Private ed psych assessment or LEA ed psych assessment

[happygardening]

My DS yr 11 is at an high performing comp. He was diagnosed by an ed psych with a "processing disorder" when he was in yr 5. At the time he was at a prep and we paid for a full assessment. Basically only 1 in 300 have this level of difficulty processing information. His IQ is 125 (top 5%) but his processing/working memory is in the bottom 2%. This causes him significant problems and at the time the ed psych raised concerns about potential mental health problems in the future caused by sheer frustration and said he would need good support.
Lats year he became increasingly anxious/unhappy at school and saw his GP who wrote to the school suggesting his needs were not being met and that he needed reassessing by an ed psych.ed. The school have agreed to do this and he is waiting for this to happen.
Three questions how good is an LEA ed psych assessment compared with a private one? The private one takes 3 hours and looks at many different areas and obviously makes recommendations unaffected by school budgets/staffing levels etc.
How long have people waited to have it done?
And finally were you as parents allowed to se it?
Thanks in advance.
HG

the report will be very basic - will be very wishy washy and not specific or quantify any help the child needs. he will usually see the child for an hour max - you will get a copy of the report. private will always be so much better =- however getting the lea to accept it could be more difficult. waits can vary - i was told once could be up to a year

how good is an LEA ed psych assessment compared with a private one?
depends on who you choose. I've seen some crap private ones that say nothing new about the child.

How long have people waited to have it done?
depends on your LEA. If you intend to go for statutory assessment an LEA ed psych report is necessary though.

And finally were you as parents allowed to see it?
Certainly - you are entitled to see all reports about your child. Ed Psych should be meeting with you (make sure that they do) to get your views and then should send you a final copy.

LEA one will not quantify or properly specify the exact help needed, it will say things like " will benefit from"
The LEA employed Ed phycs often do private assesments too - so I was told by a private one - but are told not to quantify help required as it leaves the LEA no wriggle room.
Can you do both?

Yes we can do both. The old ones were done by one of the countries leading experts although since retired and we have found a qualified registered ed.psych to do a new one obviously we dont know how good he is but he seems helpful and competent on the phone. He has read the old ones (he told me how highly regarded the first ed.psych was I didn't know this) and he appears to understand the situation, although frankly any idiot can grasp the issues as they are very clearly spelt out unless of course your a you're a teacher then you seem completely unable to grasp the issues and just keep blaming my DS's under performance on his laziness. I need an exasperated smiley!!!
My head aches from banging it against a brick wall for the last 13 years.

bjkmummy I don't know what LEA you are in, but as an LEA ed psych for 13 years I object to your sweeping statement that LEA ed psychs usually see children for 1 hr max and write a very basic report. Not in my local authority, nor any of the 40 or so colleagues I have worked with over my time, nor in any of the other local authorities I have worked with. Sheesh. We generally take about 1.5 days, which is about 10 1/2 hours, to observe a child, complete any necessary assessments, speak with their parents and teachers, liaise with any other professionals involved, and write a report (the 1.5 days are not usually in a row, but we have to monitor all our time and this is average for an uncomplicated assessment. It can go much longer, I have used 8 or 9 days time on some complex children for example). It's true that I don't spend the first 2 pages of my report listing my qualifications and publications...

ilikemysleep thank you thats interesting so what would you do in my situation?
In case you hadn't grasped the situation from my thread I at my wits end my son is becoming increasingly anxious unhappy at school and upset. The tragedy is that this is a bright child who has under performed all his school life his confidence is at rock bottom, he's inconsistent he has brilliant moments but basically all the teachers he's ever met bar about three maybe I can extend that to four concentrate on his weaknesses.

happy If I were you I'd probably go for a private assessment if I could afford it, and an LEA assessment if I can wait for it. Then the LA will have two views t work from. Sometimes we LEA EPs and private EPs even talk to each other! I think the key things to recall are:

• just as LEA EPs can come under pressure not to list resources that are not available in their authority (my local authority does NOT do this) and this can affect their recommendations, so
• private EPs are employed by parents - they are not fully independent, they are commissioned by and representing the parents in a parallel way as LA EPs are commissioned by and representing, to a certain extent, the LA (though as EPs we contantly stress to our employers that the family and child are our customer, and we are sworn to do no harm, nor allow practices that will do harm, to our clients, including failing to make necessary recommendations) and private EPs will often recommend anything and everything they think might be helpful, whatever chance there might be of getting it.

So the advantage to a combined approach is that you are perhaps likely to get either a consensus of opinion, or a bit more than you would otherwise have got.

Though actually I think you probably need a longer term intervention from an EP rather than a statement, as your son's issues sound identified, but complex and misunderstood by school. The likely outcome from a statement is having TA time which in year 11 can be tricky to manage as students don't tend to appreciate having someone sat beside them, and anyway his issues from the sound of it aren't in cognitive reasoning but in processing which a TA wouldn't necessarily know automatically how to help. I would ask an EP (and probably an LEA one as a private EP to do this kind of intervention would cost 1000s) to put together information on working memory difficulties and have a meeting with all staff who teach him. I'd try to get them to make a filofax with cue cards and tick lists for him to carry (eg 'for science I need:' 'If I can't find my sports kit I can..') and maybe adopt a colour coding system for work - eg all science goes in green folder, all english goes in yellow folder, etc...and a 'mentor/mentee' type relationship with a key adult who can check in with him at the start of the day to make sure he is organised for the day ahead. Make sure teachers know to give him a print out of the task for the lesson from their planner, rather than getting angry if he doesn't know what to do when they've just told him. That sort of thing. I actually think a statutory assessment would cause 6 months delay and an unsatisfactory outcome which could cause a loss in independence because he'll end up with a TA sat beside him doing all the organising for him, when what is needed is to teach him the strategies of how to learn to manage it himself, with support and a mentor checking.

Unless I am misunderstanding his needs from your admittedly very short description!

Thanks very helpful the last ed.psych report said similar things the school are just ignoring it!! I've virtually given up I suspect the school think Im a pushy parent (Im not) no one listens to me and Ive heard the same thing so many times Im in danger of hitting one of the teachers if I hear it again but have only started jumping up and down because he's mental health is now really being effected.

that's where an EP onsite has the clout to tackle the training issue for the school here. I would say to try to get one key staff member, who is relatively senior, onside...maybe the SENCO? You also need a plan drawn up with EP supervison and MONITORING to check it actually gets done - again that would need to be an LEA EP. Private EPs Can't usually have a long term involvement as parents generally simply can't afford it.

A thought...have you considering phoning your local EP service and ask to speak to the EP for the school. He or she might decide to prioritise action planning for your DS - after all, the assessments have been done, they just need actioning...

Just wondering if you went down the route of a private assessment and with who? I am in a similar situation - son is in Yr 11, Aspergers & Sensory Processing disorder - extremely bright has gone from the top set to the bottom set although has an IQ above average, is on SA+ with 20 hours LSA support and we heard a few weeks ago LA refuse to statement - are now taking LA to tribunal, school supporting us but wondering if a private ED Psych report would help - we have a good one from the assessment and from the borough ed psych (he goes to school in a different borough) - just want to add even more clout to prove LA wrong....

All I can say is that I'm at tribunal next week and got a private report. The detail was unbelievable. My la ed psych report does not quantify or specify anything. It is now only due to me getting a private report that I realise that the LA ed psych only tested the areas my son had strengths in so was in. I way a true reflection of my sons needs. The la ed psych said he could find no new identified needs - a few weeks later my son became unable to cope at school and has been out since June 2012. There are some good la ed psychs out there - the one from our previous county was amazing. However I stand by that a private ed psych report is much more detail, will specify and quantify every need. She spent over 3 hours at home with my son testing him and a whole morning at school doing observations and speaking to staff. It was simply worth every single penny.

I agree with bjkmummy. I have had both varieties (la and private) done, and the private ones are far more detailed with standardised assessments, and specific recommendations.

Bjkmummy - Funny you should mention that the la ep only tested his areas of strengths, that's what happened too. A few carefully chosen tests were carried out, and no explanation as to why some were carried out and not others.

I would recommend a private one every time.

Independent EP has been instrumental in LA agreeing to commence statutory assessment for my child. LA EP spent 1 hour with my child as part of the statutory assessment and only spoke to me on the phone and gave me advice which would not have been in the best interest of my child if I had followed it.

Your son has a very high IQ, why did you not pursue a statement when he was in Yr 5? Have you considered applying for one now?

Best

My son who is 12, on the surface quite bright, and quick, and enthusiastic, has processing issues too,and we are seeing a private Ed Pysch on Wednesday to find out if it could be dyspraxia or mild ASD. So I am reading all this with interest.

Sometimes I feel we just go round and round in circles. The school notes something, their LSA suggests something, nothing much changes. And ds just gives up the harder it becomes. It is a bit like trying to get to Sleeping Beauty's Castle hacking away at the institutional systems. Hoping the Ed pysch may pull the rabbit out the hat for us, not quite sure how.

We've done the folder trick btw! Alas, he needs constant reminding to use them. I notice one of the things about Ds1, which is perhaps part and parcel of the processing difficulty is his fierce independence, and dislike of being told how to do things. It is almost as if he battles to work something out HIS way, and only then will he truly understand it. I wish sometimes teachers could understand that when something does sink in it is a triumph and not easily forgotten, worth any amount of facile understanding. I know ds thinks deeply about things and does retain a lot, when he understands things properly.

I'm in SW London - can anyone recommend an Ed Psych for a private report? (& a ball park idea of costs?)

mine was £800 but that included a lot of travel plus she stayed overnight in a hotel due to the distance. ive heard a lot of people talk about david urani on here as being very good