EHC Assessment

[japanesebears]

Hi there! Our LA has confirmed my DS is going to be assessed. As part of our application for the assessment we included reports we'd had done by s&l therapist, ed psych and specialist teacher. The LA has only arranged an assessment with a paediatrician. Is it possible they might just use the reports we paid for privately? They are very comprehensive - done at the iCan assessment centre at Meath school.

Here is some really good info on the things that should happen by law during an ECHP assessment (ipsea website): www.ipsea.org.uk/what-you-need-to-know/ehc-needs-assessments/what-happens-during-an-ehc-needs-assessment

It states who the LA needs to request advice from and then also states:
"The Local Authority does not have to seek new advice from any of these individual professionals where it already exists – that is, where it has previously been provided for any purpose. This exception will only apply if the person providing that advice, the Local Authority and the child’s parent or the young person, are satisfied that the existing advice is sufficient for the purposes of an EHC needs Assessment."
So I guess the question would be whether the professionals who wrote those reports deem them sufficient for the purposes of an EHCP. Reports for an EHCP need to be very specific and provide information on needs, as well as clear and precise interventions to meet very specific outcomes. It is not sufficient for a report to simply list the child's difficulties.
I would contact those professionals and ask the question about whether or not the report is sufficient for an ehcp assessment. If any of them say no, be sure to write to the LA and state that neither you nor the professional involved deem them sufficient for the purposes of an EHCP needs assessment. They were merely provided to proove need for an assessment and new advice should be sought in terms of the above regulation that is sufficient for an EHCP needs assessment.
You are alsp entitled to make reasonable requests about which professionals they ask to assess.

Thank you! Great advice

I did the same as you. When they assessed they still went back to the NHS physio, OT, Paediatrician and there is a standard set of questions they had to reply to. They also did their own SALT and Ed psyc but there is something about certain things only being assessed once in every six months so to be honest, massive chunks of Dc's EHCP were taken out of the private reports.