statement advice please sorry for the typo's!

[emmalou78]

Hi.

Can any of you lovlies give me a bit of advice?

my youngest, elijah was dx ASD in july, we were tod at the post meeting consultation that a tatement of special needs would be requested, unsuprisingly this still hasn't happened. We [myslef and teh re school mamanger] pressed the ed psych on htis nad she says theres insufficient evidence to put forward a request for assessment?

At present SS have stumped up 600 quid to pay for 1:1 support for him in pre school, but its only enough for 1 term, I can't afford 50quid a week, to pay tehm myself, pre school are hoping to raise enough from ajumble sale and end of term raffle to continue the provision after easter.

Part of the trouble seems ot be that he's improving, his behavioirs better nad his attention and eye contact are amazign when you thik back to how he was a year ago.This is partbecuase he is used ot the setting, and part because I have tried ot continue the work of teh SALT at home and have worked hard ot create a predictble daily routine [inc timetable] and gradually introducing communincation methods, PECS is aboutto start but I need the SALTS advice on how to approach it.

BUT, what I want to know is this, are the following things enough ground for me to put the requets in myself, ?

he's 3.5 yrs old ASD
he doesn't talk
he doesn't have any concept of potty training [amd god knows I ty]
left alone to 'self direct' he stimshe runs riot,
he is prone to violent outbursts
he gets stuck on certian activities


and this term he's ben gettign assitance, and still I've had thre reports of him pinching staff and children, he's headbutted a little girl, because she said hello half way through the session, and has thrown a hissy fit so bad he left bumps on his head from thrashing around.
AT home he's no better, I have to wear long sleeves to hide the scratch and bruise marks he leaves on me, he attacks his brother and is destructive... and even if you expalin thisto the ed psych she still says if we go ahead nw they'll refuse the application!

Its driving me mad. Theres a special school that I think he owuld thrive in,but I can't apply becuaehe has no statement, so I've had to chose his brohters m/s school which I'm not happy about, but had no choice, it was either apply or break the law IYSWIM, I'm waiitng tohear when teh area SENco is next in as I should like to chew his ears off over this.

but what do you think, am i just frustrated baout nothin, or could I push for more help?

our SALT clinical psych etc are all wonderful, but no one seems to tell me diddly squat withregards ot what we're entitled to and what should happen.

TIA

emma x

[MeerkatsUnite]

I would agree with Socci - not enough people know their rights and a lot of them understandably find it hard when it comes to dealing with obstructive LEAs.

The SEN code of practice runs to something like 200 pages and has many big words. Its therefore too long and complicated for many LEA officers to look at.

The SEN Toolkit which many LEA's use has 24 pages and is much more user friendly. Unfortunately the Toolkit is often misused as a get out clause rather than for its original purpose i.e for further guidance in conjunction with the Code.

[MeerkatsUnite]

All children with special needs are assessed by an educational psychologist employed by the council, who takes on board comments from other professionals, such as doctors and therapists, and makes recommendations. By law, all LEAs must state the provision that the child needs in part three of his statement and quantify it, make it understandable and specific. But alongside the new SEN Code of Practice approved by the House of Lords in January 2002, the government issued fresh non-statutory guidance for LEAs. It is called the SEN Toolkit, and it provides ways of making statements less specific and more obtuse. The Code of Practice statement, 'A child's provision should be quantified', is followed by a list of possible let-out clauses in the Toolkit. 'Flexibility needs to be retained to meet the changing needs of the child... or particular class or school arrangements'.

The Toolkit is not legislation, merely additional detail and recommendation. But given that the Code of Practice is 210 pages long and the user-friendly Toolkit a mere 24 pages, it is inevitable that busy case officers will refer to the latter.