Final Statement-No 1:1 and No ABA

[sammythemummy]

That's it really, they haven't changed anything.

My mediator told them that it is illigal to only mention banding and not specify what that would include.

My dd is 4 and doing really well on VB. The LEA have made a typo on her statement which resulted in her being awarded 30 hours of support instead of the 18 hours she was supposed to be getting.

My options are:

Hire inde experts and prove that ABA is working (although now we don't have much in terms of data)

Wait until the annual review when I will have enough evidence (and money) and fight them then.

The problem is that my dd has become quite verbal and "looks" like she is learning at nursery as she will throw correct responses here and there, but she's really really lost.

Didn't finish!

So schools will definitely not appoint someone to work with her one to one. She will be left to her own devices to "expand" her learning and (in their own words) not have a person velcroed to her.

The velcroness or otherwise of a 1:1 is in their training, and a poorly trained 1:1 is not an excuse for he/she to be removed. ABA tutors are trained to time support in a way that maximises successful independence. That is the fundamental quality of their approach. It is also the fastest way to long term independence.

ABA tutors in schools are called 'shadows' because they do not teach the child. The teacher is responsible for that. They melt into the wallpaper and jump in to prevent mistakes and ensure that opportunities for learning are taken and maximised.

Ask them to explain why the think an ABA tutor might be vecroed to your child.

What they mean I expect, is that they don't want the full funded hours velcroed to your child, which is what SHOULD happen. They want to use the funding flexibly,

Actually the Velcro comment was made by the useless autism outreach lady who was invited to meeting by school.

When I asked her what she could do for my child she said they will support school with behaviour strategies.... Yes but what about support for MY child.

What should I do about the statement star?

If I leave it as it is, schools will never allow for her tutor to come in.

Can the LEA write a band number without specifying 1:1

I would rather she got 15 hours of 1:1 than 30 hours no 1:1

I would fight it now because you can take up to the full 2 months to appeal and then be 6 months to getting a tribunal date and you will have enough evidence by 6-8 months time.

I would 100% fight now as otherwise you are giving the LA a year to gather evidence against your dd needing the ABA. The school will probably gush at the amount of 'progress' your dd is making etc.

Ok guys.

Sorry for the dumb question, but what kind of evidence did you have?

Is it just report to show improvements in certain areas?

Right now we have a vb mapp and data recorded from the sessions.

You're absolutely right billie , nursery already tried to claim that

Fight it now. Your evidence is your data. Plus, any independent assessments or even professional opinion that she has made progress. Presumably the EP assessed her when she was undergoing her SA, - if you go to tribunal then you will need to get her or ideally an independent EP to repeat the same assessment just before you go to show that the VB has made an impact. The argument then is whether or not the same impact could have been made without the VB. They will argue that they themselves achieved the progress, at which point you ask them for their data that shows that. Ideally you would have asked in advance so you could show how wooly and meaningless and open to interpretation their 'data' is.

The school will not want your ABA tutor in. Because that ties up funding for one child. Even if the hours were specified in the statement, schools know that there is no way a parent would know that the child wasn't getting those hours, unless it is an ABA programme. So in real terms, it costs them more as they'd have to employ another TA or two for the children they were hoping your child's statement would fund.

Wot star said. But no harm being sweet to the school.

They benefit massively from having a properly trained person in, and the cost to them really isn't very much more than the 'nice lady hovering around aimlessly' model. A good 1-1 won't be velcro'd to your dc- they'll probably be far less 'stuck' to her than a typically-trained LSA would be, as they'll know exactly when to step in, and when to hang back.

If your dd's super-duper ABA 1-1 can incidentally help other dc as well, that's fine. The chances of various other dc on dd's table not absorbing some of the well-taught, well-reinforced, amplified and targeted learning aimed at your dd... must be close to zero.

If the ABA person trains up the other staff (as they usually do) it will help your dd, and of course other dc will benefit too. School would get none of that from a regular LSA, and all they lose is the chance to nick your dd's 1-1 and use them as a 'bouncer' for other dc who are struggling.

I'm still in talks with our local school but the head teacher ( although open to learning more about ABA as he's never heard of it in his 27 years as a head teacher) he has stated that they have 4 other children with SN, 3 of these with severe asd and no statement. My dd will be the only one with a statement so I can see them really hitting the jackpot with this one.

My tutor is fabulous, she has helped other children whilst shadowing my dd in nursery, so she's quite hands on.

Another slightly concerning thing, head teacher kept saying " if I employ this tutor, she will have to do everything I say?"

I'm going to carry on looking at other schools. Can you guys tell me a selling pitch for when I request it? It's a nightmare trying to go past the ever inquisitive school receptionists and then trying to explain it to SENCO's.

If your HT isn't getting top-up funding (via a statement or otherwise) for the 3 dc with severe ASD, then he's probably not striking a hard enough bargain with the LA.

Briefing

He might legitimately not want the expense and responsibility for a new staff member, unless he feels he can rely their obedience to him (when he's giving legitimate instructions, ie on the same terms as other school staff)

Could your nursery manager help to 'sell' the idea?

If you pitched it as 'dd can be very challenging but her current 1-1 is highly experienced, and can also do all the tricky stuff in her statement... can I show you the nursery's report about how the arrangements worked?'

I appreciate all your responses.

meir a I don't know how the nursery manager feels about it but the SENCO and my daughter's key worker thought it worked well for her. Unfortunately she has left the place. The class teacher was one of the"I know everything and we've got it under control" when she wasn't (has never attended any of her IEPs) so I have a feeling she might spout rubbish.

I'll enquire, and I've also been told that it's good to get head teachers that had a positive experience of ABA on board.

The next school to me is rated "outstanding" I know that usually they are awful at catering for sen