Can someone help with EHCP please.

[shoeshinegirl]

I'm trying to decide if I should push for EHCP for DS.
I have a copy of the latest Learning Support Assessment. Can I send it to someone, that understands them to have a read please.
Then could they tell me what they think about it.
I know it's a lot to ask but I would be so grateful.
TIA

Hi shoe. There are plenty of posters on here that can help. The things to consider when thinking of applying are:
are the school meeting needs?
is your ds making progress - academically, socially etc?
does your ds have sen?
are the sen complex?
I would always advise that if you are concerned speak to ipsea they are fantastic!

Thanks billie
This has been going on for so long now, I think I'm losing faith in myself. DS is in year 5 now and SENCO first applied for a statement in year 2. It seems to have been going backwards and forwards since then.
DS was given a NIL in year 4, but has made very little progress.
Come November I have got to apply for High School, and I really can't see how DS will cope with mainstream school.

If school have put the support in place as per the nil and he's still not naking progress then that's a good indication that he needs an ehcp. School have to show that they have exhausted all support available for an echp so have they tried everything?
Are there any professionals involved such as ep or ot and if so what are they saying?
You can apply by yourself but it would be easier for you if school and professionals back you up.

If you have a diagnosis of ASD you can get a trained volunteer to help you through the process 0808 800 4102
Otherwise IPSEA has the same model but for all learning needs.

With High School coming up, you are right to push for all you are worth.

EP have assessed DS and made recommendations. SALT are also involved.
They all agree that DS needs lots of support. But it seems like it's left up to the school to decide if they can support DS.
To be honest the school have been good, but I don't think they want me to push for EHCP. Which is why I'm unsure what to do.
Do I leave DS with just an NIL? Then realise this isn't enough for him in year 6. By which time it will be to late to get an EHCP before high school. So I will have to apply for a mainstream high school.
This is why I wanted someone to have a look at DS last Learning Support review, and let me know what they think.

If he's not getting the support he needs then you have no option but to go for an ehcp. At least if he has an ehcp then the support is bound by law whereas right now you are relying on school to do the right thing.

Thank you everyone
Silly question but how do I decide DS isn't getting the support he needs?
School keep saying he is making very small steps in progress. But I don't think it's enough. DS is 9.7 and has been assessed has a 6.5 year old. To me that is far enough behind his peers. But school thinks the LA will say he isn't far enough behind.

What do you feel he needs that he isn't getting now? Is he getting everything that is in the NIL and that the EP and SALT have recommended?
What extra support do you feel would help him access education and achieve the best possible outcomes?
There isn't anything in SEN law that states that a child has to be xx years behind before they can have an ECHP assessment so they school and LA are wrong on that count.
This is what the rules are around assessment:-
In making the decision, the LA must have regard to the Code. Paragraph
9.14 of the Code sets out guidance to LAs in considering whether an EHC
needs assessment is necessary. These should not be preferred to the
statutory test but considered as helpful examples. It does not mean that
these examples are exhaustive.
? evidence of the child or young person’s academic attainment (or
developmental milestones in younger children) and rate of progress
? information about the nature, extent and context of the child or young
person’s SEN
? evidence of the action already being taken by the early years provider,
school or post-16 institution to meet the child or young person’s SEN
? evidence that where progress has been made, it has only been as the
result of much additional intervention and support over and above that
which is usually provided
? evidence of the child or young person’s physical, emotional and social
development and health needs, drawing on relevant evidence from
clinicians and other health professionals and what has been done to
meet these by other agencies

So if you look at the 3rd bullet point (or square), has your DS only made his limited progress due to the extra support the school have put in place? If so then is that support over and above what is usually provided?
If he needs that support just to make the small amount of progress he has then that should be enough for the LA to consider assessing him.

But school thinks the LA will say he isn't far enough behind.
School is in a dream world on this one.
The law makes no mention of 'being far enough behind'.

The question is: what are Dc's difficulties, and what provision is needed for the best possible outcomes.

I am hearing more and more of this 'making progress in very small steps'.

Well it is usually rubbish. dc is getting older and as such will make progress in very small steps even if he was sitting in the mainstream class with no support at all. Just because he is maturing he will make small steps.

If he were making no progress or if he were going backwards, that would ring massive alarm bells.

One question - is he slipping further and further behind his peers? My dc made progress year on year, but her peers were progressing much faster, so she was slipping back relative to them.

The questions in the law are about 'satisfactory progress', and this is relative to what he could be achieving with the right support.

So maybe go through all the recommendations in the reports.
Make a list and get an understanding from the school as to who is dealing with which thing, how they are doing it, how long for and how often.

And have a think about whether the interventions are directed very much at school subjects (schools often do this), when really his needs are quite different - eg social skills, organisation skills, attention, sensory issues, physical things like holding a pen, ie the sorts of things most kids donot need to be taught but your dc does.

Schools don't always want to support EHCPs as they fear their future careers will be affected if they ask for money from the LA.

If you think High School will be a problem without a clear EHCP, you are probably right. And time is still on your side. Just.

Good Luck

fairgame This So if you look at the 3rd bullet point (or square), has your DS only made his limited progress due to the extra support the school have put in place? If so then is that support over and above what is usually provided? is 100% true.

senvet Is he slipping further and further behind his peers? My dc made progress year on year, but her peers were progressing much faster, so she was slipping back relative to them.
Yes I believe the gap is getting wider, and will get worse when they move into year 6. So much more is expected of them in year 6, which DC just won't be able to do. They do things like no longer sending letter home just telling the children to pass the info on to parents.
One of DS main problems is his working memory. He scored 1 out of 19 in the last 3 assessments, which are done every 6mths.
It took him until year 3 to remember his way around his very small primary school. This has also effected his ability to learn to read i.e. sounding out CVC words he forgets the first sound by the time he gets to the last.