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Original poster

Court hearing ABA in Mainstream School: which witness to take with me?

61 replies

Soumia · 18/09/2019 16:30

Hello all

Now i am very stressed out and worried...as I Just received a letter from the court.

The court hearing is in the first week of January 2020.

I really need to hear from your experiencr...how did u convince the judge...how did that meeting ho...who were the 3 witnesses you took to the court?

I need your advice plz.

Not sure about EP as still dont have one...my lawyer through legal aide is looking for funding.

Is the attendence of the lawyer important in the hearing?

The problem is i have to pay her more than 600£ to be a witness which i cannot afgord as I am low income...

I will have to.pay for the ABA reports and the ABA supervisor and attendebce to to heating which will.cost me loads :(

Who else will be most important as a witness to the court?

Let me know please.

Myself as his mother and tutor with my ABA supervisor must submit evidence by november.

Not sure if the progress with the self help can convince the judge...
The LA are pushing towards a special school...
I have another autistic child: my daughter who will be 6 in February and she is in year 1 in Mainstream.school.and started talking and doing relatively better than.my son.

I do ABA for her too... so it is a huge load on.me as a mum :(
Lots of hard work...

For my son,
We just started using PECS as my son is still.non.verbal :(

Can you plz advise me what should i.prepare exactly for the hearing?

Which witnesses are most helpful apart from.EP...ABA prodessionals...

Mysrlf as a Parent is the best advocate for my son ...So

What things should I not miss to bring intk my discussion?

How could i convince the judge that special school is detrimental to my sons future and progress... by the way i have 2 other healthy neuro.typical.kids who (although they are younger) are helping with my autistic two kids...
So mainstream should help my autistic kids....

Plz advise me...i am so stressed and worried

OP posts:
FabulouslyGlamorousFerret · 18/09/2019 16:35

I'm not sure of your question? Are you wanting your dc to attend a mainstream school and for them to use ABA?

Original poster
Soumia · 19/09/2019 07:00

Yes. We lodged the appeal against the LA decision of special school.

We are aiming for Mainstream +ABA.

My son has been homeschooled with ABA since 10 months and he progressed a lot.

OP posts:
BelindaBlinkingBlumenthall · 19/09/2019 07:58

It's not necessarily an unreasonable request, how would you propose the school train their staff? What if it conflicts with established ASC approaches?

Does your son have an EHCP or is he a PP child?

SouthWestmom · 19/09/2019 08:16

He must have an EHCP if it's an appeal.

Are you appealing against the content as well? You need it written to support the placement request.

Must admit ABA plus mainstream is always going to be a diluted approach.

Tonnerre · 19/09/2019 08:41

Legal aid funding should automatically cover the cost of an EP, and also if appropriate a SALT and OT. Push your lawyers about arranging these assessments - it needs to happen ASAP.

If you want to be represented at the hearing, try the IPSEA tribunal line.

You don't have to show that special school is detrimental to your child, but if you get EP evidence that will help. You need to concentrate on showing that having your child in a mainstream school will not affect the education of other pupils if he has the right support.

Original poster
Soumia · 19/09/2019 09:22

Thanks for your message. But what do you mean by " diluted appriach" ??

Thanks again.

OP posts:
SouthWestmom · 19/09/2019 09:25

ABA is intender and being delivered in a non ABA environment will dilute it.

By the way, your son has a right to mainstream education - which does not mean a specific mainstream school but the LA do have to find one.

SouthWestmom · 19/09/2019 09:25

There is a caveat but very difficult for them to argue.

Original poster
Soumia · 19/09/2019 09:26

My son has an EHCP since a year.. and the LA has been delaying isduibg the final draft since 11 months...so my son missed the entry to scho.this september

Hopefully he will go next srpt 2020 with his younger brother.

What is ASC approach?

I believe they could emply an ABA tutir instead of a normal TA....and a weekly or every two weeks ABA supervisor will.meet with the tutor to discuss ptogram...plans...etc

In additiob to a consultant involvment every 6 werks...

I think some school.have ABA... it is the problem of costing that makes it hard for LA to accept it

OP posts:
Original poster
Soumia · 19/09/2019 10:27

Someone told me that if the judge agrees and decides that ABA is what will help my son then the named school on the EHCP will have the ibligation to comply...

But again i was warned that the school might make my life and my sons life miserable...sort of taking revenge....

Schools SENCO and headteachers are in favor of LA and work for them...and against ABA..

Is this true???

OP posts:
SouthWestmom · 19/09/2019 11:15

What exactly is your solicitor doing for you? You should not be this confused by it all.

If you didn't have legal representation I would suggest your SENDIASS service (google your county plus SENDIASS) which provides free confidential advice around SEND. They may be able to talk you through the process anyway but are unlikely to get too involved if you have legal representation already.

BelindaBlinkingBlumenthall · 19/09/2019 19:38

I would be wary about forcing a school to adopt an approach they doesn't want to follow. I have a similar experience at a school where a family 'insisted' ABA was used. It was undertaken with reticence, criticism and little enthusiasm I'm afraid.

jamoncrumpet · 19/09/2019 19:50

I find your stance on this to be very strange OP. ABA is not practiced in mainstream schools, and even many specialist schools only use a very diluted version.

I cannot work out why you are requesting mainstream when you have a non verbal child, surely you can see that a specialist placement would be more suitable.

I took my LA to tribunal, and won, so I am not stranger to this process but I do not think you will win this case OP.

jamoncrumpet · 19/09/2019 20:01

Also please stop referring to children in mainstream schools as 'healthy children' - it's incredibly insulting

Tonnerre · 21/09/2019 07:58

My son has an EHCP since a year.. and the LA has been delaying isduibg the final draft since 11 months

I think you may be a bit confused. If the LA hadn't issued the final draft you wouldn't be going to tribunal.

ASC is autistic spectrum condition.

It's correct that if ABA is in the final EHCP ordered by the tribunal, the local authority will have an obligation to ensure it happens. It is however also true that if the school doesn't like it, it is likely to undermine it - to work properly, it really does need the teacher to support using it all the time. But it's not clear from your post whether the school actually is against it or not. I heard of a mainstream school that had never heard of ABA but was willing to give it a go, and ultimately they ended up supporting the parent when the LA tried to take it away.

You might like to follow the ABA4All FB page for more information generally on this.

Tonnerre · 21/09/2019 07:59

What exactly is your solicitor doing for you? You should not be this confused by it all.

If OP is on legal aid her case is probably being dealt with by a paralegal, who to be fair is probably overwhelmed with work.

Original poster
Soumia · 21/09/2019 08:18

What do you mean by OP?

Is parlegal = lawyer = sollucitor?

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
Soumia · 21/09/2019 08:31

The final draft issued by LA...after a huge delay...did not include my ABA reqyest...and my parentsl wish of Mainstrea. + ABA...

They imposed Special school that is against my parental decision and is detrimental to my child.

I have legal aid...but the problrm.is:

The lawyer said she needs to be paid aroubd 600£ + travel.cost to represent my son appeal in court...as legal.aid doesnt cover that!!

I named in my appeal a mainstream school (the same where my autistic daughter is studying since last year, she is also autistic and waiting her assessment for EHCP too).

All the schools around bristol refuses ABA...i am very worried if they en up.undermining the Running of ABA once the judge decides.

The hearing date is in 3 months and i zm very worried...
My son missed entry to reception this september...

I am.not quite sure why you saud i should not take my son to.mainstream.while he us still non.verbal?
My daughter who is also autistic...started mainstream.last year non.verbal and she is now verbal...talking...and has extra ABA sessions at home to.improve her speech.

I applied for EHCP for My daughter also but she is awaitjng assessmrnt after an appeal...so.my. ultimate aim is to have both my autistic kids in the same school with ABA...

I.might explore the option of part time mainstream + ABA with the other part time home.education + ABA too.

What is worribg me most is the school undermining the ABA once the judge impose it on them... but lets cross that bridge when we arrive there.

Please advise me.

Thanks

OP posts:
jamoncrumpet · 21/09/2019 09:34

You have Venturers Academy in Bristol, one of the best autism schools in the country. Why on earth wouldn't you want your child to benefit from that?!

Original poster
Soumia · 21/09/2019 11:59

I applied last year and they rejected me :(

OP posts:
SouthWestmom · 21/09/2019 12:10

I think you need some information about how the SEN system works. Please contact your SENDIASS and just get some basic information on time scales, applying, content etc.

jamoncrumpet · 21/09/2019 12:17

You can appeal placement rejections @Soumia

SouthWestmom · 21/09/2019 14:08

Jamon this is why op needs proper information. This is really unclear and I don't think op understands the process.

As far as I can see there is a placement appeal against an EHCP naming special school in favour of mainstream /ABA.

Op has legal aid and it's unclear whether content is also being appealed. Or what happened with the previous special school - maybe the EHCP wasn't in place?

Original poster
Soumia · 21/09/2019 16:35

What does OP stand for?

Operating Parent?

OP posts:
jamoncrumpet · 21/09/2019 16:41

OP has nothing to do with the SEN process, we are referring to you - the Original Poster