Who's children are starting school in September? Shall we all start hand holding for each other?

[autumnsmum]

Hi autumns mum here as I mentioned in sn chat dd2 will be starting in reception in her sp sch in September .i wondered who else has a little one starting then ?

LemonGoby it really depends on where you are, I am in essex and it infamous here for statements... Hopefully you'll be luckier!

Strike up my dd has autism and is verbal but we opted for an autism class in sp sch because she is very anxious and equally very self directed .we looked at units within mainstream schools but felt in many ways she wouldn't have managed the mainstream clSs

Ds isn't autistic, although he has a lot of social communication and sensory difficulties. He is completely non verbal though, and relies entirely on signing, and will hopefully be taught to use a communication device via iPad. He is only really interested in adults, and only then when they spend every second of their time trying to entertain him, or engage him in the things he is interested in (fire engines, helicopters and pirates!)

He definitely needs to be in a special school/unit. The one he is is (hopefully) going to, encourages them to spend time in MS with a 1-1 for a proportion of their time, but some children there spend 90% of their time in the unit.

If he didn't get a place or doesn't get a statement, then I will home ed, rather than go MS.

Here everyone is told that it is 26 weeks from initial request to statement given. Ds's early years worker, is hoping his will be quicker because he has a My Plan in place, and he is supposed to be an example of how much quicker and smoother the new system will be.

Strikeup, you may want to start a thread in SN children - I know of several posters whose children have started in MS and ended up moving to special school,it may be worth getting their opinions.

My dd is has ds and is starting in september. We have a statement and are waiting for school to be named on the statement. She is going to mainstream which has a deaf unit. Although won't be in the unit she will have 1:1, she has moderate hearing loss and wears a hearing aid.

School has lots of experience of sn and inclusion, but I would consider ss if I felt she was struggling. We have several ss in the area which are supposed to be very good.

Took us 9months to get statement. Dd one of the youngest to get one at 2+yrs.

Thanks hazeyjane and yes, good idea.
Glad DD is not the only one still in the middle of the statementing process.
Will be following everyone's progress with interest!

Welcome quirky lovely to have you here

I'm so worried about bullying.

I've never experienced any form of bullying throughout my school years so I don't even know how I would deal with it if it came down to that, other than wanting to slap the bullies

Sammy I'm totally with you it's one of the reasons we picked sp sch was I was so scared of dd2 being picked on and not telling us .i know if people opt for mainstream it's important to have proper supervision for break times and lunch times

I am also prepared to home ed if I don't get the SS - altough ds now talks, he has severe food aversion, can't dress himself and is a runner - I just don't see him in MS now at all.

With regards to MN and SS: I think it depends on the area. I want SS for moderate LD, it is extremely oversubsribed and my best shot is to get ds into Reception there, because later years are even more difficult - when kids can't cope and need to change from MS to SS... So in my area it's easier to switch from SS to MS.

If there was good MS with small classes, I might try it; but ds would never cope in a class with 30 kids and 20 hours 1-1 excluding lunchtime ( proposed statement..).

In my daughter's class in MS ( year 2) there is a girl with GDD and altough the kids are nice to her, she just can't keep up with the social demands - I have invited her to my dd bday party and her mum was almost crying, it was her fitst ever invitation :(

My ds was in mainstream and one of the children used to tell me what happened at break times, he did have a 1:1 but she wasn't so good at sharing. I didn't ask the child ever, he would just share break time stories when playing outside of school. I worried that in a special setting this would not happen and as parents we would be dependent on the staff completely and this is one of the reasons I didn't choose a SS.

Tbh I don't think any of the children in dd2s class would wAnt to bully also they have so many staff they are very closely supervised

Hi everyone can I join too? My ds is 4 and has no specific diagnosis other than epilepsy at present, he has asd traits, sensory processing issues and developmental delays. He is starting in sept 2014 and i am just waiting for my final decision as to whether to assess for statment. I requested at beginning of December after being left hanging with everyone waiting for an Ep to assess and then when she did she said ds clearly wouldn't cope in mainstream but suggested he go to an assessment unit without a statment! So I applied myself later than I would have liked.

Really nice to hear about people all going through the same thing. I have found this hugely stressful already I've been very worried about ds starting school he seems so vulnerable.

Also he is currently in preschool attached to primary school and has full time one to one but he struggles so much with the environment that this really only just about enables him to be there . I currently really hope he will get a place at my local sp sch which I absolutely loved when I visited.

Lemon - If the needs arent too obvious it can take longer

Skimming I hope so much you get ss dd2s school has many children with epilepsy and they have qualified nurses o site

Another one here with a DS starting in September. He has ASD and is non-verbal. We were refused SA in October but were asked to resubmit and his case goes before panel this week.

We want DS to go to a SS in our area which is just for hfa - it's an academy for 4-16 yr olds and he needs a statement to go there. They have sensory rooms, lots of TA support and everything is on a purpose built site.

Good luck everybody in the middle of the statementing process.

Jj that's dreadful that you were refused sa with a non verbal child that's apalling

Thanks autumn so do I hope he gets to go there too. It is shocking the children they refuse SA for!

Salondon, I find it hard to judge how obvious her needs are. We have lots of markers for asd (scripted phrases and scripted topics of conversation, bags of echolalia, head waggling and hand flapping, obsessive interests, strong desire for certain rituals, distress/anxiety in crowds and noise, and of course her total aversion to direct interaction with her peers), but I don't know how much of this will be considered as signifying the need for a statement. All the apo

Salondon, I find it hard to judge how obvious her needs are. We have lots of markers for asd (scripted phrases and scripted topics of conversation, bags of echolalia, head waggling and hand flapping, obsessive interests, strong desire for certain rituals, distress/anxiety at crowds and noise, and of course her seeming total aversion to direct interaction with her peers), but I don't know how much of this will be considered as signifying the need for a statement. All the 1:1 appointments/assessments she has had couldn't identify anything worrying, as in small settings, with adults, she seems alright (responsive, communicative, good understanding and expression etc.). It is only the SALT's observation of her at nursery (and nursery's own observations) that have finally affirmed my gut feeling that something must be amiss. Nursery have sent a report to the CDC which highlights her refusal to engage with peers, her distractibility and her zoning out/unresponsiveness, as well as the fact that she seems not to choose (or be able) to pursue activities independently without being handheld by a member of staff. Will a report such as this allow us to be considered for a statement, do you think? Or are these sorts of issues not considered enough? Sorry for the deluge of info about my DD, and the questions - I am just feeling very alone with all of this at present and haven't really got a clue as to what I should be doing/expecting. Thanks for reading!

Oops, sorry for half post above, slip of finger!

Hi, another one here with a ds starting in sept. He has cp and is physically disabled. His proposed statement is going to the panel this week. We were assessed at the outset and as babiki said I am sure that the fact it's physical and with a diagnosis made it easier, although the fact he needs medical hours is complicating and the fact we want an independent school where we pay the fees and they pay the 1-1 also doesn't help. Oh well....we'll see what happens next soon enough

Lemon I would start a thread on the sn children board about statementing because there are people on there who know an enormous amount about it