How early can you get a statement ?

[cantbelieve]

My son is 10 months old now and he has a rare chromosome disorder and will have physical and cognitive disabilities. He currently goes to a childminder and she is happy to have him for a while longer but eventually she will probably have to give up caring for him as his needs get greater as he gets bigger. There is a special school near to my two older childrens school who take children from age two for morning sessions which would be perfect for him but they said he needs a statement before they can accept him. How long does this process take ? How do I go about it ? We are in herts if anyone knows the local system, thankyou.

Statement process can be 6 months , longer or shorter :)
If you go on the ipsea site you can print a model letter to send to your LA x

2 1/2.

You can start eh state ting process from about 18 months, you can request a statement yourself, and should do so, but it helps if your paediatrician also sends a letter to education to notify them that a child with significant needs will be entering their sphere. This letter helped kick start everything for us and DS had his first statement by the time he was 2.7 months old.

another one here with an early statement, although I'm sure it was portage who started it, portage was in from 3 month old.

Hi, DD has Down Syndrome (so severe GDD incl. mobility & speech). She's been at mainstream nursery part time since she was 1. We've had portage and then EYI officer since she was about 6 months old.

We've been really lucky that the nursery (part of a national chain) has been fantastic and have allocated her additional help, often at their own cost. She's moved up the room slower (was about 1.5 yrs when she went to 1-2 yr old room.

I had been speaking with the Ed. Psych since DD was 1 yrs old about statements, but she advised against applying until DD was 2.5 yrs, as requests before then tend to be declined. Instead she recommended applying for an 'LEA inclusion grant', as these are simpler and quicker to apply for (it was the nursery who applied rather than us)

At 2.8 yrs old, DD is only just starting to walk. When DD moved up to the 2-3 yr old room the nursery applied for an inclusion grant to help fund 1-1 care; the reason they gave for requesting the fund was that DD needed to be in an age appropriate room to help aid her development, but in order for this to happen she needed 1-1 care to keep her safe in this environment. The process is really quick, they got the money within about a week (but that might be because the LEA EYI officer & Ed. Psych. was already heavily involved with DD)

We started the statement process when DD was 2.5 yrs and we should get their decision tomorrow on whether DD gets a statement. If you do go the statement route it takes about 3 months, if all goes smoothly (I.e. they agree to your initial request to assess).

HTH & good luck!

Children can have a statement definitely from 2, maybe younger. Do you have portage or any therapy input? If so ask them about it, if not speak to doc. Good luck!

I would say request one earlier rather than later. Pre age 2 the LA have to assess if one is requested by the parent.

Be ready for the LA's stalling and a failure to specify, the earlier you request a statement the quicker you will be able to negotiate to get a statement nearer to what your child needs than that which will almost undoubtedly be offerred initially.

Please don't make my mistake and automatically trust those there to assist. My child was injured on two occassions because he didn't have adequate support without a statement at pre-school.

Good luck