Help me with my ehcp plan of attack

[strongandmilky]

After 1.5 years my 5 year old finally has a diagnosis of autism. He's in year one and had Sen support for reception which the la has now withdrawn as he was seen to be progressing well. He had a brilliant teacher who I believe was instrumental to his progress.

His reading and number skills are good but comprehension, communication, and social skills are all poor and far behind his age group though he does try. The senco has said he wouldn't qualify for an assessment and feels that the school is able to meet his needs at the moment. However teaching staff at the school have told me privately he should have a ehcp. They do some small group social intervention work with him but that's it. I worry that as his behaviour is generally good he is just being left alone.

What should I be doing? I have not yet gone back to the senco with the dx report but would like to apply for a ehcp. I am expecting the assessment will be refused so I want to gather as much evidence and information as I can before proceeding. Should I privately hire a salt or ep to assess his needs? Any advice welcome

I'd talk to the senco again first. Normally you need I think 2 terms of ed psych support before they'll consider EHCP so much better to go thru school if you can. School also needs to prove it's done everything it can before applying so it might take a while. There are helplines etc with much more knowledgeable people than me but bar is quite high for. EHCP so you need a lot of evidence first! Good luck x

You might start by looking into the SEN code of practice, the chapters about adequate progress and need assessment. There are many ways to prove progress is inadequate, see what evidence you could build, what case you could make. You have the dx, so you have evidence he 'may' have special needs. You could argue the school does not understand him, so they need an EHC needs assessment to fully understand his needs at school.

You don't need to take Senco words on progress and meeting needs. In OP you indicate that at least part of his needs is not met. Why did they stop support? Him making progress is not a reason to withdraw support. There is still a gap between him and his peers in social skills and social communication. You say his reading and maths are 'good'. How good? Maybe they should be much better given his ability and after support withdrawal the gap might start widening again. To understand how well he is doing you need a cognitive assessment and the EHC needs assessment could be the easiest way to understand his needs. You need to build up evidence that progress and support are not adequate. Keep a diary of his behaviour at home and what happens at school. Does he brake into tantrums at home? That means he is not coping.

Show the dx report to senco and ask gher to bring in an EP and Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapists.

You might book private specialists, but outside of the frame of EHCP assessment the LA does not have to look at them, so you may have to spend on additional reports if and when the LA would agrees to a statutory assessment. Depending on what the specialists would find, you might need those private reports year after year before there will be enough evidence for an EHCP. You could have a private EP advising the school to get SaLT and OT assessments and if they don't within 6 months-1 year, ask for an EHC assessment as the way to implement those recommendations.

If your DS is functioning well at school in year 1, you might be in for a long haul with this. My DC were assessessed in Y5 and got EHCPs, but in Y1 I was told 'noting was wrong'. This is not unusual for AS. You generally want the EHCP to happen before the secondary transfer. Just build up the case steadily term after term.

Talk to IPSEA and SOS!SEN. Good luck

Thank you all for your replies. I'll try to answer everyone's questions, I have an ados report which confirms dx and paediatric development report which states he is approx 2 years behind in all areas. He was referred to salt when he was 3 but she discharged him as felt his language, while at lower limit was within range.

He received Sen support two mornings a week from a specialist teacher, though she also helped a couple of other children. The la team behind this only supports children up to the age of 5 so at the end of reception they said they would not refer him on to the next team because they felt he didn't need it and his needs were not severe enough to qualify for an ehcp.

Sorry hit post accidentally! I really think he would benefit from targeted help but I don't know what the best way to help him is. He is social and likes to be included but his social skills are poor. It breaks my heart when he tries to talk to other kids but cant have a conversation.

I think he will be ok for the moment and muddle through, but as he gets older and moves up years the gap will widen and there will no longer be a TA in the classroom to help give support.

Agree that withdrawing support because he made progress was not a reason to withdraw the intervention. Your son made progress because of the support.

You may see he will start falling behind now the support has been withdrawn. Don't accept this - "muddling through" is not good enough.

You say he is "far behind his age group" in comprehension, communication and social skills, which suggests he is no longer in range as he was at age 3. I would go back to the SLT service (you may have to go via the GP) and ask for him be reassessed as you are concerned about his development and need evidence for an EHC Needs assessment.

I would also ask the school what else they can put in place to support him and ask about an EP assessment.

Local authorities can sometimes be a bit funny about accepting private assessment reports, so would only get private reports as a last resort.

When you have got more evidence apply for the EHC needs assessment yourself.