deflated and tired - note in lieu

[nibsy]

Almost a year since our original request, one appeal for SA and a lot of hassle, a nite in lieu fell onto our doormat this morning.

Has anyone else managed to get a statement for a HFA boy in reception? He really struggles socially but that doesnt seem to matter. His obsessions get in the way of his learning and life in general. He has sensory problems. LA say his language is age appropriate when tested and is he able so no need to statement.

He currently does have some support but I'm scared it will be taken away once he hits year 1 as he''ll be quite happy to daydream and write numbers all day.

I'm not sure what to do next?! Anyone been here and won in the end?

Yes I've been there. Had to appeal to get the LA to assess, then had to appeal a NIL. In both cases the LA backed down on the strength of the appeal paperwork being lodged with tribunal. You need to work out what support you think he needs and how the school can provide that - the sensory side of things may be harder to meet in mainstream school with a statement though not impossible, but certainly look to push hard re the concentration in class, the need for social skills help meaning he needs support in playtimes too. Take a look at the SEN code of practice and find the parts the apply to your situation and point out where the code is not being followed.

I'll inbox you too about something else....but yes, keep fighting. We are almost 2 years into start process with statements and we still don't have what we want sorted...tribunal coming up for the final hurdle hopefully.

Appeal the NIL and try to speak to IPSEA or SOSSEN re your situation as well.

NIL is truly not worth the paper it is written on.

Don't take it personally. It's bureaucracy v. citizen, and making statementing straightforward would encourage everyone to insist on their child's legal rights, which would require a big cash injection into SEN. Imagine if you could appeal a parking ticket as easily as you can pay one, the council would go bust

The LA's job is to encourage schools to meet your ds's needs economically, and to avoid pretty much all mainstream statements. The last thing they need is to be saddled with legal responsibility for your son's provision. They need to postphone making his provision a statutory right for as long as possible.

Yours job is rather different

Yes sort of - depends how you define HFA - DS has average IQ so not behind in reading etc but his language is 2-3 years behind so he is classic autism in that way.
We got an ABA statement (partly in mainstream and partly at home) via tribunal.
In some ways asking for an autism specific approach is an easier argument than asking for more of the same as we were able to do a comparison between nursery (where he had fulltime 1:1 and learnt nothing) and ABA at home (where he learnt loads).
Is he making progress at school with the help he has?
If he is then you have to show he would make much more progress with more help. Or that he needs fulltime 1:1 for reasons of safety; or because there is not time to get through all the programmes (eg language, social, play, motor skills etc) with support allocated; or because he will go 'off task', isolate and engage in repetitive behaviours non stop if he does not have fulltime 1:1 re-directing him.
DS would be writing numbers etc all day without fulltime support - the LA will say he needs time without 1:1 to avoid dependency and be independent - this is rubbish - he will isolate and stim. So you have to turn the argument round and ask how much time per day it is acceptable for him to be excluded from learning due to engaging in non stop repetitive behaviours. It is hard for LAs to say its ok for him to be unsupported 15 hours a week if you can prove the whole of that time he will be stimming.
Ideally you need to go and watch him in school - or employ a private EP to do so - and time how much he is 'on task' and how much off task.
So go and watch and take data - I did this and had a stopwatch in my hand and secretly timed how often he was engaged in learning during the session and wrote a minute by minute summary of what they did. He was engaged for 50 secs out of 20 mins with 1:1 and an outreach teacher running the session!
The other thing you can do to get evidence is write the IEP targets on what the school will find the most difficult to achieve e.g. social target (eg social game with a peer for 5 mins without adult support) or behaviour target (eg stay on task with no stim for 5 mins at a time).
Don't make it obvious that you are setting them up to fail but choose something you know the school will not be able to achieve without significant outside support / training etc which would only come with a statement. Don't let them write IEP targets that say 'help DS with social skills' - you must have something you can measure and which is very specific. Then you have to get them to let you come and see they have achieved it. So you need to try and keep on side with school so you can sit in on a class regularly / attend outreach / SLT visits.
Obviously if the school are supporting you getting a statement than will make life easier. But some schools will support the LA and tell you your child is doing well even if he isn't so seeing for yourself is critical.
Do you think the school has the capability of dealing with repetitive behaviours / teaching social skills? These would be well beyond the ability of DS school without ABA.

Thanks all. The school have supported us so far and I will speak to the SENCO tomorrow to see if they will support us through an appeal of the NIL.

Great advice to visit the school myself. I certainly could watch playtime without DS knowing so that would be useful but I think I'm looking at a private EP to see him in class. The LA EP saw him writing numbers (stim) and seemed to think this was good. I've heard the point about dependancy so many times but agree that unupported he isolates and returns to numbers.

Can I lodge the appeal this week without much evidence and then supply more later? I want to show the LA we mean business and submit quickly but it will take a while to collate the evidence we need.

once you lodge the appeal, you get about 4 months from that date until final submissions so you haveuntil then to submit your final evidence so yet you can get more reports doen but make sure you book them asap. i booked my ep in the 2 month period before i lodged my appeal but even then she couldnt come to visit him until quite late so you need to get them booked asap - you can always cancel them later if you need to. i would also get on with lodging it as well as the appeal dates now are going to be the end of june so you are getting closer to august and they wont hold tribunals in august so if you wait 2 months you could end up with a september date.