How to correct the --useless-- EP as his report lies and clearly shows he's not happy with me calling his boss!!

[sweetteamum]

Well, I am fuming and there is steam coming out of my fucking ears, i'm that mad!!

He's lied, insinuated things (not very subtle either) about me and basically sent this after I complained about him last week, to his boss.

I would like to reply telling this flipping idiot what I think of him and his useless knowledge of girls on the spectrum and say I think he's wrote the report this way because of the disagreements we'd previously had about him telling me my daughter would not be on the spectrum.

Any ideas are warmly received

I would recommend writing to him and copying in his boss, explaining why you are unhappy with the report and requesting further assessments.

I did this once when the paed tried to fob me off with behaviour strategies that I had already tried.

When I wrote a formal letter questioning her report she decided she would refer Dd for a SAL assessment.

Sorry you are having to deal with this

Thank you for the reply

So, it's actually a good idea to respond and say I feel like the report is biased, especially based on our previous differences of opinion and clear opposite views then.

He was here for a whole 40 minutes with her - after turning up 10 minutes late and his 2 way conversations consist of him asking her questions and her answering. She used eye contact and apparently made and ''got'' humour - with regards to the humour, she didn't make any and even if she did, she's 11 years old fgs!!!

This report is extremely basic and has practically no information to compare against the dyslexia action psychologist report - it's worse than basic actually.

Worse might work in your favour.

I would sit on it for a while tbh before responding.

Oh and it said "when I told mum this . . . . . ",
then used some sarcastic words, like; ironically, anecdotely, unsurprisingly etc
Then went on to say "she replied with . . . ."

Patronising is not the right word here.

Do you really think so Starlight?

Apologies, but I still cant see for anger at the mo

staroflight

Not being able to see for the anger is why you need to wait.

You're driven at the moment to urgently relieve the discomfort you feel from having read the report but these things take strategy and reflection. Go for a run or beat a pillow.

If the report reads as unprofessional that works in your favour, up against a more balanced alternative report.

You will have to put in your response to this report at some point but it doesn't have to be right this second.

I have been known to send an innocent "dumb Mum" email asking if I've recieved the right child's report?

Then sat tight & said/done nothing - just sayin' .

That one line email counts as written evidence, of the sort that matters for Tribunals, once independent ed pysch, pead or other professionals have totally contradicted the initial lazy sloppy effort. Only you know your local politics but sometimes an option is just to log an error in writing, sit back and let the lazy, sloppy professional hang themselves with their own rope as subsequent evidence is gathered and events play out.

The EP has no impact on the medical diagnostic process & if you don't yet have one, getting a referral for ADOS or similar via your GP will probably achieve more in the long run than hunting down this individual.

At meetings you can gently point out that 40 mins is not long enough to administer WISC or any of the recognised standardised assement tools properly. A calm query as to WHY these were not administered is a reasonable request that will emphasise the sloppyness of this person's work. An EP's job is to give an opinion based upon OBJECTIVE evidence, not the subjective waffle any dinner lady could manage.

Thank you both once more.

I agree that I need to calm down, take some time to reflect and work out my next steps.

Once I have worked out what I need to do, I could send a very brief email stating I disagree with the content and believe this EPs view on this report clearly shows we've had a disagreement and is rather biased.

I will also once i've calmed down ask what basis thei person is getting his terrible facts from.

I will show this to family members and not show how I feel. Then await their response....Hopefully it's not as glaringly obvious as I believe, but it's my view on things - I don't want to come across as not being helpful but feel I need to show this person where he's gone wrong iyswim?

Oh and because I said ''she likes to please people in authority'' - as this is the impression she'd of got that day - as in a teacher, pupil scenario he's reported that as me saying something different and then putting a question in brackets ((ie I wonder if dd can actually read what people are expecting her to say))

You can't give your opinion on the professionalism of the EP. That makes YOU sound biased or like you have sour grapes.

Indicating 'confusion' in the way Boch suggested is one of the ways.

You could take a bit that you disagreed with and ask 'where did you get the evidence for x, as it seems to have been left out of the report'.

BUT, if you are going to tribunal you might want to save these to point out then without giving the LA a chance to respond to them in advance.

So that is why you need to think about what you say. It needs to be clear that you think the report is bollocks, but you have to do it nicely and allow for the 'reason' to be something other than bias or incompetence i.e. short of time, misunderstanding, mixing up report with another child's. But you don't want to give too much detail about each of the points you'll need to challenge, especially if you CAN challenge them easily as that will really help you in negotiation/tribunal stage.

Get a decent independent EP to do a comprehensive report that could be included in your child's statement is another way to go. I would be very careful about sending a 'personal attack' email.

Thank you for making me see this.

So, I could ask if this is another child's report, but with our names copied/pasted onto it, or would you leave the last bit out.

I've just re-read it and it still sounds as snotty - he's even put on there that he's discussed with another member of the profs team, and they both agreed that there are other children, who have clear difficulties would manage in mainstream and he can't understand how dd would not cope.

Think I need to put it in a locked box

Thank You vjg for your reply.

I have decided you are all right as usual and an email is definitely not the way to go.

I would however, like to know everyone's thoughts on whether the ados is best to get done first (privately) and then get the ind. ep done a couple of months after or would you get them both done together.

I know the ados is important, especially in dx'ing girls on the spectrum and That is what is concerning me more at the moment. His report is clearly biased against me/dd so like star says, it's obvious he's holding a grudge

Good advice on here. My problem is I stay calm, contain the anger initially but have a tendency to blow at the 11th hour! It's horrible reading professionals' reports. They are so blunt and don't seem to describe the child we love. I read once and file away for several weeks before rereading. I do wonder sometimes if professionals remember they are writing about real human beings and that parents feelings are real too.

Thank you learning for your reply also.

I guess I just wanted it on record that I disagreed with some of the points he made, just in case I am told further down the line that they won't issue a statements as i've been happy so far (it's happened before, so i'm wary now)

Yes, that is EXACTLY why you need to respond, but you don't need to go into the details of why.

If it says in the report that a discussion has been about other children managing in mainstream then it is a stupid report and that will be easy for others to see.

Other children have nothing to do with your ds, and quite possibly they are being failed too. 'Other children' is a bit like a blanket policy and is illegal. It attempts to apply a one-size fits all approach which is not allowed.

The other thing to bear in mind, is that the Ed Psych just writes their report. The Statementing Officer is the one responsible for drawing up a statement.

To give an example, the EP I saw with DD1 was challenging me on why I could possibly think DD1 needed SS. I was asking her what could possibly make her think that DD1 could access MS without 32.5 hours 1:1 per week. Interesting discussion I said 'so when do you think DD1 could be left without support?' She said 'craft time'. I said 'she'd eat the glue.' Then she said 'break time'. I said 'she has poor motor co-ordination, poor balance, no sense of danger.' Then she said...it goes on.

Her report was detailed and highlighted many areas of need. It did, however, big up DD1's strengths 'knowledge of colours at least age appropriate...etc.

The Statementing Officer decided that SS was the best place for her, despite every professional saying MS.

So don't worry too much at this stage. Just see it as something else to mull over.

In what context as he used 'ironically' and 'unsurprisingly'
Sounds very unprofessional

When DS1 was assessed by Margo Sharp, specialist SALT, she used DISCO which is often used for complex boys and girls on the spectrum as ADOS is not always the most suitable. It was developed by Lorna Wing.

lea EPs have said some dumb things to me to 'he's not dyslexic - he can read and write' - 'why is he being assessed for ASD - friends (boys in the same class at a school he has now left) don't seem to mind' him not saying hello, goodbye, etc. I don't understand why he was wearing glasses - I don't mind his myopia!

So staroflight, if I just send a polite email back thanking him for the report, saying I believe his details have been mixed up with another child and leave out the bit about the possible blanket policy, that should do for now.

That way, it's all o record but i'm not giving them any clues, which they'll be expecting from me.

Hi Lougle . Tbh there is very little info on there. It's more an account of events with a tiny bit about how she performed, what she said, what he said, what I said and was certainly not like any report i've seen before.

EP quotes

"Doesn't he line things up nicely & his counting is really good" (age 3)
"he wouldn't even look at me - I don't think he likes me much" (age 5)
"he definately doesn't need a statement as he speaks really well" (age 6)
"he's too inteligent to have ASD" (aged 7)

I wonder if I'll ever see her again.