How to get an educational psychologist for DS?

[39LastOne]

Ds is about to go into year 5. School keep muttering that he might benefit from seeing an educational psychologist as he seems really strong in some areas and weak in others. He has dyslexia and ADD. However, the SENCO says the waiting list is long, and it is possible he might not get to the top of the list before year 6!

I have been doing some reading about these new Plans that replace Statements, and it says that when children are assessed for a Plan, an educational psychologist is asked for their view.

So, should I ask for an assessment for a Plan for DS as a shortcut to getting an educational psychologist to test DS? (does the money for this come out of a different 'pot' than the school?).

School says he isn't bad enough for a Plan, but my argument is - how do they know if he's not been assessed properly . He's not massively behind btw, but seems to really struggle with simple things at times, and then be able to do harder things another time. I feel like there is 'something to get to the bottom of' with DS, and wonder if asking for an assessment for a Plan could help?

I am not sure school would support me in asking for a Plan though, even if it meant they didn't have to pay for the educational psychologist. Help!

The legal test for deciding whether a child needs to be assessed is whether a child has or may have special educational needs!

If your Ds has dyslexia and Add then he has special educational needs so you could put in a parental request for a statutory/needs assessment!

The LA will probably refuse it but you then have the right of appeal!

Is there any way you could afford to pay for an ed psych assessment? That would be a good starting point as it would tell you exactly where your Ds's strengths and weaknesses are!

Good luck

I'm afraid asking for an EHC Plan isn't an automatic route to an EP assessment. When you ask, the LA is entitled to say no on the basis of information available from the school and elsewhere, so you may never get that far.

Has he made progress? If not, that would be good evidence that he needs assessment. But you may need to bite on the bullet and get a private assessment, if you can manage it.

So you're both saying that the best bet is to go private, as no guarantee that asking for an assessment will get anywhere? V frustrating. Why aren't there more resources for this?

He is making progress, yes, but it is his inconsistency that worries me. I just think things could be better targeted if we knew why sometimes he gets stuff and sometimes he doesn't (or why he understands something on days 1-5, forgets it on day 6, remembers it on day 7, forgets it on days 8-10 kind of thing). I can see him being left to drift, as he is not raising any alarm bells, but is not fulfilling his potential either, because he isn't 'bad enough'. FFS.

So, hit me with it. How much does this kind of report cost if you go private, and how to you go about it?