EHCP for academically bright 14yo

[JeffVaderneedsatray]

DS is 14, has an ASC (basically an Aspie) he attends mainstream school. He is academically very able, gifted in English and flying in all other subjects. (Well, apart from PE because he is as co ordinated as his mother ie NOT!)
He is explosive and reactive, hates noise and people messing about and really struggles with his peers.
He goes to a small school becuase he could not have coped with the size fo our other schools. He really stands out and has been a target for bullying, usually from the younger year groups. He is very big and strong and can look very intimidating when he loses his temper although he would never be the first to act.

I have been trying to get an EHCP since he was in Y5 but the primary school was insistent he wouldn't get one because he was doing so well academically and ar primary he was managed much better.

Since startting secondary school he has been in a lot of trouble, out of circulation for parts of the day etc because he is struggling to manage his emotins and his interactions with his peers.

After a long hard struggle school have finally agreed to support my request for an EHCP and I am currently filling in my part of the paper work.

My problem is that the focus of the form is on barriers to learning and I can see why they were reluctant, he is not struggling at all, he waltzes through lessons and assessments with no effort.

Where he is struggling is in his interactions with his peers, he cannot cope with noise, gets angry if they will not be quiet if asked by a teacher and often shouts or screams at them to shut up. He cannot cope with 'banter' and responds to daft comments and teasing with aggression.

He struggles to identify when he is getting agitated and seems to explode at the drop of a hat but investigatins always reveal that he has been simmering over something in one lesson and has got angrier and angrier with each passing annoyance until he goes BOOM!
He gets no support at all because he is in top sets. He needs help with managing his emotions and applying the strategies he knows when calm.

And advice for filling out the form? I am at my wits end!

That is a barrier to his learning. He's getting so distressed that it must be disruptive to his learning, when you think of what he could accomplish if he was managing his emotions better.
Has he got a 'time out' card that he can present if he needs to escape the classroom for a break?

He sounds so like my 13 year old, down to the triggers and the PE thing too She doesn't have an EHCP as we don't have them here in Scotland. I think the equivalent would be an IEP but although she had one in Primary school, they are reluctant for non-academic needs.

The first £6k of support is supposed to come from school, its only over that you need an ehcp so I would get school to put support in place. I found the LEA SEND team was helpful in getting school to do this.

He has Time Out cards but the issue is largely that he fails to recognise he needs a time out until he has exploded! Also he sort of feels that he shouldn't be the one to leave as he is the one who wants to work and get on! He struggles to understand why teachers won't stop the 'jerks' talking and messing about (and he has a point....!)
On Tuesday all hell broke loose in Geography because a group of girls were singing and refused to stop despite the (supply) teacher asking them 3 times...... DS told them to shut up, looming over them with an very aggressive look on his face and clenched fists. He's nearly 6 foot and built like a brick shit house.
He has an IEP but it is very wooly.

Penguin Pandas I am trying to get school to put support in place but they don't seem to know what to do..........
He needs a 1 to 1 for behaviour but not academically so they say they have none. Our LEA SEND team is crap.

Maybe try from another angle? What would you want an EHCP to provide for him? Then reword that into how he is struggling to learn because that isn't in place now. Does that make sense?

At primary our school had access to specialist teaching service which could come in and advise. My son is y7 asd and can just leave as wanted, he has a TA he works with in support hub, reduced timetable, ed psych, no ehcp yet. He's very bright but refuses to sit quite a few tests so being graded as zero in some. Sendiass might be able to help, ours are nice but useless.

The legal threshold for assessment is a ‘different’ threshold, if you like, than issuing an EHCP. It’s only the 1st step.

The legal threshold is MAY have SEN and MAY need the provision of EHCP. That is all you have to prove. So for now, you are saying your son is complex and the only way to establish what his needs are is for experts to assess.

Once assessed by experts, it will become clearer what his needs are and what provision is needed.

perhaps think of it in a different way - he doesn't have a learning difficulty but he has a disability that is making it difficult for him to use the facilities normally provided to other children - so the problem with his communication and interaction / social emotional / sensory needs is resulting in him missing out on learning as he explodes.
Someone with a missing leg wouldn't have a learning difficulty and could be top set but would need different PE and a way to get into the classroom and its no different than that.

Don't get distracted by the form. All of his needs are barriers to learning, everything has an effect. You describe it very clearly, him not understanding banter results in him missing lessons, not understanding, not being able to regulate his emotions results in .... Dont rush and worry about the form. Just write it down on a white sheet as you do here. Everything that comes to mind. Just offload it. Then take another paper and think of some structure: what is relevant to cognition and learning, what communication and interaction, what physical and sensory, what emotional, behavioural and mental health, what independence skills.

Seek advice from all sources.
There should be some advice, do SOSsEn and ipsea have some model examples, some sheets? Have you checked senjungle and NAS, sendias? I would interrogate all of them, about this generally and similar circumstances in particular, they will all have some ideas. You want the assesment to have OT , SALT, EP and cover all those big themes, so give them some food..just take your time.

And academically bright does not negate needs. First you need to compare with his potential, what he coulf achieve if not for all these disruptiond abd upsets. Second it is not all academic, his social anf emotional development, his independence skills, it is all about prrparing him for the worl of work. He need skills to deal with all those things including anger. Go, go OP 😁

One thing to consider is that if the school apply for the ehcp there is no right of appeal. You may be better off doing it yourself as you can appeal if they say no.

Cansu it doesn't matter who requests an EHC needs assessment, school or parent, if the request is turned down there is right to appeal.