No statement, is it really worth it...............

[nickminiink]

Hi, After months of going down the statementing route, fighting tribunals, lack of support from the school etc etc. The LEA has made their decission if to grant my 10 year old son a statement and the decission is NO, got the notice in lieu. Felt I have wasted 9 months of my life, from the start the school never supported our decission as it was our choice to pursue the statement due to the lack of progress my son was making at school, during the process the EP dx'd my son with Dyslexia but that's it. So do I keep stressing myself out, not sleeping, worrying and fight this decission and go to appeal or just give in. If we did get a statement would we get the 1:1 hours promised or would that become the next battle for not complying with the statement due to funding. At the moment my son is supposed to get a pawltry 2 x 10 mins sessions a week and even this is not being done due to shortage of staff and other excuses we are told ie hoildays, sickness other duties etc etc. He is due to start secondary school next year so the whole battle of additional support and help begins again with a new set of teachers. I really do not know what to do. What are your opinions on statements and pursuing the notice in lieu. Our son is suffering big time at school and it seems we his parents are the only one's seeing this, the only DX we have is dyslexia, we attended an appointment (saturday) at GOSH for APD and are awaiting the results. He has speech delay, poor memory and is approx 2-3 years behind his peers but not in all subjects (Maths & science he is average), guess that's why we did not get the statement and to top all of this off he has since july got severe facial and vocal tics (could be tourettes but wont know until another 8 months), becuase of this he gets headaches and now has days of school becuase of this. But the school and all the other professionals think my son does not have a problem and blames his anxieties on me, as they see a stressed man fighting for appointments and extra help who in reality just cares and is concerned for his son.
Thanks for reading.

You can go the tribunal route again with a note in lieu. The LEA may back down before the case.

Thanks wasuup 3000, I am aware of this but what I am sayin is it all worth it, I appeal and go through more stress, appointments, months of convincing people my son needs additional help more reports etc, get the statement but then do not get the hours promised. Can this happen or must what ever the statement advises regarding 1:1 hours have to be adhered as I know the statement is a legal binding document.

After your thoughts as I am struggling to keep going and appealing etc, had to do this for the SA now the statement, never ending cycle.

Thanks

What wasuup3000 said.

Would not accept a NIL. I'd still try to obtain a statement particularly as secondary school is looming.

If an amount of hours are shown on the statement then that is what the school has to provide. Or you contact the LA and say that the school are not complying with what is in the Statement :)

Why don't you talk to the local secondary schools and find out what support they give for dyslexic children?

For example my local one withdraws every child who can't read for the first lesson of the day, to teach them to read using RWI.

So your secondary school may be far, far better than your primary school anyway.

I think you're very unlikely to get a statement if he's only 2-3 years behind - even if you go to tribunal. And I don't think it's worth the stress of fighting for one.

Is he likely to get a L2 or L3 in English in Y6?

in my experience the statement is worth nothing if the school and LEA will not back it up, if i were you i would put my efforts into finding a school that supports kids with SN. I have given up fighting for what is on my sons statement, im not going back to tribunal as its not worth the stress and hassle when the local LEA won't support the statement anyway. Any amount of complaints just get ignored and i have decided its not worth my sanity fighting things that i cannot win.

Step back for 7 days and do nothing while you mull over your options. Sometmes with SEN it can feel like your are fightng battles on all fronts & constantly putting out fires, not even started by you.

Then

1. Decide what your priorities are e.g Is it your family life back, your child's emotional well being, therapy for the apd, a decent secondary school, to sort out finances if you haven't been able to work for a while?

1. Break down one priority only and work out what you have to do in order to achieve that.

1. Do the same with priorities 2 & 3 as sometimes the timescales mean you can get a quick win from one of those.

1. Now you have a clear action plan get going on it.

In your shoes I'd be looking at that apd appointment as apd is one of the KEY causes of dyslexia and seeing what therapies are out there to start helping my child at home with his apd. e.g The sound learning centre for instance does audio integration training which has had amazing results for a few people on this board & the caudwell children's charity sometimes fund it.
Teach your child apd coping strategies and the literacy issues at school may be vastly improved, (not that the school will ever give you as a parent any credit!).

What secondaries have staff with EXPERIENCE in your child's disability and what are their criteria for entry? Do your research as one sen department is never the same as another. How do you get your kid into the school that can help? You may discover it requires a house move or that you need to start attending church now.

I've had to learn to only fight the battles that I stand a chance of winning without making myself ill, many families decide to homeschool and regain their family life. That's an option I've taken for a few months when stuff was really bad. If you feel that yet another tribunal at this point isn't worth the effort then set that fight aside, but continue retaining as much evidence as you can and focus on other things. It may be in 12 months time when you do have a firm diagnosis from GOSH you can give it another shot. If you have a nervous breakdown due to the stress you won't be able to help your child anyway. The injustice really rankles when you know you are in the right but sometimes you have to let stuff go.

Thanks for all your replies, my son has now developed severe motor / verbal tics so this is now taking up all our time so his special needs will have to take a back seat for a while, so I guess this has answered my question with regards appealing the statementing decission as I just don't have the fight in me right now.

Thanks again.

If he has dyslexia and tics, I really recommend you see Robin at Tinsley House

Nickminiink

Severe motor / verbal tics are also Special Needs - just additional to his existing dyslexia.

I presume that he's seeing a doctor/Paed for these?

Definitely appeal to SENDIST. A NIL is just that - nothing.

By the time your appeal is heard (will be in months and months time) you can submit further evidence from the Paed/doctor who is treating his tics.

Forget about funding any Statement - that's not your problem. Statements are legally binding and the LAs very rarely fail to provide Statemented provisions they know they would be acting illegally.

Please don't give up - to have got this far means he does have recognised SNs and is entitled to the necessary support for them - it's just being denied to him by the LA.

I think you should continue the fight - you clearly believe that your son needs the extra help and that is good enough reason to go on. On the plus, you have already got a lot of the information here about his needs and your concerns, you are not starting the fight from the very beginning. Give yourself a bit of time and a break then take up the fight when you are fresh again. Good luck

sorry to hear you are going threw this
hugs to you,
this might be something i will have to do in the very near future,
it certainly sounds like he needs a statement.....
you will find the strength to fight again,xxx