What sorcery is this?

[StarlightMcKingsThree]

I just got this in my inbox from a group I used to belong to:

'We have learned from Commissioners in Hertfordshire that they are now going to treat Autism and Asperger’s separately from both mental health and learning disabilities. They are in the process of drafting a bespoke Market Position Statement and Strategy for Autism and Asperger’s, after taking on board all the feedback they have heard from carers over the last few years.'

So are children on the spectrum now not allowed to have mental health issues or learning disabilities? What happens if they fall into two camps? Or three?

That's even better than our council's vision which states that it's best that children don't go to special schools because they rarely go back into mainstream from one.

WTF are they doing a 'Market Position Statement' for anyway?

That is weird. With my cynic's hat on, I can only assume it's some way of reducing provision.

It's just PR isn't it? In the wake of the HARC survey findings? Does it actually mean anything?

Yes. Of course. Drafting a bespoke Market Position keeps people in jobs and gives an illusion of doing something.

The reality is it will be just another piece of paper lodged somewhere to imply to their colleagues that provision exists where it doesn't.

Hmm. Though Herts never contracts anything out.

PR.

Waste of money.

NAS did a survey of LAs a few years back to see how many had Autism Strategies.

As your email said 'commissionars' are they raling about Health Care Commissioners i.e. NHS, rather then LA?

Cos until about a decade about in the NHS ASD was grouped with learning disabilities because that's where the social training stuff was provided.
Then some fuckwit decided to separate ASD from learning disabilities and stick it with mental health services. Dickheads.

Are we now going to have yet another shake-up.

Let's all play - which part of the Venn diagram do you occupy?

That sounds like a good SEN party game:

I'll add it to my list. So far I have, Guess Who, Balderdash, Monopoly, Pass the buck, Round and Round the Meeting and Cheat.

I hope it's not a way of putting one group of children outside of the SEN population so they don't meet a criteria for the new plans?

There's also 'Heel-dragging' - taking the longest time to cover the shortest distance.

'Not me Guv' = guess who within the system can actually assist you

Sardines = 'How many LA employees can we fit into a Tribunal room - extra points for fitting in really expensive LA lawyers / SALTS / EPs

Pin the School on the Statement - selection of labels bearing the names of schools that the blindfolded player has to fix to Part 4 of the Statement

Mime - cos they don't listen / can't hear you

Risk - your big guns arranged against the LAs in struggle for world domination suitable placement

Twister - need I say more? All LA staff are expert at this game.

BackStabbon

Flip (where SENCOs change sides at the last minute)

Pop-up pirate (where supportive regular therapist goes unnamed on tribunal witness list to be confirmed the day before).

Don't Say It (Statement written to convincingly imply provision without actually naming it)

Chinese Whispers - what you said to the class teacher after it's been repeated 20 times upwards to the LA

ClueDon't - just about sums up the level of competence of the LA

Poker - the stakes for both sides are high

Hide and Seek - trying to contact an LA Case Officer

Things are afoot in the NHS in these parts. CAMHS don't do ASD anymore and comm paed now have a neurology clinic which allegedly has an SI OT

From NHS pov ASD is lifelong medical condition (high needs statement becomes EHCP)

Learning difficulties and mental health conditions don't as easily translate into a statement. It might be that it is these groups that is being parcelled out.

LAs will focus on 'progress' up to tribunal but an ASD diagnosis is a deal changer.

I thought Asperger's wasn't going to exist as a separate diagnosis any more, and that we were going the same way as the USA who are sticking it all under ASD.

At least that's what someone from the AAS said to a roomful of Hertfordshire parents a couple of weeks ago.

Ah yes. Packaging up the more easily identified as 'health' thingies. Make more sense.

I think you've got more chance of children with ASCs being classified as medical and therefore removed from EHCP equation altogether (medical not educational help needed).

The definition of SEN has not changed in the CFB. So, there will still be an overriding need to prove that any condition (medical or not) affects learning. I don't see how an ASC diagnosis is a deal changer.

Our LA's baseline guidance on ASC is that children can be supported within mainstream schools without any help at all.

Three - there's no plans to take Aspergers out of ICD-11

IE - under the old statementing system DC with ASD but no obvious SEN or issues with progress would be statemented.

Under the new system all DC will need to have both medical needs and SEN. Thus you reduce the number of DC on SEN register (and abolish SA and SA+ just to be sure) from 20% to 2% and so EHCP can 'care' for longer but for fewer and so within the same budget

An ASD diagnosis used to be or still is a deal changer where DC cannot access the services without a statement.