How do I get a statement of special needs?

[WireCatWhore]

Son due to start school this September.

He is an April baby so only just 4.
He has just been diagnosed autistic & global development delay.

I've known for a long time that he will not be ready for school this year.
I want to delay him starting school.

Ideally,I'd like him to go to reception in 2014.

Could I have any information you have. Many thanks.

I find out his primary school this Thursday btw.

From MN: www.mumsnet.com/special-needs/education/statutory-assessments

and from govt: www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/assessments

and from me: although in theory with your child's diagnosis this should require a statement, and it's all meant to be changing soon, in practice it can still be very hard to get one and involve a battle - be prepared. (Know someone who had a child with Down's Syndrome and needed one on one help and still had to go to appeals.) The more evidence and documents you can provide the better. If at all possible, see if you can get school on board to support you too - they can vary immensely from place to place.

Wish you the very very best of luck and hope it will go smoothly! x

Post this on the Special Needs:Children board ... lots for traffice and loads of experience on there. Good luck!

Hiya. My little boy had a stroke as a baby which has left him right side hemiplegic. Fairly mild physically, but he has speech and language issues and is very very severely dyslexic. We did defer him from starting school, but, the only way we could do this was to pay to send him to an independent school. It has been money well spent (we had to borrow) and it has meant tiny classes, lots of one to one etc. Three years on (he'll be eight in July) the money has run out. We have no choice but to try and get a statement and put him into the "system". He is at assessment stage right now and we are hoping to get a specialist school named on the statement. However, we know that the authorities are not handing them out lightly and have been told to expect to go to first appeal and then tribunal. I am sick with worry about the whole thing. They have only agreed to assessment on second attempt and that is with huge support from the school and the Paediatrician. There is no harm in applying (you can do this yourself) and I wish in hindsight I had got the ball rolling earlier rather than leaving it until now. I didn't appreciate just how hard it would be, I just assumed that if you have a "special needs" child it was a given - WRONG!!! Good luck with everything xx

Meant to say, see if you can find the number for your local "Parent Partnership". If you give them a phone, they are quite helpful at talking things through with you and can also advice you on who to write to and what to say etc if you decide to try and request a statement. Good luck! x

ipsea has loads of really good info and explains who you need to write to to start the process off, there's a model letter you can use too.