apply for a statement

[rainsuncloud]

My son has aspergers and is suffering from Anxiety and is not in school much as we are having trouble getting him into school. We have been referred to Cahms, which we have had 1 meeting and they are going to try and help and think that DS needs a statement, but in the meantime we still have to try and get him to school. I was wondering while applying for a statment can you home school or do you need to be registered to a school?

A statement of special educational needs assesses and outlines what your DS will need to support him in school - home or otherwise.
Someone wiser than me will be along soon I'm sure to explain how it works better.

You can homeschool, but what are you hoping the statement will do? Because having one is not an answer to anything in itself iyswim.

Yes you can home school (make it clear this is temporary) and still apply for a statement to get him back into school. You can also flexi school (part time home ed) with HT permission.
if he is refusing school / unable to go for medical reasons you are entitled to home tuition paid for by the local authority. So you may not want to use the words 'home educating' which totally lets them off the hook as they then don't have to provide anything until a statement is in place. You may want to say he is school phobic / school refusing and try and get CAMHS to support that in writing and say for eg he will need support via a statement and gradual transition to get back into school and you want home tuition put in place until statement and school sorted. Paying for home tuition will be an incentive to get the statement done fast, otherwise if they see you are happy to home ed they may drag it out or even refuse it eg for lack of evidence and make you appeal etc all the time saving themselves money.
Depending on age there are also internet school options LA can put into place.
IPSEA is good for advice.
The Local Government Ombudsman did a report recently called Out of School, Out of Mind about children who were out of school and set out the duties LAs had to meet even though child was not in school. I can't get link to work right now but it will come up on their website.
I would speak to CAMHS and see if they will support you removing him on grounds he is not medically able to go to school and then the LA duties to provide home tuition will kick in. If he goes sometimes then its less clear cut that home tuition would have to be provided. It would be easier if he was found not to be able to go at all

Thank you for your messages they are really helpful. It is all very confusing as to what should be done for the best. EG do we force him into school or not and worried we will get into trouble by the Education Authority. I did mention to the school about E-Learning and they did say that they haven't got the facility any more. He only made 2 lessons last week, as they are letting him go part time at the moment, but only managed 1 day, which was for 2 lessons. that would be really good if you could get the link for me, as I really am not sure what to do for the best for my ds. Thanks

My ds is 11 and in year 7, secondary school, I am hoping that the statement would provide him the support in the classroom, to enable him not to be so scared and able to cope in Secondary school and for the school to realise that there is a problem with his anxiety.

Okay, so a statement could get him elearning if it is what he needs and you can get evidence of this, regardless of what they say they can provide.

Also, the part-time schooling has to be written somewhere. Make sure you follow up every day with a record of what he attended and for how long and make it clear this is not acceptable to you.

Had a meeting with Senco today, she is saying that she doesn't think that he needs a statement and what will it do to help him and also said that he is manipulating us into doing what he wants, because he went in 1 day for 2 lessons last week with no problems, but he thought he would be ok and the lessons were ok and he knew his 2 friends would be in, but had a set back in 1 of the lessons, just a teacher not hearing what he said and that was it for the next day. They may be able to give him support for his 2 lessons a day, waiting to find out.

rain, if you do a straw poll on this board, more than 9 out of 10 children with statements had a SENCO who told the parents they would never get a statement.

Perhaps he can manage without one, I wouldn't focus on getting a statement as an outcome, but having his needs met. If his needs are being met and YOU are confident that they are then fine, if not, apply for a statement and say why.

You have already received good advice and I hope you take heed.

My son is in secondary school. All the children I know of who have AS in secondary school have a statement. A statement too is a legally binding document; nothing else is legally binding and can be withdrawn all too easily.

I would be applying for a statement myself and ignore the naysayers like this SENCO. Apart from anything else she is not qualified to make such a pronouncement because this will be the LEAs decision to make.

IPSEA's website is good at the whole minefield that is the statementing process www.ipsea.org.uk.

Ignore the SENCO. You are living my life 2 years ago. It's no wonder that he doesn't want to go to school if that's the attitude.

Hello Cornsilk. I thought I needed the school to back me up to be able to get a statement, if they said my DS didn't need one, wouldn't that make it impossible to get one. They are going to try and help and give him support for the 2 lessons a day he is in. But I don't know what will happen once his hours go up again. Home schooling looking like a good idea at the moment.

Cornsilk

What happened 2 years ago, did you get it all sorted out. what was the outcome?

You don't need the school's support. In fact, it is rare in this climate that anyone can get support from their school because it has financial implications for them.

The best thing you can do right now is write a weekly letter to the school informing them of when your ds attended and when he did not, so there is evidence and a record. For all you know they could be registering him as present when he isn't there. Don't be shocked. That happens a lot and that will make it difficult for you to PROVE that he is school refusing.

rainsuncloud - school claimed they were coping fine with ds (i.e. that it was our fault he wouldn't attend school) and stated in a multi-agency meeting that they'd arranged for professionals (ed psych, SALT)to go in and advise/observe and that they would start the statementing process

cornskull, did you de-register ds from school when he was off for the year, or was he still registered. Do you know if you can still get a statment if ds isn't registered at a school. EG, take him out to home school, de-register and then apply for a statement. But then I suppose you would have to pay to see the experts if the school havn't referred him.

Starlight - They are putting down as authorised other, at the moment, the man from Cahms did say it would be better to get a statement if it was unauthorised, but then I worry we will get in more trouble if this was the case.

This takes over your life.

[http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2011/sep/councils-not-let-down-children-school-special-reasons/ here]] is link. Then download the focus report at the side.
You should also ring IPSEA on NAS education line.
You also need to apply for the statement yourself now. IPSEA / NAS will help you step by step.

You could ask the SEN officer to arrange PT or FT home tuition now to ensure he continues to have a FT education until he is back in school fully. You have more come back against the LA if they do not do anything than the school. Governors have no legal duty to meet your child's needs they only have to use their best endeavours. the LA has a legal duty to ensure a child's SEN are met. So you do need to make sure the SEN officer knows what is going on eg by requesting a statutory assessment (draft letter on IPSEA website) and set out that out of school due mental health / refusal.

You don't need your school's support to apply for a statement. The very fact he is only managing a few hours here and there is good evidence he needs a statement.

I understand you may worry about education social worker saying it is your fault you are not sending to school. You are right they may threaten you and say you should send him to school. But thats going to come out anyway when you try and get a statement / get him back to school. Try and CAMHS on your side and make sure something is in writing / in his CAMHS notes or even that you just sit down and write to CAMHS and 'confirm' the advice they gave you and see if they will agree he is out of school for mental health reasons / anxiety.

What does he do when you try and get him to school and he doesn't want to go? Is it something which you could video to show his reaction?
You need to start compiling evidence in writing etc If the school ever ask you to come and get him early that is an unlawful exclusion and you should ask for reasons in writing to prove he is being excluded.

Used to be guidance on Dept of Education website on home ed, looks like it has vanished it says the LA has discretion whether to help you financially if you home educate (ie you choose to home ed rather than ask for home tuition).

Are you likely to be eligible for legal aid? If so you could get an education lawyer to help you especially if you apply for a statement and it is refused - then you can appeal and use legal aid to fund private reports. I don't think you can get reports unless you have to appeal. Most legal aid lawyers will give free initial advice as to whether you might be eligible.

thank you AgnesDiPresto for all the information, that is a great help. I have asked the school for some work for DS, he has been doing quite a lot in the last few weeks, as they get 5 subjects of homework sheets for them to do every week, so we have been working through them.

The Senco at School did say today, that they won't get the Educational Psychologist process sorted out yet. But wouldn't I need this report for a statement. I am waiting for a dyslexic test and I have asked for speech and language therapy, but I imagine the waiting list is quite long. I will get a report from Cahms and he is starting to access DS on Friday. But I thought once you start to apply for a statement, you have only so many weeks to get all the information, for them to see if you can actually apply for a statement.

I don't think I would be entitled to legal aid, but I could look into it.

DS did say he would really try and go in tomorrow, as the school have now put in place for him to have support in 1 of his lessons and he has only got to go in for 2. He did have a very bad time today as met with Senco and he ended up hurting his arm while trying to get him in just for a meeting, he is petrified of her, which made it a lot worse. Thanks for your help again.

don't worry about the ed psych report
if your request for SA is approved the Ed Pysch will then assess ds. You don't need the report to request SA.
How did they end up hurting his arm?

I was slowly managing to persuade him to go in for the meeting, he was moving slowly and when Senco tried to help, he struggled and his arm must have been twisted below the elbow, and he cried out in pain, but she didn't believe him and thinks he was making it up, but I know my DS, and he doesn't make things up like this. I think he is ok now. But hasn't helped the relationship. She just seems to think he is manipulating me and we ended up having a arguement over this which DS overheard and went a bit mad and shouted at her. First time he has even done that.

FFS You may want to say he is school phobic / school refusing

That's the last thing you tell the LA. You'd just be giving them the ammo to say the child is deciding not to go to school.

CAMHS can say anything they like about Statements - he needs or doesn't need one but Statements are nothing to do with CAMHS and CAMHS cannot forse the LA to assess or issue a Statement.

I know what you mean Wet... but the child is school phobic and refusing fir that reason. And school refusal can be used as an excuse 'oh your child is a truant cos youre not pushing them, so don't expect any help from us'.

School phobia in the context of severe anxiety disorder diagnosed by Camhs, attributed to stress of unmodified education for child's asd.... That's a bit more use. Certainly it'd be more than enough to show to a magistrate should the unauthorised absences mount up, which means no more blackmailing the OP with worries over educational welfare officers. and the statement-delaying game of 'authorised other' can stop ASAP.

and the SA evidence is meant to include a dr report. I know it's usually community paeds, but I'd imagine a Camhs dr report wd be more relevant.

Sorry - still disgree.

A phobia is an irrational fear - not wanting to be in a place that increases your anxiety is a wholly reasonable response.

Very disappointed to hear that CAMHS are describing it as school phobia - they are a bigger bunch of idiots than I originally thought they were.

ASD children don't refuse to go to school because they don't feel like going - they are not going because school cannot make the necessary adjustments to accommodate a severely anxious child.

That's what you should be working on before using terms such as school phobia or refusal. Get the school environment right.

use their terms and you are playing into their hands.