Petition Prime Minister! Failing children with special needs - my non-verbal son without speech therapy for almost 1 year! please read!

[charlea]

Hi i'm new to this forum and would just like to inform you of a petition myself and other parents are running.
Basically in our local area we have been really let down, both by our PCT and LEA- In September 2006 we lost all speech and language therapy for 5 year olds and upwards ( in mainstream schools! ) - my own son has autism and has no speech! SaLT prior to these cuts was seriously under funded - the last 2 visits my son had were June 2006 and November 2005. SaLT we have been told will be starting again in April but at the same buget it was previously, which simply isn't adequate! we have complained to our LEA as they now have the legal responsibility to provide SaLT (if it is outlined within part 3 of your childs statement )- they have refused to use independent therapists in the meantime! The secretary of state and DfES will not help as " the secretary of state can not reprimand an LEA over its past performances" so we now have to wait until April - which will mean hundreds of children without this vital support for 8 if not more months!
I have been contacted by many families all over the country who have been let down in similar ways, this petition isn't meant for just my local area, it is for the PM to realise that this is happening everywhere to children with all kinds of special needs! if you would like to support this campaign please go to:

petitions.pm.gov.uk/spectrum/

Thank-you for listening!

Hi charlea, just signed the petition. My friend has a daughter with SN and battled for months to get support. I hope your DS gets the help he deserves, and soon! Good luck.

Hi

know the feeling, I have 2 of 3 boys on the spectrum, and ds3 can't be diagnosed until he ahs a SALT assessmnet. Except well, there isn't a SN salt in Gwent at the moment apparently. Without reports from SALT we can't get DLA< a sattement,a ccess to the special school he needs- I am going to have to home ed him for reception . he does speak, but he has under 40 words,a nd can't string more than 3 together, and theyre all very practicl.

I did actually post this petition if it is the one about liability when Is aw it on the site, so MN have already stacked up quite a few signatures for you- hope it helps

Yes it is the one!

Welsome to MN

Welcome charlea- yep I have already signed this! My DD has Downs and is in Reception with no statment and no classroom support, no-one signing to her...etc.....something needs to be done!

thanks for you support - the more stories i hear from other parents in similar - in some cases worse- situation the more angry i get!! something really needs to be done about this!!
dingle have you tried contacting your local MP?

My sons' weas in part 3 (he was non verbal in mainstream school). The SALT went on maternity leave. The LEA agreed verbally that his private therapist could go in, but kept on forgetting to send written agreement. Eventually, after monhs, fed up I sent a letter syaing if I hadn;t had written agreement by .day X. then I would go to the local govt ombusdman. I got the agreement by return. They're the people you should contact apparently if they statement isn't being met.

Ds1 waited years for SALT. TBH he only really started to get it when he went to special school (where there is a SALT plus 2 assistants on site).

Do hang around if you feel like it, there are loads of SN and ASD mums on here

Not yet Charlea- been close but then the LEA backed down. She went back up against the panel last week....and at long last agreed she needs a statement. waiting for draft to come through- but I will be requesting more hours! They've given her 15 and I want 25, if not 30!!!

I am going to throw a few spanners in the works too, about SALT. We pay privately and provide school with program/targets. This SALT is actually provided by specialist working with Down Syndrome. There are schools in the excellence cluster that recieve this "specialist" SALT, but these aren't the schools were the children with DS attend!! Madness!!!

I am sruggling to get people interested! i've posted this all over the place - i've done interviews with the daily mirror - they didn't go to print because theres "more popular issues at the moment"! i've appeared on the local news BBC Look East, NAS have now put it on there site ( which is great!)- many people are veiwing but NOT signing- any ideas i'd be extremly grateful!

Bump!
Sign the petition here .

I have sign your petition and sent it to all my friends hopefully I may be able to drum up some support. Good luck to you and your son

thanks to everyone so far for signing this petition!
don't forget it isn't just for speech therapy its for the PCT's and LEA's to be held accountable for not providing the support YOUR child needs, whether thats OT, 1:1 support ........
please keep signing and pass it on to others too!!
Thanks xx
\link{http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/spectrum/}