Getting increasingly fed up !!!

[pumpkinsweetie]

Nearly 3 months ago now i called up a meeting with the SENCO from my then 4yo dd school . I told her i am now looking towards a statement and outlined all the similarities between my dd behaviour & autism.
I was told she will press on with this for me although i would be expected to wait around 9 months and even then it may come back as nothing. She said she would pass on a post it note before thr holidays or a letter to entail that she had started the process. I'm yet to recieve this note so i'm not sure if she has even remembered

I let it go over the summer holidays thinking maybe i would get this note on first weeks back at school.
2 weeks back and no joy.
This senco has also walked passed me at the school, disgraceful!

So last night i phoned the school secretary asking for a meeting with the SENCO, SALT & teacher as i'm fed up with the brick walls they put infront of me.

Feel at my wits end no one at the school listens to me. They have made changes at the school without consulting me which has made my dd behaviour worse as she finds change unbearable. She has also just failed her second hearing test, and is very much behind at school and her speech is severley delayed, as is her behaviour surrounding getting into school getting worse. Yet no one from the school EVER corresponds to me.

Please help me in plain english get a statement and the help she needs to learn well. I don't understand all the jargon surrounding sn so i cant understand similar threads iyswim.

After phoning the school last night they never called me back after promising to but when i do finally get this meeting what things can i say to get this going somewhere?
Also whenever i ask about hearing test, i get told its nothing to do with them its with the school nurses.
Its like they dont care, don't have the time or cba as my dd is just a number to them. Im sick of it

Tia

IPSEA's website is very good at the whole process of statementing and their website is detailed below:-

www.ipsea.org.uk

There are model letters on there you can use.

As you can and have all too clearly see, you are your child's best - and only - advocate. No-one else is better placed than you to fight her corner for her, this is also because no-one else will do so.

You can make the application yourself to the LEA and you do not need anyone's permission to do so. You will need to write to the Chief Education Officer at your LEA (if you phone the council they will tell you this person's name) and give them six weeks to reply. Do mark that date on your calendar.

I would also start looking around other schools because even if she had a statement I would have no real confidence in this school to act on it properly.

Apply for a statement yourself and then THEY will be chasing YOU for a meeting.

As she is still under 5 you can get the HV involved re hearing tests. They will hopefully be more efficient.

Thankyou, re the health vistor: useless as contacted them and they passed me on to the school nursing team, think they cba as she was a month or so before turning 5. She is 5 now

Starlight, how do i go about going for the statement myself? Tia

just apply yourself. there is a model letter in IPSEA's website.

www.ipsea.org.uk/What-you-need-to-know/Common-problems.aspx

just scroll down a bit.

send it, this will get the process formally started.

Do not wait for school to do it. do not consult school about applying yourself. just send it. today :)

good luck.

O.K.

For help with diagnosis you best strategy is to go via GP. Make a list of your concerns and ask for referral to community paediatrician or CAMHS. It varies area by area who is responsible for autism diagnosis.
Any reports from school that document your concerns would help your case but not essential. The only other route is via the school nurse but in my experience GP is better strategy.

GP is also best person to get referral for hearing tests.

For help with education if school are being non-cooperative do as choc says and apply for a statement yourself. They may well refuse at first attempt but it will give the school a kick up the backside to get going with the support and documentation that they should be doing. We also found it stirred the educational psychologist into action.

You do not need a diagnosis to get educational support but it will certainly not harm your case. You may also get some (I can't promise a lot) of support for home.

Thankyou everyone, will definetly get that started.
I tracked down the senco at the school this morning and told her of my annoyance re correspondence etc and she said things are moving she just forgot to get back to me
She said a lady is coming in from the special teaching service today who will be observing my dd and the report will be more evidence to send off. She said they are now gathering evidence from all the proffesionals to start a statements. She also said there will be a meeting with cahlms.

I told her my concerns and i asked outright is it just in my head or do the school know there is something, she said there is definetly something and i'm very right with my concerns. They are looking into asd.

But i somehow fear that the fact the correspondence is so bad i would still be best pressing for my own statement as mentioned down thread.

As for GPs, i'm at an awful surgery, it is hard enough to obtain an appointment and true health hazards are often ignored or belittled so me going there will probably be fruitless but i will give it a shot and see whether i can atleast get her hearing referred quicker.

Thanks for listening and helping because sometimes i feel so alone with this x

Right. This will sound scary but it really isn't.

Send a letter to the SENCO immediately, confirming your conversation, that she had promised but forgotten to inform you if her actions, that she has suggested ASD and end it with a Thank you for getting 'a lady' to come and see your child.

The next paragraph should ask specifically who this lady is and for you to state clearly that whilst you are keen for your childs needs to be identified and supported quickly you do not give consent for her to be seen without your written permission on a case by case basis, and with at least a weeks notice in order for you to make the arrangements necessary should you deem it appropriate. (You have an entitlement by law to be present btw).

Copy this letter into your request for Statutory Assessment. At this stage should you be refused (and your plan here isn't actually to get a statement yet but to get them to pay attention) you can reapply literally the next day if you have additional evidence. You don't have to wait so have nothing to lose.

If YOU apply, you are the lead and remain in control over who sees her and the paperwork, and the dates. If they subsequently refuse you are not faced then with trying to get all the reports to do so as you'll already have them.