Who else has had a refusal to assess recently?

[bjkmummy]

I know there are quite a few of us now so would be good to see who else has, what stage you are at etc so we can hand hold together through the process.

I got my refusal last Thursday and put the appeal in the same day so now am waiting ..... My EP can't see her until may due to the 6 months between tests rule so hoping my tribunal is actually as late as possible and ideally mid June which it may well be but have heard others getting dates more quickly which is a worry. Also intend to get her seen by an OT re possible dyspraxia . My appeal this time is re dyslexia so going to be very very hard and I have a feeling those few cases that make it to tribunal tend to be the dyslexic cases but we shall see

My LA clearly don't like me as I didn't even get the offer to meet with them to discuss it :-)

ive just registered my appeal cardboard - i have the advantage that ive been through it before so know whats coming hence why i can move more quickly - i already have my expets booked, researched my law etc and have my letters to get further information ready to go. if its you first appeal to sendist it can be overwhelming. i knew i had a no coming so had already done my ground work. my LA no matter what evidence i now put forward will not back down on the principle so i know im in for a long fight so will get my evidence together slowly

'Or do you just register your intention to appeal with the form and then starting preparing more material/evidence etc?'

Yes, but if you are only appealing refusal to assess, you don't need reams of evidence because, well, not having it is WHY you are asking for an assessment. If you HAD loads of evidence you wouldn't NEED an assessment.

But people turn it around on the day because they know that what they sent in in the first place was enough and the LA only refused because they do so as a matter of course without even reading the stuff.

They'll read it a week before the tribunal date and then probably agree to assess.

Thanks bjk. So by registering your appeal you get a tribunal date, and then in the meantime you submit more info when you gather it together?

yes. But you only have to prove your child is 'complex' and that they 'probably' will need a statement to access an adequate education, and that they need to therefore be assessed to find out what that adequate education will look like.

You don't start making a case for what they need yet, only that their needs must be assessed.

Thanks star. I feel I have more to add though, so want to give it a bit more time. But sounds like I need to register the appeal asap. I was delaying til I'd written a more detailed account if DS's difficulties but will get onto it.

Cross posted. Thanks star.

Apparently the tribunal service is listing cases for about 3 rather than 5 months - I've forgotten why - DH works for the courts service

ive heard keep that the panels are sitting with a judge and one panel member hence why they are getting quicker listings.

this is my headache - spoke to ipsea and they were surprised at this stage that I was getting an OT and EP report done. they felt the evidence I have is good already - I was going get OT as I feel she has dyspraxia and this was mentioned in my request as we are awaiting a NHS OT appoinintment - LA say if she does have dyspraxia let school know and they can write it in her IEP. lots of her levels are on 2nd centile - working memory is 4th centile so anything shes learnt shes forget - plus have it in writing from class teacher everything she has learnt she has forgotten - however she has gone up by one sublevel so LA saying that's adequate progress so was going to get an EP report to show via standardised assessments that she hasn't really made any progress but would I be doing too much? the EP cant see her until May so have time plus I have the evidence of her dyslexia teacher as well

Find out if you lose the tribunal, when you can reapply. I 'think' it is straight away but check.

I'm at the next appeal stage. My appeal was lodged right before Christmas and hearing is in May.

I didn't get OT and EP until I was appealing 2, 3 and 4 and was arguing about suitability of placement.

This appeal is different as it is about why the LA should assess - ie their own assessment criteria of progress. You may find that OT and EP cannot provide the sort of evidence that you need at this stage. Particularly if the reports recommend interventions that have not already been tried but can be provided pre-statutory without any need to assess further. In my LA 13.5 hours support can be provided by the school and this can be topped up by the LA by another 13.5 hours without the 'need' for a statement. This makes it so much harder to argue that the school is doing all it can. You now have to show that despite 25+ hours support a week, DD is not making progress.

One of the reasons given for refusal for DS2 is that he had already been assessed by SALT, OT and EP - ie had already had 'full' assessment but needs can be met without a statement.

I wonder if its just certain areas where they are fast tracking them as im hearing a mixture of quick appeals and then those getting dates at the 'normal' timeline - going off to have a google to see if I can find out any information

I'm anticipating a refusal to assess too, and was wondering whether I need professional reports for that appeal or only if we progress to refusal to issue a statement. I am about to send all the existing evidence in to support the application.

The reports cost a lot of money and I want to make sure I get this right. I've been talking to various professionals but haven't confirmed any appointments yet. How do I know if I've got a good case in the first place, phone IPSEA? I've been looking through their refusal to assess pages.

ime with DS1 the refusal will say why DC don't meet the criteria. tbh if they bothered to read the application and supporting evidence they would see that the DC did meet the criteria. But they love to delay so they may say that they want to measure progress using a different tool or during certain circumstances.

If DC meet the LAs own criteria, the LA will refuse in order to delay, but they won't go to tribunal where they would have to provide evidence that DC didn't meet the criteria. DS1 draft statement was for 10 hours and his final was for 15 hours. Because he met the criteria it was irrelevant, at that stage, that in financial terms the statement would not come with any funding as the school had not exhausted provision they were able to make from the delegated budget iyswim.

So it might be that you 'win' tribunal and reports persuade the judge to order that the LA assess, but that assessment results in a NIL if the school can do more or can apply for top-up funding. If that is true then only DC with full-time support, or in a unit, or ss will be made statutory (Statement/EHCP). I don't know. Just speculation.

I suspect that if DC have an ASD diagnosis, refusal to assess/statement where there was evidence that the DC could not access the curriculum as a consequence of social communication difficulties that resulted from a disability, would constitute discrimination and would not be making reasonable adjustment. I doubt any LA would want to try that argument out in front of a judge. More speculation.

Anyone wondering what happens at an appeal: if you type in 'special needs tribunal' into YouTube, you'll find several videos by the Ministry of Justice explaining who's who at tribunal and what you can expect to happen there. Hopefully, this will make it less nervewracking.

The 'Who's who' bit is .

keep I so hope you are right about Asd kids needing assessing. I mean it is madness to think that they wouldnt.

That map of medicine says that they should be assessed.

The EP who assessed Dd3 said she is complex, we know she is complex and school agree she is complex, but still the refusal.

Tbf, the LA have refused to look at the EP report because they say it arrived too late to be taken into account. But I still feel that they will cave or be told to assess by the tribunal.

I really dont want to give up without at least a bit of a fight!!

We got refusal to assess last Thur and appeal went in today for DS1.

Tribunal for provision for DS2 is end March. There was a question something like: Do you want both cases heard on the same day? Will they hurry DS1 case or delay DS2 so that they can be both heard at the same time?

a friend had both of her tribunals heard at the same time as they were twins. think it would be difficult in practical terms for 2 children who have different needs, different type of tribunal, different witness to be heard on the same day

I did but we never made it to tribunal. I had a dramatic u turn from 'you better have a good solicitor' to them not even following procedure all within a few weeks.

I have had some good advice - which i will use in the next step.

Your not alone, I'm sure they refuse 99% as principle alone!

I am thinking aloud, here....

The assessment phase is only triggered if the LA concludes that initial gathering of evidence shows that a child 'probably'needs a statement.

They conclude a child 'probably'needs a statement if they the needs appear to be complex/severe and are likely to last for the majority of the child's school career.

At any rate, if they think a child will need specialist provision, they must make a statement.

Would the argument that unless a Statement is put in place to carefully manage the child's SEN, the likelihood of specialist education being necessary will rise exponentially?

I'm wondering if at some stage this may be the way DD2 heads. 8 weeks in dragonflies isn't going to disappear her anxiety, and it seems that it only runs once per year

I a emailed parent partnership last week to ask for the criteria the LA use for statementing and I've had no response yet because there is no criteria. We have a lone sen officer who just does what she wants and makes some truly awful decisions. I'm not even convinced my case went to 'panel' it seems that once I complained that the 6 week deadline had expired that a letter was cobbled together ASAP as I copied in my councillor. I have been reading some old threads and have seen responses that some have wrote the LA. I'm planning later this week to email them and ask for the notes from panel and for the criteria they used. My LA have nothing on the website re dyslexia at all, we have no dyslexia teachers, its as though it doesn't exsist here at all. In my refusal letter they completely disregarded the EP report showing how under performing she is.

lougle That was the exact point I made at our LA meeting. I asked if Dd3 doesnt cope in ms and requirez specialist provision (of which there is none in my LA) And she does have a statement, where will the LA put her?? The answer from the rep was "I dont know!!"

I made it very clear to them that if Dd3 doesnt cope at this Ms secondary I will not be placing her in another massive ms secondary to fail again. I will request specialist.

So do you think they are just holding out on me to see if I will go away ?? I hope so.

Our LA does have a published set of criteria, but how legal it is I'm not sure. It's not easy to find them though, my SENCO gave me a copy, but have never been able to find it on the LA website.

The ones I have seen also have questions marks about their legality but then at least you know what you are fighting against. My LA says she doesn't meet the 'criteria' but I have no idea what the criteria is so have no idea what I'm fighting against. I think my case is pretty hopeless as its dyslexia -I kinda feel that if they don't agree to assess pre tribunal that my chances of winning at tribunal are not good but I have to do something and hope that they do agree to assess. Then when it does all fall apart at secondary - which it will I will leave it to the school to sort out although I'm also beginning to realise that i will be paying for specialist teaching for a long time.

The only criteria Local Authorities can have legally, is the criteria published in the SEN COP.