Help! Autistic son denied statement assessment, what next?

[allineedismoz]

Hello all, I'm new here so please bare with me... Warning-Long post

I have a ten-year old son who was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD about 3 years back. He has always attended mainstream school, but has problems there. For sometime I was being told by the school, CAMHS and Ed Psychs that he would need to be statemented and now the school/EP has decided that he no longer would meet the criteria and will not carry out an assessment.
Strange really... at first I was the one that thought he would not need a statement, but now I know he does no one else agrees...

He is due to attend mainstream secoundry school this September and I truly don't think he will cope. He has problems with concentration (possibly leading him to get lost in a large school), difficulting with working in large groups, trouble with time-keeping, he can be very stubborn with not wanting to take part in tasks appointed to him, he also does not work well without a regular teacher or routine classes. He has spent time out of school in the past and is behind in his reading/writing although he is catching up slowly.

He is constantly late for school and reluctant to attend as is he seems to be on regular occasions unhappy at school, which is leading to frequent disputes with the EWO and now it looks like we maybe be taken to court over his attendence. But at the same time the school frequently calls me to collect him because of his disruptive behaviour, which is clearly down to his Autism/ADHD, although the school say that he is choosing to misbehave and that he can control it.

The school do seem to have put strategies, to help him, into place such as a "time-out" period, he had a cardboard box to which he could retreat to when things became to much for him, he tells me this has recently been taken away due to lack of space. He was also allowed an alotted time for which he could calm down (5 mins) which the school have now reduced to 1 min, this time out now takes place at his desk in the noisy classroom (not much of a time-out if you ask me). He does seem to have a LSA who works with him, but the person does not seem to be consistant, he's had numerous LSA's.

I know I'm rambling and it's all confusing, but I would like to have him statemented, I would like to know exactly whats his needs are, exactly what the school are doing for him and to have that reassurance he is getting every possible provision for a good education. I don't know where to turn if the school won't back me up, and I dread the thought of him attending secoundry school in September, I'm fed up with feeling it's all my fault and that I am in the wrong here... Please help.

Hi allineed i have no advice for you but wanted to say that your situation sounds awful.

It doesnt sound like your ds's needs are being met at his current school.

Have you met with the SENCO at the secondary where he is due to go in september. If not I think you should make contact as soon as they go back after easter.

You need to apply for a SA now. I dont now how you go about it but there are loads of people who do on here. I hope someone comes along who can help you.

Good luck[busmile].

Welcome to the sn board, allineed. I agree with ineed that it does not sound as though current school are meeting your ds' needs appropriately.

www.sossen.org.uk/ link here to SOSSEN who have a host of useful information on applying for a statement yourself, secondary transfer and communicating with school.

alsowww.ipsea.org.uk/ IPSEA have similar advice, model letters etc

Both have helplines and although often difficult to get through as staffed by volunteers and high demand, once you do get through they will often provide an email address for ease of future contact.

Presuming you are in England or Wales, www.parentpartnership.org.uk/ offer support in each LA area. Other posters experience of their help has varied but personally we found them fantastic especially when they were able to come into meetings with us. Made a huge difference to have someone who could be relied upon to produce accurate minutes and who was able to point out gaps/inaccuracies in LA documents.

Even if you applied immediately for statutory assessment and whole process went through in the minimum 6 month time frame, it's not going to be in time for securing a place at a Special School for September- if that is what ds' needs require. But I would advise starting the application immediately anyway. The whole point of an assessment is to work out whether he is likely to cope in mainstream or not and if so what extra provision would need to be in place. And it may be the case that a statement is not necessary for the apprpriate provision to be put in place but it only needs to be considered likely for Statutory Assessment to be agreed.

The document you will need to consult again and again during this process is the SEN Code of Practice - link herewww.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DfES%200581%202001. You can ring a freephone number and they will post a free copy to you although can also be read online.

Alongside applying for SA, you need to be working with the secondary mainstream SENCO to make transition there as smooth as possible. Hopefully they will be able to reassure you that they can put measures in place that will be enough to support your ds but if not then you treat this as evidence (in your application for SA) that he needs different provision.

Good luck and keep posting. [busmile]

Great advice from pinkorkid. Just to add, have you or the school actually requested Statutory Assessment and been turned down, or has the EP just said don't bother applying, you won't get it? It seems to be the standard position for many LAs to try to put parents off from applying, and many parents on this board have had to appeal. It seems that LAs use their EPs and the system to filter out those parents who are put off by the constant refusals, which reduces the number of DC who get statements (and saves LAs money.)

I don't know whether your DS will get a statement, or even if he should get one (not the same thing) but you might need to get your pain in the arse parent T-shirt on! [busmile]

Are you keeping a log of every single time you are asked to come and collect him? This counts as unofficial exclusion and is clear evidence he needs more supprt than school are currently providing as they should be able to cope with him as professionals for the full school day. I used this to get a formal statement assessment as unofficial exclusions are technically illegal - something you need to tell the EWO.

Also tell her to take you to court as you'd welcome the opportunity to explain to a judge just how badly your child is being failed by the schools current failure to provide appropriate educational support to a child with a recognised diagnosis. The judge might ask the LEA to move things along and actually help you! Might get the EWO to realise she's bullying the wrong person and that her efforts could be better directed at the school.

Have you formally applied for a statement yourself or is this refusal just talk in a meeting from a school that can't be aresed with the paperwork that will be off their hands in a few months anyway? Your child will be someone else's problem shortly.

If you have had a formal lea refusal, put in a formal appeal today if only to show the EWO etc that you do give a damn about your kid's education (consider it a back-covering action on your part). IPSEA will help you do this, but there is a strict timeframe of opportunity - write the letter today!

If you haven't applied for a statement yet formally yourself - get on with it! I did a one page summary sheet in my application that listed all the attempts to date of the school to help and why they needed additional help (all those times my kids was so distressed I had to go get him!). I wrote it bearing in mind it would probably be an office junior flicking through my application at the first cut so my explanation needed to be simple & written in plain English so it didn't get automatically rejected at first glance.

Agree with booking a meeting with the secondary SENCO. Any child with an asd diagnosis is gonna need a properly planned transition - nothing stopping you taking the iniative on this.