in need of some helpful advice please

[funmum12]

I have a son who is 11, to cut long story short he has struggled at school for yrs and progressingly got worse throughout junior yrs with all subjects i got ed psych involved in yr 3 tohelp who suggested he do tests yr 3 to determine level and settle yr 4 and we start from there, this all never happened been fobbed off by school ever since .. Now he yr 6 and everyone panicing cos he not ready for seniors.. i complained to new head last sept about how i felt he had been left he since then been assessed and diagnosed with severe expressive and receptive and processing disorders which explains why he looks like he listening but not there if you get me.. he left infants on level 2 in sats and is still level 2 in yr 6 so shows no improvement in 4 yrs... we proceeded for statement but council have turned us down due to timing and reckons school can meet needs on their own funds.. i am outraged.. A meeting has been called with me, the juniors the soon to be seniors and the council and i am struggling for good questions i can raise for my son about everything .... any help would hugely be appretiated ..thanks

oh goodness. no progress in 4 years is just shocking! Our DS2 is only 5yo and in yr1, so I don't know much about the schooling levels you're dealing with but I'm sure there will be some popping in to give good advice.

Didn't want to read and run. Best of luck!

thanks hun yes its awful just seemed to have dragged him along with other kids and gone un noticed or ignored , such a shame but seen as he diagnosed now when on way to seniors aparently SALT team dont visit in senior schools so he will have no help with theropist now :(

Contact IPSEA & see if you are still within the time limit to appeal the refusa to award a statement. If your child is statemented then it can specify the SALT he so urgently needs all the way to 18 if that's what your child needs.

Charities that can advise:- IPSEA, SOSSEN. If you are on benefits then you are entitled to legal aid - Levenes is a good firm.

The LEA is assuming cos they've got away with it this far they can continue to fob you off. Time to take a stand

thankyou, will have to look into it.. its sooo frustrating cos i have been nagging the school for yrs and just not got anywhere then now its all one big mess cos he been given these asessments and diagnosis and its kind of well there it is but too late to fix as he cant be cured and he reaching seniors so im left feeling what do i do..lol.. because i was annoyed at council for refusing the statement and that i wrote an official complaint to them about school in feb so far i have not even had an acknowledgement on it at all.. now she wants us all to meet tomorrow to discuss it all but if im honest i dont think that is gonna solve much as its action he needs not just meetings to make them feel they doin something i have 2 weeks left to appeal statement result so may have to consider that but with his reports on only gettin 0.01 on percentile for most areas and with my complaint i cant believe thy justify in denying him it.. :(

Good luck with your meeting, I hope you get something useful out of it. I too would suggest that you appeal. No progress in 4 years would surely mean success at tribunal?

As others have recommended i also think you should appeal. The LA are obviously testing the waters to see whether you are are prepared to fight for provision. My understanding is that children on average are expected to be achieving level 4 in year 6 and progressing two sub levels each year. IPSEA or SOSSEN can help prepare your case and AFAISIC is also a great charity which advises on speech and language difficulties. Good luck with the meeting

Thankyou soo much for your comment they are very helpful and i will use all of them and give all ive got in trying to help him, cant belive its come to this soo late on.. will hopefully achieve something tomorrow but i have to admit i think your all right in going for appeal , it cant be left longer its damaged soo much for my son already x thanks everyone soo much :)

Get an appeal date for tribunal. Go and look at some private special schools, including some residential ones. Ask what they can do for your DS. Ask the LA what they can offer him. If you can afford it, ask a private ed psych to see him and compare and contrast the options.

Then patiently wait for the LA to c

Sorry
Wait for the la to concede.

And you might want to ask school to back you up (no progress AT ALL in 4 years without effective action is pretty shocking even by SEN standards). If they are embarrassed and helpful, fair enough, otherwise consider a not-so-veiled hint that failure to back you up now might result in an equalities act dispute.

Of course they may just rig his upcoming sats scores

You really do need the formal appeal. Internal complaints procedures are just a way to waste your energies. A statement of SEN can force the LA to source and pay for whatever non-NHS SLT he needs throughout secondary.

Please take Maria's advice. Without a formal appeal in place they can feed you any old line and continue to ignore your child's needs.

Definitely appeal to SENDIST. Too do anything less would be letting your son down badly.

LA will prabably cave in once it knows you've formally lodged an appeal.

You have good evidence that he has not made progress and that additional support, delivered via a Statement is necessary

thankyou soo much thats all soo helpful as i wasnt sure what to do or where to start... we had meeting and aparently the la has said they have said he has special needs but because he in yr 6 it wouldnt be done in time for the 26 weeks process as done 6 weeks then only got 6 weeks left of term then 6 dead weeks of hols , and if i appealed it would be turned down completely and would have to start again , so they are suggesting putting him on hold so he goes to seniors settle for 6 weeks in meantime they will book in ed psych etc and the community doctor for beguining of oct so he can get decision by xmas rather than start again , but it means he goes to seniors and for first 6 weeks gets nothing so the new SEN can gain her evidence from all his different teachers etc but i cant help but feel that fair enough the more evidence the better but he will have to go through detentions etc and struggle for that 6 weeks when its through no fault of his own.. i soo feel for my boy bless him .. you never know what to believe with them people.

Formal appeal to Tribunal TODAY- they could sort it, but they just can't be arsed you are being fobbed off yet again!

You have NO CHOICE but to appeal to Tribunal. They'll have to call in Ed Pysch, pead etc to defend themselves by a set deadline if you appeal to Tribunal. Without that legal deadline hanging over their heads this will dragged onto until he leaves school altogether.

They'll say whatever it takes to stop you going to Tribunal as they know that after 4 YEARS with no progress they haven't got a leg to stand on. If they wanted to they could have awarded him a statement TODAY and the odds on chances are this will never make it to a Tribunal hearing as they'll cave long before the hearing date, just as they have done for many already on this board once they realise YOU are serious about your child's education. As long as you give the impression you don't care by continually accepting any old flannel from them why the heck should they give a damn? He's not their child.

YOU CANNOT TRUST A WORD THEY SAY!

The only kids that get the help they need are those whose parents are prepared to fight for it - sad but true.

Appeal Now Everything Bochead said is correct.

When you get to Senior School the SENCO there will have another set of delaying tactics.

You need to appeal now

Yep, that list of nonsense really is all a pile of horse s**t

The fact he's due to move any minute is exactly why, if they were helping you, they would get cracking on assessing him right now

I think they know he needs lots of mega expensive provision but if they can fob you off till year 8 or so theres a good chance he'll have started self-harm, truanting, drugs or crime.... much easier to blame you then and bounce to social services, probation, health etc

Doctors know v little about speech and language disorders, whether that's community paediatrician or Camhs psychiatrist.

Has he had iq testing yet? Ed psych should do, they'll try and say dr will do but it's unlikely, as it's an educational matter not a clinical one. Telling you if there's an underlying disorder like ADHD, associated illness like anxiety, some genetic cause, yes that the doctors might do.

GP could book a hearing test, might be useful I suppose