Just checking - I don't get to see the LA EP report on DD before they decide on statement/NIL do I?

[pannetone]

Just got a bit confused. DD had a paediatric appointment towards SA last week and a copy of the report done after that was sent to me today. My indi EP is recommending specialist placement and of course I want to know if LA EP will be supporting this.

Also Ineed and others - I haven't been given a date when my parental advice towards SA has to be submitted. My letter when they conceded and agreed to do SA just said to send it ASAP. I rang to ask and got told the decision wouldn't be made til mid August - which goes against the mid July date I thought which is 10 weeks from the date they agreed to assess. In actual fact I won't be able to submit my indi SALT report for a couple of weeks (DD being assessed tomorrow - as much as her selective mutism allows...) ,but having got that in I don't want the LA delaying unnecessarily. Are the LA allowed a certain number of weeks to decide after I have got my advice in? The LA just told me to submit all my advice/reports together.

I am also dithering about the need for an indi OT report. When I saw the paediatric registrar last week she said she was referring (and has now) DD to OT, but dd won't apparently get an appt in the SA assessment timeframe. Is this right? It seems a bit odd for the doctor to say she needs to be seen by OT but it won't be part of SA.

Thanks

with my boys I didn't get to see the LA EP report until the actual statement came and it was appendiced to that.

re dates - the date on my letter for my parental advice to be in is mid july like you but that's the 6 weeks point = the LA have 10 weeks so the actual true deadline will be mid august for me - how it then works with it being august and if that delays things im not sure. im having a problem with getting a paed appointment for the assessment as there is such a shortage of paeds around apparently.

just re read your post - yes 10 weeks from date to assess to get reports then 2 weeks to get a proposed statement

The final date for evidence should be 6 weeks after they agree to assess and then they have 4 weeks to make a decision!

I thought they didnt count August and am wondering if the date you were told was a mistake.

We did receive a copy of the EP report and SALT and OT but the EP report didnt arrive until the final evidence date which meant I didnt get to ask for mistakes to be changed!

Well I have emailed the EP and the SEN team to ask for the mistake to be corrected but who knows if it will.

It does seem a shame that your Dd won't have had the OT report but to be honest, nothing surprises me anymore

Good luck

Thanks bjk and Ineed. I've read the 'medical advice' document properly and see that it says that DD's 'complex issues are unlikely to be managed in an ordinary school environment' so that is hopefully some evidence to go with my indi EP's recommendations.

I will ring the LA again re the date for the decision on a statement - I don't want a decision that should be made in July, becoming an August decision that then has to wait til Sep because of the school holiday!

I did get a copy of the EP report shortly after she saw ds and I thought you can request their report prior to receiving the proposed statement if you haven't had it?

Pannetone the same happened to us re OT, was told ds would need OT and referred before I requested SA and still didn't make it into the the evidence

im seeing the EP next week so I will ask then if I can have a copy of the report before then - whether I will get it I don't know as it seems to be the practice here you wont get it until proposed issued . If they don't count august then im going to roll over to sept - annoying because they've held thinks back a couple of weeks after they got the tribunal decision conveniently it now seems to take it into august.

im going to send in my indie reports again - mine is going to be delayed as ive not yet even got an appointment for the medical advice to be done as they have a backlog and shes on a waiting list for an appointment which is likely to be the end of blooming july

We did and actually had the opportunity to suggest amendments - most of which were put in. This is what happened with a neighbour's child too. Mind you given the non-cooperation of ds2 most of it was based on what we said anyway. She did tell us she was not allowed to specify special or mainstream. The support she suggested e.g. small class sizes, teachers with experience of social communication difficulties did suggest special but the LA thought otherwise!

NHS paediatric OT tend to operate on their own paediatric timescale that the paed will have very little control over.

paediatric timescale?

Geological.

I'd ask to see the LA EP report before it gets attached to the statement - because while you can't question their professional opinion, you can ask for factual errors to be corrected. If you get the final report after its been circulated to the world and his wife, while you may ask for errors to be amended, first impressions count - and the original report will sit in files for years!

You don't want factual inaccuracies about your child and family to make their way into the statement! I always ask professionals for a draft of their report, before its finalised for that very reason.

Our EP phoned me and read her report to me, then posted me a copy. I was asked if I agreed with it and we discussed amendments, which she made before sending her final report to the SEN team. I don't know if there's any ruling about access to EP reports prior to the statement being issued, it may just be down to individual practice.

I agree with tempe about the factual inaccuracies. I let some sit in a report as I thought I would correct them at the next appointment a couple of weeks later (paeds). In the meantime the SALT writing the language unit application saw it and as she hadn't met my ds before lent heavily on the inaccurate report. My attempts to correct it then didn't shift her first impression.

I now always ask for a copy of reports. Actually, I was astonished that not only do we not always get the reports, they are also often reluctant to give them when we ask!

Thanks all.

I had an email back from the SEN dept - I won't get to see the LA EP report (or any other advice obtained by the LA) until I get the proposed statement/NIL. So in time for an appeal if need be! (At which stage I will have to deal with any factual errors.)

I asked the case worker to clarify about the date for a decision - she said that they were waiting for the LA EP report still (which is good because I think that means the LA EP will have spoken to my indi EP before writing his report - as he said he wanted to - and I am hoping he will agree with our indi). They are also waiting for the indi SALT report I have told them I am getting, then I am assured a decision will be made without delay....