statement process - no idea what should be happening

[saladsandwich]

this maybe a bit of a long ramble but my ds is 3and half, speech delay of 12months and speech disorder he is 12months behind in communication, play skills and social skills but this maybe linked to speech delay but its looking more like a general 12months delay, he's been in nursery since 2... not the best nursery where sen is concernd but he is happy, loved and well looked after there.

took a visit up to the school nursery he will be starting and spoke with the school senco and in al fairness it was just a quick conversation and she doesnt know my soon but saw him then and she said to apply for a statement for his speech when the SALT report was in. its taken longer than expected to get the report, think about 3 months.

i went back to ds's current nursery today with the SALT report coming in and i felt like i shouldnt be applying, the community paediatrician put on his report about ds being put on school action? ds i have found out today doesn't have an IEP even though i was told he did... there will be a CAF in 4weeks and i just expect to be made to feel like im making fusses over nothing, hes made progress recently so im scared they'll turn round and say hes ok, his behaviour isn't bad there anymore but the environment suits him, big open space, no work just play.

i feel im fighting a losing battle before its even begun and every one seems to be against us who should want the best for ds... i feel like this CAF is a stalling thing because he isnt their problem soon and is school action an iep? i dont understand it all... and to top it off ds is getting violent towards me, hes just nearly ripped my earring out, hes taken to biting and nipping me and he refuses to sleep i've really had enough now i cant take anymore hes heabutting me all the time but why is he doing it to me?

hi Salad Sandwich! My son has autism, and speech delay, and we origionally applied for a statement back in sept, just before he turned 4, this was refused as there is a graduated approach, which we had never heard of, starts out at school action, then action plus, then IPF and then statementing! dont worry about them thinking ur making a fuss over nothing! Ur not, ur doing what u think is best for your son, if the school SENCO has recommended it, then go for it, if they say no then they will probably offer more help, We have similar issues with behaviour, hitting, kicking, biting and head butting at times, he has never slept through the night since he has been born, so I know how tiring and frustrating it can be, dont take it personally though, it nothing u have done, could just be frustration due to not being able to tell you what is wrong. Could your paediatricio not recommend someone who could help with behaviour? we were refered to our local child development group, who helped and we now use a traffic llight system, hope this is of some help!

CAF meeting is a lot of hot air; I would act now.

School action is the most basic level of support. As there are outside agencies like SALT etc involved then DS should automatically be put onto School Action Plus so for a start the comm paed has got that important detail wrong. No IEP (Individual Education Plan) is also bad- this should also be gone through with you termly!.

Problem with SA plus is that it is not legally binding so support can be easily curtailed.

School SENCO has the right idea here re applying for the statement now.
You can go straight to applying for a statement without having to go through school action plus beforehand as well.

Would apply for a statement now (cannot stress that enough!) and ignore any naysayers; your own letter to the LEA can be short and to the point (they won't read or want to read reams of stuff at this initial stage anyway).

You salad are his best - and only - advocate. No-one else is better placed than you to fight his corner for him, this is because no-one else actually will do so.

Use IPSEA's website and send off that letter asap www.ipsea.org.uk

thankyou for the replies, looks like my health visitor as come good (can honestly say i have the 2 bestest health visitors!) ds as got a place at a very good school in september and that school will sort the statement out which i am happier with as the nursery he is at i think they might make a hash of it, this school will offer help whether he gets the statement or not. im startng to feel like ds isn't where he should be but not so obviously behind that he'll need classroom help because 12months behind doesn't seem to stand out so much now but i'm guessing if the 12month gap stays he will?

i'll check that site out too thanks