Advice needed on seeking statement

[ToffeeWhirl]

Just needed some advice on what I should next…

Ds1 (14) has a history of being unable to attend school because of anxiety (he has Tourettes with co-morbid OCD and anxiety). At secondary, he was put in a small class for children with SNs, but he still couldn’t cope. At the end of his first term, he was unable to leave the house, let alone attend school, because of his anxiety and OCD. I took him out of school to home educate him.

In September, DS1 decided to return to school. CBT and Prozac had worked well together to help him overcome his anxieties and OCD and he wanted to go back. He started at a pupil referral unit, but with some lessons held at school, with the aim that he would return to the special needs’ class at school in due course. However, he is struggling again, so we have agreed that he only attend the PRU for the moment. Even that causes heightened anxiety, but he enjoys the social contact once he is there and still says he wants to return to school eventually. He might be able to stay at the PRU for the next two years, but he will not get the same level of teaching as he receives at school and he will only be able to take English and Maths GCSEs.

My contact at the PRU recently told me that she didn’t think DS1 would be able to cope with taking GCSEs because his concentration is so poor and he lacks focus and can’t stay on track. She said that he was just about coping when he had one-to-one teaching, but he is now learning in a small group and his work is suffering. When he was assessed by an educational psychologist, the report stated that he had good academic potential, but that this is hampered by his poor working memory. I appreciate that he will need special help to get any GCSEs, but he is an intelligent boy and it upsets me to think he could leave school without any qualifications.

We have a meeting with the school soon and I’m going to suggest that I apply for a statement. I expect we’ll be fobbed off, as we have been before, but I’m going to apply for it myself anyway.

My questions are: how important is it to have the school’s support when I apply for a statement? And what support do you think I should reasonably expect in a statement, considering my son’s needs? I have been told that he won’t get one-to-one help, but that seems to me exactly what he needs and I have plenty of evidence to show how well he does when he gets that.

Bumping for the post-dinner crowd .

A lot of people don't get support from the school when applying for a statement so don't let that put you off. It sounds like you have a very good case from your ds' attendance history alone but it will help if you can get your contact to confirm in writing that he can only cope with 1-1 teaching. You will need a lot of longitudinal evidence of his difficulties and the failure to make adequate progress, particularly the fact that the gap between him and his peers is widening. Send in any professional reports, along with evidence from school reports, home school diary etc etc.
There are a few other current threads on statements with advice and some recommendations, take a look at them for more ideas.

It's not really about what you can reasonably expect, its what you can prove that he needs to make progress. First you have to establish his needs, his diagnoses, and other factors like poor working memory. Then you need to establish what he would need to overcome those difficulties and make adequate progress.

Thanks, pop. I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all at the moment. I'll have a look at the other threads.