Advice needed re visit to Senco teacher and Ed Psyc please.

[Nunu500]

Hi, after many years of being pulled from pillar to post re my son's difficulties my husband and I saved and paid for a private Ed Psyc to asses our son aged 9. For the record NB has had an IEP since year 1 and was rejected for a statement which we applied for through the school about 2 years ago.

The Ed Psyc diagnosed receptive language disorder but said that he did not think NB's difficulties were severe enough to apply for a statement again and that we would be better off attempting to arrange a comprehensive speech and language assesement and speech and language therapy once a week. (non clinical)

The Senco teacher at the school NB attends is very pleasant however I believe she is an acting SENCO teacher. My husband and I have on several occasions requested that the school arrange for their preferred and linked Ed Psyc to assess NB (first assessed 3 years ago) again, as I was not convinced that the help they are providing him at school was infact the correct help.

After months of not arranging anything we decided to go private, but this was really for our benefit as we were not haveing much success on the NHS and we want to provide what is best for NB by way of the support and the help he requires. Since the private Ed Psyc visited the school the Senco teacher has written to me requesting a meeting with herself and the schools preffered Ed Psyc to go through the report written by the Ed Psyc I paid for.

Is this normal practice? I feel annoyed that we have forked out 850 pounds only for the school to now want to read and use this report! I am trying to be objective and hope that the Senco teacher will use the report to try and support NB further at school however I am perplexed why only now after all these months they are requesting that the school Ed Psyc be present to review this report I paid for. I can't help but feel they want to read the report in order to see that the school has not been painted in a bad light, although I want to believe their motive is to see how best they can support NB and if any further assesment is required.

Has anyone advice on how I should approach this? Should I request the school perform their own assessment? How can I best get the school to perhaps have NB asessed by SALT and help provide for the therapy he requires?

I feel I am on the left foot so to speak, I am grateful for the help the school has provided but I do not believe it is enough or that the help they have thuss far been providing is the correct support for NB and I believe they could be doing more however I am not sure they are obligated to, given that he is not statemented!

Should the school be helping more? Can I request that they arrange a SALT assessment? Should I show the Senco teacher the report from the ED Psyc which we paid for?

Thank you in advance for any advice re the above!!

Re a statement apply for it yourself this time around and use IPSEA's website.www.ipsea.org.uk re model letter.

If school apply for the statement application and get turned down they cannot appeal. You as parents however, can so apply yourselves and appeal if the LEA say no.

"The Ed Psyc diagnosed receptive language disorder but said that he did not think NB's difficulties were severe enough to apply for a statement again and that we would be better off attempting to arrange a comprehensive speech and language assesement and speech and language therapy once a week. (non clinical)".

EP let you all down here, also its not the EPs decision to make. Also EP is under pressure by his employers the LEA not to readily statement; this is likely why such nonsense was said to you. My guess as well is that you were given no guidance whatsoever in how to arrange a speech and language assessment and SALT once a week. Again, due to waiting lists and poor NHS provision most people end up paying privately.

"How can I best get the school to perhaps have NB asessed by SALT and help provide for the therapy he requires"

You can self refer to SALT but the waiting lists are very long; many people end up seeing a SALT privately. You'd be better off arranging such things yourself rather than relying on school (who have been very slow here to act anyway) to do this. As for providing the therapy he needs, again this will have to be done via a Statement. Also as DS is currently not statemented any support currently given also can be too easily curtailed.

IEP is also known on here as Individual Empty Promise. A poorly written IEP can be worse than useless. Are targets on it actually SMART?.

EP cannot diagnose, EP can only make recommendations re additional educational needs.

Thank you both for your replies!

I wondered if anyone knows if I can lodge a formal complaint about why the LEA has not organised for my son to be assessed again? I am upset that we have paid so much for this report, and now all of a sudden the school within a week is able to get their preferred Ed psyc to come to the school and to review the report which we have paid for. Previously I was told that it would be some time before a appointment could be set up and we have asking for this for months. Would it be wrong of me to expect the LEA pay some money towards the assesment which we have paid for? The fact that our son needs to see a SALT and have a proper assesment for this, can I insist based on the report from the ED PSyc that the LEA arrange and pay for this?

Many thanks

All too often only the kids whose parents fight actually get the help needed. It's why the functional literacy & numeracy rates in this country are still so abysmal.

Always focus on outcomes, as if you start thinking about fairness you'll drive yourself nuts. No it isn't fair that you've had to pay for something the LA could have provided years ago, but actually it's fairly standard practice.

LA EP's focus on cost, independent ones focus on a child's actual needs so often you need an indepependent report even when the LA bod does come out in order to establish a child's real support needs.

Go to the meeting with the stance that you will WILL be applying for a statement in order to get the much needed SALT your child needs. Access to the info in the report will give your child's school the ability to help your child, so you shouldn't be resentful about sharing. You should however go to the meeting with the expectation the school will do all it can to implement the reccomendations it contains. Expected meeting outcome = SALT referral for assessment & therapy.

Then take your report along to your GP & ask for a SALT referral for that assessment & weekly therapy.

A two pronged approach is often needed.

A statement will take a minimum of 6 months to obtain, even if you are successful in your intial application - you may find you prefer to implement the SALT reccomended in the EP report yourself privately in order to prove the benefit it gives your son.

Statements are awarded only if your child's disabiity mean that without extensive external support & resources your child is unable to access the national curriculum in order to obtain an adequate education. Adequate is a weasly word methinks & you'll find that your interpretation of adequate and the LA's are often in direct opposition. You have no rights under health legislation to SALT so you need to start gathering evidence of why your child needs SALT in an educational context.

Lastly - I've been gobsmacked at how much difference a mere 6 months of a SALT programme has made to my own child. The improvement is phenomenal so don't stop fighting as the end result can be incredibly satisfying to see as a parent. In my case it was a 4 year battle.

The EP will tell you why the indi EPs report does not fit with the LA model and therefor his recommendations will be wrong. Smile sweetly - take notes and prepare for SEND.
The school will want to agree with the EP as she is in fact saving them money.