questions please?

[gettinganumbbum]

hello, i have got my ds first appointment tomorrow with a specialist adhd consultant, and was just wondering if anyone could suggest any questions i should be asking that i might not have thought of?

i think i have thought of most things eg meds, side effects, pros, cons, other supporting agencies that might be helpful, just wanted to make sure ive got it covered really,

thank you

No, but please feel free to feedback anything interesting you may learn to the rest of us. We don't get much "specialist" info re DS2, and heaven knows it'd be nice to have some.

i will indeed pass anything on that may be helpful, but not really sure myself what is going to happen or what i will find out, i have a list of questions and am hoping i get them all answered,

from my experience up til this point there doesnt seem to be much help at all for sn kids unless u have a statement, and there is no guarantee that you will get one of them

yes, DS2 has a statement, and is going to a SS in September. It's just frustrating that so very often it's "here's your dx, let us know if there is any problem." And that's it. Freefall from there.

I have only recently requested a statement having not known anything about it before and have been under consultants for behaviour issues for a good few years now, the communication is horrendous, this is why i was asking incase somebody knew something I don't

My ds is on half day curriculum at school and has just been referred to pru, but only because I have been pushing and pushing that something needs doing

half day curriculum? how old is he? Is it official, as in you have paperwork saying they will only take him half day?

He's 6, yeah I have a letter from the head teacher stateing it to take with me tomorrow, it also states that if his uncontrolable behaviour continues when he goes back in september they will have no choice but to exclude him, they are hoping he can get a placement with our local pru to continue his education a couple of afternoons a week with them,

I have been fobbed off the whole way through the process, even tho nursery spotted issues when he was 18 mnths

The adhd specialist is a very recent development, and even though other specialists suspect asperges aswell I'm seeing it as atleast we are going the right direction

I'm really baffled. If he's only going half days now, isn't he technically already excluded for the other half day? Must be frustrating for you, as this can't be good for his education. If the school cannot cope with him, they should have been pushing for a statement ages ago, so they could get funding for additional resources to support him, not sending him home instead.

How long has he been on half-days? How are the absences being recorded? I have been in a similar situation and this is illegal exclusion. Are they providing work for him to do and marking it? They should be seeking support through a statement not threatening to exclude him!

This is what I mean by being fobbed off everywhere, I went to child services because I just didn't know where to turn and the Social worker I spoke to was the only helpful person I have met through the whole process,

She was disgusted with the school because as you say he is legally being excluded for half of the education he is entitled to, and also because even though as his parent I have the right to request the statement its highly unusual as the school should be doing it if they have concerns,

I told the school that I had been down there and requested the statement and they told me "its about time"

He is such a loving intelligent little boy it is just really hard for him to stop and give himself the chance to shine, I know he has it in him to do well at school given the help he needs

Statements take a good 6 months to go through, minimum. Can you put in a complaint through the LA (or whatever is appropriate) about the illegal exclusion and force them to educate him full time until the statement goes through?

There are plenty of people on here that are well versed in this type of scenario (as they have had to deal with it themselves!!) that can give some very good advice on this as well.

He has been half days a couple of months now, he's not getting any work sent with him no, the school seem to have the attitude that they are not equipt for him so they don't want him, the school are marking it down as "special circumstances" I queried this and they said it is because in the long term it wouldn't be good to have on his record, I do have a very frank letter from the head teacher though saying that he is on a half day curriculum and at serious risk of permanent exclusion

In all honesty I don't know who the la are or who I can complain to, child services were my were my last ditched attempt to find a way of helping him, I had to threaten the consultants with my local mp to get him seen before nov, there really has been no help out there for either him or us as a family,

I was even told at one point that it was my fault that he was like it and I wasn't talking to him properly, they were going to send me to parenting lessons, I asked them if they were going to send all his teachers to as they clearly didn't know how to talk to him either if that was the case and haven't heard anything about it since

No, don't let them mark it down as that. It should be 'authorised absence' as they have agreed that your son is absent. This counts against them with Ofsted and would mean that the County Council would be questioning them about it. Schools have a legal duty to report absences correctly so what they are doing is illegal. What a cheek saying that 'in the long term it wouldn't be good on his record' - they mean it wouldn't look good on them. I have caused a big fuss about my ds being given the wrong absence code and have had his record amended. I you had kept him off school for that amount of time you would be getting taken to court and fined so how is it o.k for them to do it?

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The LA is your local county council. If you look on their website there will be a contact for the EWO (educational welfare officer). I would call them and let them know what school are doing to your ds - he is legally entitled to a full time education. Don't let them fob you off.

The school is driving me potty, I have sat in lessons and all sorts to try to keep him in more but they really just don't seem to have a clue,

I think I need to find out locally who to complain to, I didn't realise the absence code was as important as it is, they can't deny it because I have it in black and white that he's not welcome in the afternoons

Ah I see ok thank you am now going to have a look at their site

they seem to recommend a local charity for advice on this sort of situation regarding the school so i will give them a bell first thing in the morning although i did speak to them just before he got put on half days and they said there really wasnt much they could do, but things has changed now so hopfully they will be able to help now