Unknown

[2Siobhan]

Today I was explaining ds difficulties to someone and they could not understand why I was't pushing harder for a statement. Should I be doing more?

Ds does not not has dx yet and has sal and motor skills difficulties.

Very brief background (will try)
I couldn't attend his his first IEP at school (previous IEP in nursery) but ot stressed that she felt he needed a statement so school said they would start with caf. I chased school up on this and they said they decided not to do caf and said they would get schools ed (not la one) to observe him.

By the time this was done it was IEP time again and ot said the same but school said no to caf and statement. I then applied for SA and told school and I was called for another meeting. They said they would to a caf requesting la ed phyc and said they would really like us to work together.

I stupidly retracted my SA request as I thought losing 6 months was worth while if I ended up with a better relationships with school.

It has taken nearly a year for the school to do the caf and I am awaiting the decision.

This school year I don't think I have been pushing as hard as I could but last year I got so emotional evend crying in ieps that I have uninten

Pressed post too soon stupid I pad

Continued ... Unintentionally stopped pushing.

Anyway back to today's discussion. I was telling the person I was talking to that ds has just has salt assessment by private salt and all scores are in 1st percentile bar one which is 5th

Should I apply again with these scores?

Do you think your son needs more help in school than he is getting. Is the school able to increase their help without a statement being put in place if so? Is it an infant school only or a a primary as changing schools for juniors will be a big risk time for whether help can continue even if you are happy with what is being provided now. Is your son getting decent input at school from outside agencies (ie speech and OT) or do you need a statement to secure proper input from them?

There are lots of things to consider but if on balance you think he needs a statement to be able to acheive his full potential at school then apply. It doesn't matter what the school say to you and do or don't do in response to this. IPSEA is great for template letters and advice etc. Be prepared however to have to fight for it. It seems many people get turned down at the first hurdle seemingly as an attempt for the local authority to save money. You need to appeal, put in time to sort out paperwork and keep appealing every stage of the way potentially.

At the moment he is getting 30 mins 3. Times a week which is not enough.

What I really hate is not really knowing how he is getting on and not really knowing how much help he needs as I only see him at home. He has made progress this year compared to last and is according to school no longer on the p scale for reading and numeracy.

He is getting salt and topping up with private salt. He lost ot when he joined year one as they not longer see children with his needs past early years. Apparently my la will be stoping salt for children past year two even with statements.

keep an eye on all his IEP's and scores, if you notice any drop or a patern in the low scores push and apply for a SEN, it has taken me 4yrs to my dd's school to even acknowledge that she had a problem and now she is 11 and her core language is only on the 0.4th to 1st percentile, as they get older they seem to dissapear into school leaving us totaly unsure on how they are doing, if you are not happy or comfatable with anything the school says, go over them, apply see it threw and be persisitant. hope that makes sence

If you feel and this OT feel he needs a statement then reapply. Tell the school you have done so and forget about relationships as they wont even remember your sons name once he has left. If they ask to "work together" tell them that is wonderfull so can they copy a report for you to send in support of the statement. Get the OT to write a report based on her original findings, what she considers the school should be doing and most importantly put in the report that she feels none of this will be addressed unless a statement of needs is sought. then send them off. LA will auto send in an EP if they agree to assess and he will see a Pead (school doctor) during the assessment. Gather as much as you can and get as much of a paper trail in the way of emails with the school confirming this or that to add to your bow.

Dont be upset about retracting things you only did what you thought was right at the time and it is good to get along as much as possible with the school but if they are stringing it out too long then valuable time can be lost that could help him now. Time to get tough :)