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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

How long it it take to get final Statement?

19 replies

RexandBen · 30/11/2003 20:17

Hello everyone,

Feeling really low today. We are in the process of trying to get my 2.5 yr old autistic son statemented because the provision here is so crap (up to 1 hour/ week if you're lucky). He really needs intensive help so we started a self funded ABA programme 4 weeks ago (and he is doing fantastically). The LEA have refused to even assess him twice with loads of evidence so we are going to tribunal in Feb.

We are really worried that the LEA will take us tribunal at every stage (to assess, to issue a statement and to alter the statement). Has this ever happened to anyone? If this happens it could potntailly take until 2005 until we get the statement we need!

We are pretty confident that the tribunal will rule in our favour - even Gillian Baird and Auriol Drew say that he needs an intensive programme.

Can anyone advise?

OP posts:

Davros · 30/11/2003 20:43

Our statement took a year although it should take 6 months and we got agreement to assess first time, crap draft statement but agreement on final statement, no tribunal. Have you got a solicitor helping you? I know its expensive but sounds like it would be very worth it and I can give you some names etc. Have you joined the ABA-UK Egroup? Great source of support, advice and information?

popsycal · 30/11/2003 20:49

it does take a while...people who have experience of this will tell you more....i am speaking from a teacher's poitn of view...
hope you get it sorted soon

chatee · 30/11/2003 20:51

keep at it,
i requested a statement for my dd in november 2002 when she was 2yr 3 month, lea tried to say they wouldn't even start it until dd was 3, i told them this was not good enough as dd would only have one year at nursery/pre-school as she is a late august birthday and would start school when she is only just 4 and i didn't want her one year at pre-school to be a struggle(for her-the staff-and the other children)basically after a couple of letters from myself to the highest person they agreed to at least visit and the person who came to visit was wonderful saw that dd would still have problems at 3 and started the process for us, to cut a long story short we finally agreed to their proposed statement as we wanted it in place for september and didn't want to waste any time finding the support worker.....supposed to be having a meeting with said education officer in december but still waiting to hear from him(last contact was in july-good eh!)
put everything in writing,save it on pc as well for your records, get hv to give input as well
good luck
ps my dd was finally diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly after the process began

Original poster

RexandBen · 30/11/2003 21:06

Hi there,

We have the solicitor Paul Conrathe representing us. He thinks this stage is very straightforward and that the LEA are just trying to waste time. I dont know how they can get away with this! They could potentially take things to tribunal at every stage. We initiated the process in August so if the tribunal rules in our favour in Feb it would have taken us 6 months to get past the 1st stage. Even if the LEA pulls out at the last minute

We are writing to the government ombudsman to make a complaint maybe this will speed things up. I think our LEA is really trying to clamp down on people getting ABA funding, so they are prepared to make it as hard as possible for us. Thanks for the advice Chatee. I'm glad you finally got your statement

Davros - yes I have joined ABA-UK and read it regularly.

OP posts:

Gothy · 30/11/2003 21:14

This is all very interesting to me. Ds2's paed called em a few weeks ago saying she had officially notified whoever about the intention of statementing him. Now we have a form to fill in and send back to the ed psych,so it must be rolling into action. Am seeing the paed on friday am if anyone has anything useful I need to mention. Sorry for the hijack!

Gothy · 30/11/2003 21:15

Sorry, forgot to say I am Lou33 with a new name.

Davros · 30/11/2003 21:36

Rexandben, I believe that Paul COnrathe is the best although I haven't used him myself. I know many others who have used him. There are other good ones but I think he is the most experienced. One of my friends was his first ABA case, she also went to the Ombudsman who ruled (correct term?) in her favour.
Gothy (aka lou33), I think the most important thing when it comes to statementing is knowing what you want provided for your child. Its easy if you know and can be very difficult if you don't......

Gothy · 30/11/2003 23:19

So if I say he needs a 7 bed house with cleaner, chef, ironing lady , chauffeur, physio and ot, do you think I will get it ?

Davros · 30/11/2003 23:29

Naturally....... How do you think I have so much time for MN?

Gothy · 01/12/2003 00:10

That's a relief then .

fio2 · 01/12/2003 07:21

Our statement took about 4 months to complete. But I am a complete nag and I think they pushed it through quick just to get rid of me!

Rex and Ben - alot of lea's dont like to statement pre-schoolers. We are lucky because our region does but the one we are moving to doesnt. It doesnt matter to us now because the new lea has to honour the statement for 6 months by which time she will be ready for 'proper' school.

Gothy - The ed pysch tend to guide you in what help you can ask for anyway.

Boot1 · 01/12/2003 09:17

It took a friend of mine about 6 months to get her statement through and she had to fight all the way to get it.

Jimjams · 01/12/2003 09:37

RexandBen I was reading something recently that said that LEA's are known to use the tribunal system to delay (agreeing to all main requests days before tribunal is common) Would it be worth involving your MP? How long are you able to fund the ABA for? It is disgusting that they refuse to even assess him.

Jimjams · 01/12/2003 09:39

BTW it took us more than 6 months, but we were going for it at age 4. We have got everything we wanted- 1.0 support plu meal time assistant. I know that our LEA has never funded ABA though, and I met women yesterday who had had to fight to get residential placements for her 2 autistic sons. O think the majority of LEA's will fight ABA as they want to put as many people off as possible iyswim. Glad you've got a good solicitor.

Davros · 01/12/2003 10:16

It is completely illegal for an LEA to refuse to assess on the grounds of the child's age. As I said, ours took a year and we nagged and fought all the way and they did just what Jimjams said, buckled just before we would have got to tribunal stage. I think they delay and test you and then give in (not always!) so their statistics on tribunals don't look bad. A lot of the delay was also due to inefficiency, particularly of one health professional who took ages to submit her report and the LEA are not held accountable when this happens. Rexandben, which LEA are you in?

Original poster

RexandBen · 01/12/2003 13:59

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all of your advice I'm feeling much happier today thanks to you ladies!

Our LEA is East Sussex and they are the most unbelievably dishonest bunch you could ever imagine. They initially denied all knowledge of ABA even though they run their own ABA project! Apparently the East Sussex ABA Programme has had fantastic results but they aren't taking on any more children. Its so ridiculous.

JimJams - I have read the report you are referring to in the TES Special Needs supplement. LEA's are basically using the presence of the tribunal process to enable them to refuse left, right, and centre because they can turn around and say 'well, you have the right to appeal' which adds 3-4 months to the whole process! Then in 63% of cases they pull out, usually at the last minute. Thn out of the remaining 37% that actually go to tribunal, 75% of parents win their cases. These stats say alot about LEAs.

The programme costs around £30k per year to run and we can only afford to run it for a year. We thought this would be plenty of time, but maybe not... Also LEA will not backpay so they money we spend on it will never be seen again.

OP posts:

Jimjams · 01/12/2003 14:46

Gosh is it 30K? We looked into ABA and I calculated 25K so decided it was a no-no (I think we might not have won at tribunal as a)our son is older, and b) he has progressed well at a mainstream nursery). It's a pity he wasn't dxed earlier (he was dxed with mild speech delay originally- yeah right at 4 and a half he still understands nouns and not much else!) Perhaps this is why they lay off the dx- no dx no need for services

You're right it was the TES supplement. The figures are disgusting- just shocking. Good luck with getting what you need out of them. I'm glad the programme is going well.

fio2 · 01/12/2003 16:32

rexandben, I am moving to kent- so just accross the border and I got the impression off them that they really do not like to statement pre-schoolers (with a vengence!). I think it's stupid, just a way to save money and I cannot beleive you are having to pay 30k for aba therapy we wouldnt stand a chance!)

fbsr · 15/02/2007 22:04

Hi, anyone out there had dealings with east sussex LEA , our kids both have aspergers syndrome and willing to be contacted? Thanks

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