Hello all :-) new to here and starting the statementing process

[secretselkie]

Hi everyone ...

I just discovered mumsnet and am really glad there seems to be a board for parents of children like my daughter :-)

At the moment we are at the level of just having got the LA to agree to assess her for a statement and have been sent a form to complete... its all a bit nerve racking and i'd appreciate some advice from other parents who have been there :-)

Welcome, and bumping for you

We are much further down the line as DS2 is 13, and was diagnosed 5 years ago.. yes it is nerve racking, but such a relief once you have everything on paper, and proper help and support at school, gets put into place..

Well done to you re getting the LEA assessing for a statement; that is not always an easy thing to achieve.

Complete the form asap (make a copy of it for your own self).

Would suggest you read Parts 2 and 3 very carefully of the proposed statement when it arrives in a few months time (it is very hard to change a statement once the wording is agreed and some LEAs can issue poorly worded statements). You need to see statements like, "X will receive..." and NOT "X will have access to..." etc. If you are unsure speak to one of the charities like IPSEA, ACE or SOSSEN about the content. Do not blithely accept the content of the statement document without seeking any advice beforehand.

Use too the Special Needs; children;s section on this website as this forum gets far more daily traffic than this one.

i'm just slightly further in the process to - we've done that first 1 - dont b afraid to put some positives in as well as the negatives - we did. we now had letter sayn they agree for assesment to go ahead and it gives u another page of questions to fill in(quite similar questions to the first 1) we bin told once all reports are in (end of july everyone has til) that they then have 4 weeks to decide wether a statement will be written . we bin told if you got initial form that its rare that it then gets turned down.all the best. we are hopeful are ds will get some help but know it will still be several months even after they confirm answer.

you don't need to work on the form - you can type the headings into word (for example) so that you have more space for your evidence.

Hi Everyone!

My son has Fetal Valproate Syndrome, symptoms of which include: ADD, ASD, 3 types of epilepsy, verbal communication problems, verbal processing problems, poor verbal memory, physiological differences in his brain structure, extreme naivity and vunerability.

He is Yr5 at a brilliant Primary School, who have done their utmost to help him. We asked for a section 323 statement so transition was as good as possible. However, I am so sick of the LA not playing ball I logged an appeal with the 1st Tier Tribunal service. Strangely, after 2 months of not doing what they were supposed to and changing my son's draft statement to include hours of provision and specific resources, after receiving the paperwork, they can suddenly meet with me on Wednesday to 'sort it all out!'

The reason I posted was just to say, if tribunal is what it takes to get them to listen, do it because it's free to register it and most LAs don't want it on their stats. I hate having to sound like a bitch to get him what he needs, but if that what it takes, then that's what I'll do. It just annoys the hell out of me that the system means you don't always get what you need until you get ar$ey!

Good luck!