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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Educational psychologists

11 replies

thriftychic · 07/11/2013 09:50

ds2 has never seen an EP. He is having the additional needs service come in to school to assess but i am thinking they are a different thing altogether ?
he was diagnosed with AS last year.
At school i have been consistently told that he can do the work he just lacks focus and motivation. I am beginning to wonder if actually he cant understand the work. I dont trust schools anymore.
who decides an EP is needed ?
should there have been one go to school ? should i pay for one privately ?
all a bit late in the day as ds2 is now 14 !

sorry for all the questions but i find it all a minefield , all these people with all these roles

OP posts:

lottieandmia · 07/11/2013 10:36

I assume he is in a mainstream school? Has the school ever suggested that he needs a Statement? If you feel that he needs extra support but the school is less supportive in that respect then you can ask the Local Authority to do a Statutory Assessment of needs which is the process that ends with a child having a statement, with provision detailed in the statement. If the LEA refuses to conduct a SA then you have the right of appeal to tribunal.

During the SA process an Educational Psychologist who works for the LEA will do an assessment of the child which will form the basis of the evidence of what the child's needs are. It can certainly help to have a report by an independent Ed Psych though because ime, you usually get a much more detailed report and if the LEA refuse to assess then you can use it as evidence in support of what you are asking for.

claw2 · 07/11/2013 11:02

Ask school what the additional needs service is, what they provide, what they do and where they are based. Google them too.

School can request EP assessment (so can parents) although better to do it through school if poss. Tell school you want an EP assessment.

Private EP assessments are expensive.

Original poster

thriftychic · 07/11/2013 12:33

ok thanks for that :)

OP posts:

claw2 · 07/11/2013 12:38

What happened about the whole exclusion thing in the end? (sorry if I missed the outcome and you are repeating!)

lottieandmia · 07/11/2013 12:43

It is better to do it through school but if the school request it and the LEA say no, the school has no right of appeal unlike a parent.

claw2 · 07/11/2013 12:59

Sorry I meant school can request EP assessment without it being part of SA process. (just in case ive caused confusion!)

You also can appeal as a parent, if school make the request and get refused. Although its often quicker and more efficient if you make the request yourself.

claw2 · 07/11/2013 13:13

You can appeal the request for SA, that should read! (not EP assessment!)

Original poster

thriftychic · 07/11/2013 16:40

the only compromise school would make with the exclusion was to let him do it in another room , i went in to school with ds to supposedly discuss things and let him voice his views , which camhs and school cooked up but was in fact crap because they wouldnt even listen to ds2 .
for a while ds2 was still refusing . eventually , and i am sorry i did it but i let him think that i was going to be in serious trouble if he didnt do it one day he almost went and then the next day he actually managed it . i told him he could take his phone , ipod , sweets , fishing magazines i said that if they dared try to stop him having them he was to text me on the quiet and i would be there in 10 minutes . as it happened they didnt , i think because he was on his own in a room with some other ( more agreeable) teacher looking in on him every now and then.
im sure school were giving themselves a huge pat on the back that they had made him do it but i am still at what we had to go through .

OP posts:

Original poster

thriftychic · 07/11/2013 16:43

and of course hes well behind with all his work now !

OP posts:

claw2 · 07/11/2013 16:48

Oh well don't beat yourself up about it, its done and dusted. The fact they are calling on the services of the additional needs team might be a step in the right direction?

CAMHS are a pile of shit too. I have fought for 4 years to get ds's needs met and a statement. Now after I asked them for some support due to his self harm and poo smearing etc apparently they feel ds needs less support as this could make him feel 'different' and he should be treated the same as other kids. Tossers! Oh yea your typical 9 year old self harms and smears shit when distressed.

Flappingandflying · 07/11/2013 17:40

Camhs vary from area to area.. Mostly they are rubbish. I'm still waiting, as a professional, for a report for a child. they were assessed in year 6 and they are now in year 9! I have them down as ASD but with no evidence and parents won't tell te child and didn't think to tell us, the school, the dignosis until last year. Hey ho. I've phoned cahms so many times that I've given up now. I know it's a mild case but even so. Go private if you can.

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