Very angry about proposed statement - Bastard LA

[zen1]

I've finally received a proposed statement (only 6 weeks later than they should have sent it ) and I've never read such a load of wishy-washy crap in my life. In my parental report, I was very clear that I want DS (ASD) to attend the same mainstream school as my other DCs. I gave clear and concise reasons for my decision (with evidence to back this up). DS's best way of learning would be in MS with 1:1 support.

Well, the LA have completely ignored this, named a unit in the opposite direction to where I currently have to take DCs (I don't want him to attend a unit), and have not quantified or specified a single piece of provision he will receive. Lots of sentences begin: 'DS will be supported to meet the following objectives..to develop his play skills, to develop his speech/language, to develop his self-help skills...blah,blah"

There are other sentences beginning "DS will be given the opportunity to..." As I said, nothing is quantified and no actual 'provision' is mentioned. There is lots of talk of "visual support" in the form of signs and symbols which we have never used as DS's understanding is good and he can talk (although he does have language delays). Infact, he ignores symbols.

I am so worried that he will end up somewhere where he is set up to fail from the outset. Obviously, I am going to send back the form saying I disagree with the outlined provision and their choice of school, but what is the best thing I can do to enhance his chances of getting 1:1 in mainstream?

Any advice very gratefully received

Mainstream is currently assumed to be every child's right.

Call IPSEA, but all that wishy-washy rubbish might end up as fairly strong ground for saying why his needs can be met in MS. Beware only of things which an ordinary school don't have on-site like 'small group' 'low-sensory' 'specialist teacher'

Thanks Mareeya - been trying to get through to IPSEA all day. What makes it more annoying is that my other DC's school has already verbally said they would take him.

Don't be angry. This is an unofficial, but nevertheless usual step. Just keep calm and do what you know you need to.

Sorry though.

If school are helpful, you could take the wishy-washy statement along to them for an unofficial chat, and ask if there are any bits of it they might struggle to meet.

Then ask LA to remove those bits

I just don't get it. LAs are usually desperate to place people in MS, regardless of their needs. Now I'm asking for MS, they don't want to do it. I'm sure it is down to someone I encountered on the panel last year who told me the LA would not be statementing children who are going to mainstream schools. It was implied that unit places have already had funding allocating to them. Therefore, children who would tick the box of meeting the criteria of a unit place would be sent there, regardless of whether it was in their best interests. All so the LA don't have to pay out extra money for support in the MS classroom.

No. If the school you want is as switched on as you seem to think they'll be demanding the resources they need, which could cost more than a unit placement.

Have you looked at the unit? Are you sure it would be wrig for him? My experience of TAs in mainstream is that they often don't have a clue about autism. Our LEA employed people to work with my dd who weren't qualified for the position even though the statement calls for autism specialist teaching.

If you feel that mainstream with TA is more appropriate for him then you will need to appeal the statement and look at what evidence you have that will help you win your appeal. You will need to show that the unit cannot meet his needs, but a MS placement with TA could.

wrong*

Don't worry - you can rewrite it yourself and send it back to them.

IPSEA advised me to go through the statement and the professional reports with highlighters. Highlight the bits that need to be in and then back them up by referring to the appropriate report/professional.

You'll need to visit the unit so that you can put your argument together for why the m/s school will meet his needs rather than the unit.

...but I agree with looking at the unit with an open mind - you might be surprised by it.

Thanks for the input . I haven't visited this specific unit, but have visited other SEN units nearer to where I live (very low expectations of DCs, hence my decision to send to MS). I have not heard good things about the unit they have named, but that is by-the-by as I want him in mainstream anyway. I will visit it though. Another consideration I have is my 2 other DCs are not old enough to travel to school by themselves yet (we take 2 buses), and I do not want to send my 4 year old off in a taxi to a school in the opposite direction.

TBH, the my DC's school is not that 'switched on' with regard to SN/SEN (wish it was, but the head has admitted this and wants to address it), but I feel it is our best option at present. Although DS has ASD, he loves being with other children and trying to make friends and he copies behaviours and models language from other children as well. I just think he will not do well socially in a unit (my evidence for this is that he is chatty and outgoing at his MS pre-school, but is quiet and reserved and not really himself at his specialist pre-school. Infact, he is underachieving there.

Also, I have already accepted a place at the MS school (don't think the two departments talk to each other so), so don't know how it's all going to work?

Zen - I understand how you feel re: low expectations. What is the Ofsted report like of the unit? Where I live there is a primary school for SEN and when I looked at that I felt it was totally inappropriate for my dd and I knew I would never want her to go there plus the children looked unhappy - lots stimming with no redirection. OTOH, the senior school is lovely and I have decided that it would be a good place for her to go based on my observations of the place, plus the Ofsted report is very good and the children all looked engaged with their learning.

My situation is very different from yours in that at 4, my daughter was incapable of learning in a school setting at all which is why I fought for and won, ABA. After 7 years of ABA she is at a point where she can take instruction in a school setting.

But I guess what I'm trying to say is that specialist provisions can all be different from each other, even when they're close to each other in distance.

You could do with minute-by-minue professional observations of your ds at preschool, plus ideally some video footage.

Preschool 1
9.30: head-banging; 9:35 sitting alone; 9:40 ripping a book

Preschool 2
9:30: nicking toy train off peer; 9:35 singing song; 9:40 running with peer

I know the behaviours are ok and difference is not that extreme, but you get the gist

At my recent tribunal the LA school argued that the LA funded 20 places in the unit at the school regardless if 20 kids were there. Think there were only 14 kids in the unit so they were really keen for him to go there as it was the cheapest option. I would speak to your preferred school as well as fri. April most schools will be expected to fund a certain proportion of the child's statement for their own budget. Shouldn't really influence their decision but may be best sounding them out just to make sure they are happy for him to attend the school. Ultimately you have a very strong case for mainstream but best to check out all options so that you will be I. The best position to argue the school placement

In a MS school, the LEA is responsible for funding a child's statement if the school doesn't have the money - there is case law on this point I believe. So that shouldn't influence the school's position.

bjkmummy, your experience sounds very much like our LA - they fund a certain number of unit places regardless, so are keen to have them filled.

Lottie, when I spoke to the MS school Head 2 terms ago he said he had "spare money" when I mentioned about DS going there and also said that they would take him. Don't know whether he realizes all the services that will need to be bought in for DS though.

However, from conversations I have had today, it seems like the only report the LA paid attention to was the one produced by the (LA funded) Ed Psych, which was a totally skewed misrepresentation of DS's abilities based on a five minute observation and the opinion of a member of SN preschool staff 9 days after DS had started there. He normally has transport to and from the SN preschool, but when I have taken him in myself, DS becomes a lot quieter and I feel like I made a dreadful mistake sending him there, especially if this psych report is going to have such a big impact on any future provision. The MS preschool were shocked when I showed it to them at the time and said they didn't recognise DS from that report at all.

It is just a complete mess. If the LA have sent a copy of the Psych report to the MS school, then they could probably argue that his needs are too complex for them, when in fact, that's not the case.

When you send your agree/disagree form back, go through the proposed statement and highlight every instance of where it needs to be specified and quantified, and strike-through all references to "have access to", "given the opportunity to" etc. In accompanying letter, remind them of the SENCoP bits re specifying/quantifying.

Also go through all the reports that were done for the statutory assessment (both theirs and yours if you had any), and ensure that every single recommendation made by all professionals has been included in Part 3. If it hasn't, or if it hasn't been specified adequately, list each of these.

Don't worry too much at this point - you're at an early stage. When you send them back the agree/disagree form, they'll either make the changes or not, and if not, then you'll at least be clearer about what your path will be (ie appealing or not).

Most important thing imo at this stage is to start gathering as much evidence as you can that the MS school you want is the best one for him, why it meets his needs above all others. I'd suggest that you stress the importance for him of mixing with nt peers (assuming that that is what you want?). Have you had an indepednent Ed Psych report? Or SALT? Worth lining these up now if not, as they can get booked up, and if it turns out you don't need them, you can always cancel nearer the time.

I think generally, 1-1 supprt in MS is almost always cheaper than SS, but Star might be right, if there are loads of other external services they have to buy in (eg SALT, OT etc) that might complicate things.

Oh and btw re accepting the place at the ms school already - once you finalise the statement, you'll be taken out of the normal admissions process. But don't do anything - just keep hold of it for now - it might take months to drag out the statement by which time he may have started at the school already, so you can then use that as an argument against moving him now he's settled

Thank you bialy, that is very helpful. You are right, one of the key factors for me is that DS is educated alongside NT children, as he really does take his lead from other children and is keen to emulate their behaviour. From my observations, the units in my borough are very much based on the children sitting at work stations and doing such activities as matching cards, which will be of no benefit to DS. Also, most children seem to start on P-scales and never progress much beyond KS1, if that. As I said before - low expectations.

Anyway, I haven't got an independent ed psych report (I was hoping I wouldn't need it) but intend to research one now. All he really needs is a 1:1 to help him stay on task and perhaps explain in a different way what it is he is expected to do. The SALT input he has had so far has made no difference to his language development, and they have always underestimated his capabilities; any language improvement has been mainly down to socialisation I think.

When we met with the LA about ABA, they insisted that it was our £23k against their zero as the place already exists and is funded in their provision.

Oh and thank you for clarifying about the admissions process

I think often it can be a case of chosing between low expectations and no expectations.

The 'no expectations' can work well or be a disaster depending on the school and how willing they are to work truly with the parents. I think the more specialist a school becomes (and that includes the MS ones) the more likely they are to have low expectations.

(Very very general comment above. Some SS are excellent).

It's quite good news if the pre-school disagree already with the LA Ed Psych report - you/they can argue they have a much better, in-depth idea of him and his abilities. Are they backing you up on this, and was their report what you wanted to see? If so, keep referring to that too in your response to the LA.

Are you looking for ABA support in MS school?