Statementing question

[xenzani]

Further to my thread about my dd being excluded and a couple of people mentioning statements, I thought I would bring it up with the school.

They said our LA (Essex) don't give them out much, and when they do, they don't if the child is not behind academically, which she isn't. She is very able, but challenging work causes her to lose confidence, which in turn is a trigger. (she has emotional/violent outbursts which differ in severity and can be caused by one thing or a bunch of things)

How likely is it to get a statement with no diagnosis? I know I will have to fight. The school want her assessed for ASD as they believe she is showing some traits. She was seen by a peadiatrician in January, and should be reviewed again next January.

She is on a 'last chance' in that if she hurts anyone again, they won't hesitate to permanently exclude her.

It's all a big nightmare.

We were also told this (but different LEA) but got statements at first attempt solely on the grounds of challenging behaviour and social problems. My boys are above average academically. Get your application in today! When I applied for the statements we hadn't got a diagnosis although had been told by several professionals HFA was likely but it came whilst SA was taking place. The statement is given for educational need not diagnosis so there is no need to wait for this.

zenzani

I am in Essex and got the statement but not without a fight on our part.

DO not listen to any naysayers like this school who seem to sanction blanket policy as well. Blanket policy is illegal and LEAs know that as well as the law.

I would also contact IPSEA asap re the current situation re the threat of permanent exclusion. Use their website www.ipsea.org.uk and access their information on both statementing and also the issue of exclusion.

The only criteria for a statement is need of one; if your DD is having emotional outbursts caused by a variety of triggers this will certainly impact on her ability to learn and retain information.

Get your application in today, you are your child's best - and only - advocate here. You do not need a diagnosis to apply for a statement nor anyone's permission to do so.

I am also in Essex and have got a statement with relative ease, and my DS is not behind academically or has any learning difficulties. He has a dx of ASD but the statement process was going ahead fine without it just because he was so completely out of his depth at school and they found it impossible to manage him.

I have heard that you are more likely to get a statutory assessment if you request one yourself (we did) and by that time we had an unbelieveable amount of people involved. All their evidence was overwhelming.

A very good thing to get is an advocate. Not sure what part of Essex you're in, but look into Families in Focus, they provided us with an advocate who helped us fill in all the forms. She knew the language to make the LA take notice and helped us with the proposed statement and getting DLA too. She also came to every meeting at school with us and didn't let school slip anything past us that was dodgy.

It gave me confidence to stand up to school when I didn't think they were managing DS properly either, although this backfired badly for me as they responded by essentially kicking him out of school at the age of 5!