How much did inde EP and SALT report cost you?

[sammythemummy]

It looks like we may have to go to tribunal for ABA as the LA just won't put it in statement.

For now they've agreed to pay for a tutor for half the term for our home programme as we don't have any schools that would take my tutors. :(

I don't know whose worse, LA or schools

Sigh

the costs can vary depending on the expertise of the professional, distance they have to travel etc - I have had an EP report for £800 and a SALT report for nearly £1700!

I would say you are looking about a £1000 per report but ive never had reports done for ABA - I know others on here have so im sure there will be others along shortly who have and will be able to advise on their costs

I don't know your background but as a rough idea I can tell you what we paid.

We couldn't see an EP locally privately which I find really annoying so we paid to see a child psychologist (we had no idea what was actually wrong at this point so we had a dyslexia screening test and a full WISC IQ test and then a very long report was produced. I had a meeting with the psychologist on my own for 1.5hrs, then DD saw her 4 times if I remember right. overall it cost us £765.

SALT - we saw one privately, we paid £150 for the initial assessment and she included the report (the place said a report was £50) and then DD had to have further tests and therapy which was £40 for 30mins.

we are in the South West so if you are South East it will no doubt cost more.

Mine were the other way around to bjk's - approx £1,700 for EP, then £800 each for OT and SALT. My EP was so expensive because she's a leading expert on dyslexia and that is my DS's primary need. She was worth every penny because the Tribunal really took note of her report and because she is such an expert, there was very little the LA could counter-argue.

I think it varies according to the expert's expertise and professional standing, and also where you are in the country.

Also, rightly or wrongly, it does seem that experts used for Tribunals are far more expensive then experts who give DC the actual therapy. I suppose you are paying more because these experts are used to writing Tribunal reports in a certain way. Although, having seen two fantastic totally spot on reports my DS's therapists wrote for AR, I really don't see why tribunal experts charge so much.

Have to say that previous salt reports I've paid £150 - depends on what you need and like towie says if you need an expert.

I used a £150 salt report for my refusal to assess and that report was more than good enough for that situation. The panel looked closely at the report as she was significantly delayed. Following that and due to other reason I've paid £1700 for a much more detailed salt report and also for the expertise of the writer as she is an expert on girls which is what I needed.

If I end up at tribunal again (which is highly likely) then I will probably use the EP that towie used so I'm at the moment busy saving for that as well.

I would try and use someone that other parents have used so you know what you are getting. I've seen parents pay for some dire reports in the past and the reports were not what the parents needed/expected. Reports that may be used in a tribunal do tend to seem to be more expensive but think that because of how they are written and they are very thorough.

OT reports I paid £650

sorry I didn't realise there was a difference in reports that could be used at tribunal and in general. mine were just general ones for medical professionals/school/us etc.

Oh God, we're already crippled because of the ABA costs, I've no idea where we're going to get £2k from!

Once you've had all your reports did you need input from lawyers or were your reports enough to win your case?

I personally didn't use lawyers simply cos I couldn't afford it due to the cost of the reports and I've won two tribunals now - in one the LA did have a barrister. The quality of my reports and witnesses definately helped. The best advice I've had has been from here on mumsnet and in my latest battle I've used experts that were recommended on here and had been used by other parents. Maybe have a search for some old ABA posts and see if any names that have been recommended in the past come up

I only learnt about this board a couple of months before my 2nd Tribunal hearing. In the meantime, I'd spent thousands upon thousands of pounds in legal fees. If I'd known about Mumsnet and the wealth of knowledge on here, I probably wouldn't have used lawyers at all. But I still would have taken a barrister with me to the hearing as my LA played very very dirty (and illegally) and I wanted (and got) an expensive indie placement.

So you don't always need lawyers - there's enough advice on here and also from IPSEA. But you might need an advocat or barrister if it looks as though it's going to get nasty at a hearing - particularly for appeals against part 2, 3, and 4 of a Statement and/or if you want an expensive placement/provision.

hi nonickname, for tribunal purposes you can submit and draw on any report that provides evidence of your child's needs. The difference is usually that the reports 'to be drawn on in tribunal' are optimised for their purpose - they put together by people who are very experienced, not just professionally expert (EP / SALT / OT etc), but also very well-versed in preparing and presenting written and oral evidence for tribunal purposes. In some cases, these people are recognised leaders in their fields, and their professional reputations alone can sometimes make an important difference in the minds of a panel.

Would you be crazy to go into battle with your LA without people like this at your side? I don't honestly know - so much of the statementing and tribunal process is a lottery. For DS1, we spent £600 on specialist teacher & SALT reports, and a further £900 in witness fees for the author of the SALT report (a recognised leading national expert in the narrow field in question). Plus extra on advocacy. We lost the tribunal, handsomely, despite having a decent case.

For DS2, we spent £400 on SALT & specialist teacher reports, and relied on everything we'd learned from the first time round, and extra vital nuggets I'd learned on here. We fought for nine months, but ultimately got everything DS2 needed without going to tribunal.

TOWIE could you possibly PM me the name of your EP who specialises in dyslexia? I may possibly have another tribunal hearing next year for an indie placement and will need an experienced EP.

Billie jean - I have emailed them myself today and fully booked up into feb/ march :-( hopefully you need them after that but you need to book that far in advance. Finally have managed to book the 3rd one I tried which towie helped me with