Feeling in a panic about EHCP process

[Laurajay84]

My son was diagnosed with asd in May. He is currently attending nursery and will go to school next September (2017). We have had no help or guidance regarding an EHCP, it's only through reading on here that I've found out about it.

We are about to sumbit the request for EHCP assessment form but now DH is panicking that we need to have an EHCP in place before the school application deadline in January. Is this correct? What happens if we don't have the EHCP finalised before then? Do you need an EHCP in place to be given priority in choice of school? I'm really worried now....

Any advice much appreciated

I'm currently going through getting one st the moment for Ds.
You don't need one before he starts school but you do need it in place to name a school, otherwise you would just apply as normal for a school

Apply as normal for your local school (or choice that you will get a place at), so, worse comes to the worse, he will have a school place somewhere.

When you get to the point in the process, you will be asked then to name the school you want him to go to (Special school, Resource Base, or a choice of mainstream) and at that point the local authority will send paperwork to the school to see if they can take him. If you get a place at a school better suited to his needs than the one you get through usual applicatons, confirmed, then at that point you release the local one.

HTH

If you ask for assessment now the process will take 20 weeks IF it goes smoothly, and that's a big if - so it's not likely that you will get one in place by January. Plus asking for one doesn't guarantee that you will get one anyway. As PP say, if you haven't got an EHCP then you go through the normal school admission process but, if you later get one, you will have another chance to name your choice of school and you could change from the one allocated if necessary.

If you're in the South, I'd strongly recommend going to one of SOS SEN's workshops about EHC Plans, they're really helpful.