really frustrated and at end of tether, worth calling for CAF?

[EstherRancid]

i need help - i really do

we are running around in circles and i've had enough

senco is willing to see us to discuss possible SA, teacher is fab but has nothing formal to fall back on wrt to supporting DD in class, but senco had to cancel our meeting last week, rearranged for next, DD is doing very well academically but is beginning to show her cracks and is gradually withdrawing from social events (refused to go to dance classes this week, it also took us 2hrs of coaching to get her to come to country park)

she's on the waiting list for anxiety management with CAMHS and has a referral (somewhere) for in depth sensory profiling and OT

i have to chase up copies of referral letters, i'm rearranging meetings, i'm trying to find the best way to support DD (dx ASD) but all i get is 'we'll get someone to call you back' and DD coming home with bags full of urine-soaked clothes and a 'well done' sticker in her reading record

has anyone got any experience of CAF before i contact them?

i'm really desperate here

anyone?

You don't need the SENCO's permission to apply for SA. Just send the letter on the ipsea website.

Be a squeaky wheel with camhs.

yeah, i realise that lougle but we can't even get to a meeting to discuss SA/SA+ right now

i'm always on the phone, i'm bloody knackered with it all

yes i know it's all in the job description of being a parent of a child on the spectrum, but if there are people out there not quite (shall we say) stepping up to the mark, i want them pulled up to rank.

in a naice way of course

I wouldn't do the CAF. This will take matters out of your hands and will probably result in lots of arse covering. I would continue to keep on people's back. I know it's frustrating but I think a CAF would muddy the waters and could lead you off in directions you don't want to go in.

that's the sort of thing i worry about, cansu

what if the CAF finds our issues not important? do you have any way of getting them to focus on what's important to us?

I would forget the CAF and focus energy on SA, for which I would take control.
Everything and anything your dd needs can be written in a statement provided you can demonstrate the relevance to enable access to education.

The CAF is, to me anyway, an acronym for 'Cover Arse Framework', but it can be useful down the line as a CAF at any stage other than the beginning of the process causes a headaches worth of paperwork for most people, so you can threaten to have one done.

CAF tend to find ways that the 'family' need support rather than the child, and along with that comes an implication that it is the 'family' that is the problem iyswim.

Sorry, Esther, that was my misinterpretation. I thought you meant 'SA' as in Statutory Assessment. Not 'SA' as in School Action.

Avoid CAF.

Send a letter to the LA using the guidance on the IPSEA website asking for your child to be assessed for a statement. There are statutory deadlines schools, & LA's have to adhere to and it's the quickest way of getting the LA EP into school to advise on support short of using a shot gun when you are being given the run around. Even if you are refused a statement in the end, it'll focus minds where you want them.

A CAF on the other hand will just give them an excuse to delay things for another 6 months while they follow the CAF process..

Skip CAF. Request stat assessment instead.

Might be useful later, if you get totally fobbed off by multiple departments and want a meeting where everyone has to sit in the same room and argue about who does the various tasks and who just sits on their a**e

thanks all

DH and I had yet another long talk about this again last night, and have agreed it's probably a good one to keep in our arsenal, should we need it, almost like a bluff?

i do feel like i need some support, maybe i should come here more often

thanks again