what happens if you move to a different county in the middle of a statutory assessment?

[dev9aug]

DS is on a waiting list to be seen by the LA EP. We did not apply for a statement, the referral was made by DS's Paed. I plan to send a letter to the LA requesting a SA just in case to cover our back if we have to appeal.

He is currently attending a special nursery and the paed has written in her referral letter to EP that he will very likely need a place at a special school.
We are moving but keeping our current address for another 6 months so we don't loose the services of the local PCT/ Paed etc as they are brilliant.

What happens if we the statement process is still ongoing after 6 months or if we have to appeal the contents of the statement, we would be in a different county by then. Does that mean we have to start the whole process from scratch?

Usually the new LA will uphold an existing statement whilst it carries out it's own assessment process and revises as necessary.

I'm guessing that if no statement exists, it would be a matter of negotiating directly for provision whilst you resubmit to new authority, but it's an interesting one.

The new LA is not legally obliged to uphold another LAs statement, but in practise, most do whilst they reassess.

Have more questions than answers.
Are you looking at ds attending a SS school now or after nursery, I am assuming he is not reception age. If so then SN nursery would be placed on statement not SS.
Ed psych is not just for statements and paeds talk about schools but reality they are just their opinion the same as their views on statements.
If you have six months have you counted in August. I would say it is better to have a finalised statement before move as you have evidence but only if it can be finalised.

madwoman Interesting it certainly is! We will be moving now and then again in about six months time so I won't bother changing my address now and let the process carry on as it will only disrupt it unnecessarily otherwise.

squidworth DS is 2.8, Dx GDD,ASD and non verbal. He is not due to start reception till next year. As it is, he would definitely need a place at a special school when the time comes. I just assumed that if the Ed psych was involved, it was for the purposes for a statutory assessment. I will be sending a letter to LA requesting a statutory assessment first thing tomorrow.

We have recently started a home based ABA program so he is only attending special nursery once a week. We are thinking of not sending him to preschool in September this year and use that time to carry on with the ABA program at home. This should also buy us a bit more time to get through the statement / apppeal process etc. if it comes to it.

Not necessarily. Dd2 saw ed psych a few times throughout nursery, but wasn't statemented until transition to school...

I would be extremely surprised if you had a statement by the time you moved, if the assessment hasn't even started yet...

If you know the new nurseries he will be attending after both moves, I would honestly suggest you liaise with them directly and arrange to start application for stat assessment on arrival...

(we have always moved a lot with dd2 - get your current paed to start writing referral letters for new paed and therapy team, get current reports from all therapists involved etc etc. I like to pick a med centre and then call them out of the lie to get the low down on suitable Paeds for referral etc, and then speak directly to new paed's sec to find out how they prefer to get referrals in etc. it always works fine)

Just keep building up your evidence base re professional reports etc.

My ds1 and ds2 were both dx with autism at 3 and had similar dx to your DS. ds1 had the same language vocal as his peers by 5 he has been ms with statement. Ds2 is in SS and still non verbal. So you can get a statement but that will be for pre school but as you are doing ABA at home that would be ???? LEA do not like placing children till the summer term before September's reception (except those children where the severity is unquestionable). In the LEA I live in you see the ed psych for pre school SN selection.
Can you start the statement in September in your new area, you maybe wise asking again in the forum regarding the ABA at home while statement process and the lea you are moving to. Where I worked ABA and SS send alarm bells even if the parent is not asking, you may need to play your cards close to your chest.

madwomanintheattic I was worried about the complications created by us moving, but your advice seems sensible. Thank you.

I have been reading on here about the absolute crap people have had to deal with in getting statements for DC which actually benefit them and I am astonished really. I just don't like that idea that he has to fail before any suitable provision can be provided. For this reason, I want to keep him away from any LA setting for as long as possible unless I am sure that it can actually benefit him.

We have reports by a number of professionals, Private Paed, NHS Paed, LA Salt and private Ed Psych etc. We should within the next couple of months should have a report from the LA Ed Psych as well. At the nursery he has 1:1 so I guess they could add their views as well.
Would that be enough evidence or do we need more?

Squidworth I think I panicked that I had to do something now with regards to the statement now but I think I will let the process here run as it is now and apply for a statement when I get to the new area in September.

We are doing ABA at home for the next 6 months to see if it makes any difference. We are very positive that it will make a difference but need to know how much before we will decide on the next course of action whether he is ready for a MS or if he needs a SS. Right now, every professional I have spoken to has verbally confirmed that he will need a place at a special school.