as the teachers, head, senco don't know him from adam. What do you think?

Would that make her life awkward? I'd square it with the head first.

Is that SALT appearing at tribunal? If so she can talk to her report/read it out. The LA would be sensible to have allowed it and therefore seen it in advance. You can ask you advocate to ask the LA during tribunal for their reasons for refusing it.

Oh you are clever Star. Of course. She can say what she wants on the 'stand'.

Oh God, I'm not clever enough to win what is supposed to be a fair fight for my ds. You don't win these things for being right, or being sensible or rational. It's a disgrace.

I know Star. You are right about it being a disgrace but that's all it is - nothing to do with cleverness. Little shits, they are quite unbelievable aren't they? But worse still are the 'professionals' who play ball with all this.

Anyway, I hope you are ok. This is a stressful time for you too