So fed up with 'expert' reports for statement

[claw2]

LA made an appointment with paed for SA process, despite spending 2 hours there and giving her copies of SALT, OT CAMHS, EP reports etc, her report consists of listing his diagnosis/problems, his weight and height.

She states hearing no concerns, i do have concerns and i told her my concerns, motor skills no concerns, i gave her a copy of OT report, self care fully independent, no i told her he refuses to dress himself, cant brush his teeth, doesnt eat etc

Consequences for childs education - He has austism. He has anxiety and self harm. He suffers with soiling.

Thats it.

Ds was expected to speak to her about his difficulties too, although he found this extremely distressing, he managed to speak to her and made it very clear what he worried about, what he finds difficult etc, etc, his views or his behaviour at the appointment are not featured in the report at all. What was the bloody point?

No point. Clearly a LA lacky! Just ignore it. Of course the LA are going to get reports countering yours, otherwise why deny him what he needs?

Did she actually write no concerns to the OT thingy?

Paeds don't usually want to get involved in statementing though do they? I wonder why they were asked.

To be fair, they are not generally in a position to comment on the level of educational provision a child needs.

Was it the community paed? That would make more sense.

mine was the same and from that the LA got no SALT or OT reports as she didnt recommend them. Hence why 18 months later Im in the position I am in now. If you have your own reports, submit them as they have to consider all the evidence but I agree it is annoying

You would simply say that of course she has no concerns, she's a paed. The OT on the other hand, whose training and experience are in the field of, well, OT, DOES have concerns. Similar with SALT.

FFS.

Although tbh I know they try it on in this way because ds' tribunal panel ruled against ABA because the Social worker wrote a report and didn't recommend it.

Yep community paed (who we have never seen before) and yes she has actually written 'no concerns' under the heading 'motor skills'

Got CAMHS care plan today too and i have to say im a little disappointed in the way they appear to be 'playing down' too.

CAMHS 'Home tuition has now begun and ds is adjusting to this change and coping well with the work'

That isnt what i said at all. He has started scratching again, he is refusing to read or write at all with the tutor, refusing to eat before she arrives, refusing to leave his room (i have to carry him down), hiding under a blanket during the tuition. Refusing to get dressed etc, etc

We attended a CAMHS appointment to talk about his home tuition and he refused to speak to them for an hour. I had to literally take him to the appointment by picking him up and carrying him, he attended in his pj's.

That bit is under 'Aims of treatment' so seems CAMHS are playing down, so they dont have to supply treatment.

To be fair to the pead, that sounds like standard expectations, not that you have a crappy paed. Basically they are asked to see every child going through statementing because the LA needs to check that the non medical people haven't missed a medical problem. For example, that ther isn't an undiagnosed brain tumour that non medics are intepreting as language problems, that sort of thing, and to do a genetic screen if it's necessary. They aren't expecetd by the LA to make a big contribution to explaining his ed needs. The LA will look to the indiv specialists reports to do that. So the OT for motor issues, SALT for language, EP for general overview and learning etc. The pead's contribution is pretty minor in terms of info the local authority will rely on, unless there is a significant medical need that they are personally overseeing.

Re CAMHS - They can't be forced by LA to provide treatment anyway. However I would contact them and ask them to revise that statement as it is factually inaccurate.

Good luck and hope the final statement is a good one :-)

Makes me so mad 'identified risks and plan management' again all played down.

'ds reported he had once or twice said he wanted to die'

For crying out loud, he told CAMHS in A&E that he constantly thought about wanting to die, they wrote it thier report. He told the social worker he constantly had thoughts of killing himself, hence why we ended up in A&E in the first place. He told the attendance officer, he drew a picture of himself hanging from a tree, he wrote lots of notes on his ipod about wanting to die.

Why is it A&E CAMHS can give a true reflection, but CAMHS a different branch, the branch that supply treatment cannot?

'His own reports is that he would not act on the verbalised threats to harm himself'

He has been! he was cutting himself with scissors, thats why he ended up in A&E because he told social worker and A&E CAMHS that he has been cutting himself with scissors, he showed them the bleeding cuts all over him. CAMHS have been treated him for the bloody cuts and self harm for almost 2 years.

They also go on to say that 'ds's understanding of death appears limited, he reports that heaven and hell are other 'dimensions' you go to when you die, but where you are still alive'

I find that extremely worrying

I never knew there was a 'right' way to view the afterlife!

I have been questioned about drumming into ds, if you are bad you go to hell, im not even religious!

It seems that ds thinks, that you kill yourself, you just go to another place to live. I thought that was pretty 'normal' for kids ie heaven is just another earth, with fluffy clouds, like you see in films.

But worrying for me, as he is actually having thoughts about wanting to die, has no fear of it, in fact he says he is looking forward to it.

But for CAMHS apparently the fact he views it like that, makes the risk low

Claw in time you should get a copy of all the medical / GP records.
You may find more detailed info in there eg A&E record as it was not written from perspective of what LA might be obliged to provide.

Our first proposed statement said DS had no behaviour problems even though LA EP had observed him pushing another child in the face.
Outreach report for SA said he would be fine in mainstream and doing well. Her actual record on the day said he sat on his own and did not move once in 20 mins.

When we got LA reply to our appeal denying all his needs we then got all his medical records and found lots of egs of exactly the problems we were raising and the LA were denying existed.

You may want to sit tight until you have the proposed statement and are appealing and then request records as once they know you will ask for them their guard goes up.

Our pead report for statement was disgusting and I made them give us an other pead and another report!
The 1st said DS is badly behaved, refuses to talk but is able to and chooses not to eat.
DS has a DX of autism, was at the time non verbal,a DX of food phobia and severe learning disabilities so hardly choosing!!
Total dickhead was the first pead.

Just feel deflated after reading these 'reports' that things are not going to get much better.

It makes me sick that when the social worker thought my older sons were beating ds up and he was self harming and having thoughts of dying due to that, there was a mad rush to get him to the hospital, it was an emergency and things were taken very, very seriously. Now it has transpired that this is not the case at all and ds was just telling her what she wanted to hear, its the school environment that is responsible, its all played down to the extreme.

Its now oh yes, he self harms, he suffers with anxiety, he has ASD, its your job to make things go smoothly, make him a social story!

Thanks Agnes, Star, im just venting, i literally had to drag ds to the hospital for this paed appointment and i was so surprised that he actually spoke to her. What was the point of her speaking to him at length about his soiling problem etc, something that he is highly embarrassed about and finds it very difficult to speak about, only not to mention it all in her report.

She was even telling me he needed OT or physio and questioning why he hadnt had it already. She appeared concerned that he has not been able to eat, drink or use the toilet in school since he started 3 years ago.

Same for CAMHS their 'assessment' was ONE session with him alone, which lasted for about half an hour, before ds signalled distress and they had to stop.
Their advice, when i told them that ds is scratching again, not eating, refusing to get dressed, not sleeping etc, etc as a result of the home tutor. Double his Melatonin and make him a social story. Yet in their report no mention of doubling his sleeping medication or the anxiety, just 'he is coping well'.

Cant wait for LA EP report. She told me ds had no motivation to do any of the tests and refused most of them. Again i had to literally carry him there. He probably scored on the 99th centile across the board.

Claw, I know. YOU know this isn't gonna be easy or pretty. The corruption, non-commitment, passing the buck, passing the blame. It's not a new concept to you.

You just have to go one step at a time and be systematic and cool. Keep your files organised, keep a diary and to do list. Keep your correspondence simple and factual, and try, really try to have a life and enjoy your children at the same time.

Thanks Star, I will be able to have a breather in a couple of days.

Looking on the bright side SEND don't tend to get too excited by Com Ped comments.