Advice pls

[zUser274]

Advice needed please.

DC is having an EHCP issued for first time. It's going to name current placement for half a year and then early annual review to transfer placement to another school.

How long does an annual review take please and what does it involve? Will we need new EP report etc?

Want to get the date of review written into EHCP now, hence asking how long a review takes.

Thanks

You need a better OT assessment with detailed, specific and quantified provision. Regardless of placement the more you post the more I think you need to appeal B and F anyway.

A dual placement is possible. I know a child who has a dual placement with a MS and SS on a co-located site. It works brilliantly for her. Logistics aren't your concern. Part time TAs aren't unusual, anyway, or may be deployed elsewhere outside of DC's time.

A series of visits should be possible if a move was definite. I'm not sure he new school would agree if there were questions over whether DC will move there. Do you think it is in DC's best interests to transition somewhere there's the possibility they won't attend long term? Don't underestimate the negative effects of rejection.

Try to get any future comments in writing.

Even if you get a local provision consider transport. Don't put the idea in to the LA's head that you will transport - we go back to given an inch the LA will take a mile.

Apologies for my terrible SPAG, I really should proof read before posting.

User when will you need to apply for schools for DC2? If you want them both in the same mainstream school will DC2 get a place if DC1 isn't already on the proposed school's roll? If DC2 starts reception in 2022 and DC1 doesn't move to the proposed school until Easter you wouldn't have the sibling link. Also, does DC2 need an EHCP?

@zUser274

I am inclined to agree with 10brokengreenbottles that you need to appeal Sections B and F. If the OT report(and any others) is vague and woolly the plan will be too, and will be very difficult, if not impossible to enforce.

If you go for what appears to be the easy option now, you could end up regretting it further down the line.

You say your DH has been made redundant and you are moving house (rented?) Is there any chance you could qualify for Legal Aid?

www.ipsea.org.uk/where-can-i-get-help-with-making-an-appeal

when will you need to apply for schools for DC2?

Ah, brokenbottles you've asked another key question here, this is another part of our thinking. DC2 will start reception in Sep 2022. If we do the normal admission route, it will be local MS schools close to the new house. Of which, the obvious one is the same - potential new MS for DC1. Applications by early Jan.

Re EHCP for DC2 - I honestly don't know. Nursery have said they will apply for a NA as a matter of course but expect it to be turned down. I personally think that's a bit computer says no, and if we think DC2 needs an EHCP, we'll appeal a refusal to assess.

But I don't know yet what support DC2 will need in school. My instinct is it may depend what personality of teacher tries to work with DC2 and how much they understand/not demand avoidance and high anxiety. My gut says if it goes wrong, it's going to be ugly. But it doesn't have to go wrong if everyone is on board to make it go right. And I think we're better at navigating the system due to our experience with DC1.

If DC1 goes to potential new MS and we have a good relationship with SenCo, my idea would be to ask the SenCo if we can pay for one day a term of a private specialist teacher who knows PDA to work with the class teacher for DC2. We get DLA now for DC2 which I think is about £2k over course of year, I think this would cover 3 days of a specialist teacher over the year. It would be more support than the school would get through LA funded autism specialist service.

Ellie thank you for those links and for your kind wishes. Oddly, DH redundancy means he's able to attend all these meetings and visits with me and it's a big help.

Yes you're right, I wouldn't have posted on here if I was happy with the options on the table. It's been extremely helpful to talk it through with you both and DH and I are now clear it's not best for DC1 to do a trial of MS in current school. And we want one move, to a long term placement. And if we think that means tribunal, so be it. Equally, if we think the potential MS is right for DC1, we'll request that without any talk of a trial period.

We would be eligible for the legal aid and when we spoke to Ipsea I think they mentioned ?Simpson Miller? I have it written down somewhere.

I read somewhere that legal aid can also help fund new Indy reports if needed for tribunal, so presumably we could get an Indy OT report if necessary.

When we appealed our son was over 18 so he qualified for legal aid in his own right. We were assigned to Simpson Millar. The solicitor filled in all the paperwork and put the grounds for appeal together. He also secured independent EP and OT reports.

The independent reports were much more detailed and specific than the LA ones. For the second appeal we had the EP lined up to visit the autism specific college DS wanted and the hideously unsuitable generic specialist LA college, so that he could give his professional opinion on both colleges' ability to meet needs. This might be something you could ask for - professional advice on the suitability of potential settings.

As it happened the EP didn't need to make any visits as the LA conceded and named our preferred college. (They conceded all 3 of our appeals as they didn't have a leg to stand on.)They were all so unnecessary

Ellie that's really good to hear re DS and Simpson Millar, thank you for sharing. So glad your DS got the result. Your LA sound a disgrace.

Yes, having an EP visit potential placements to comment on each is a very good idea.

Did Simpson Millar fill out the original appeal form for you or did you need to do that yourselves? Can you remember how long it took from first phoning SM to them doing the appeal form? I'm currently renewing DC1's DLA claim so it's death by forms atm.

Our LA was appalling. The solicitor said it was the worst LA he had ever dealt with.

SM did everything including the original appeal form. It was the initial stages of eligibility checking for Legal Aid that took a bit of time and we had to go through a central point.

These days though it looks as though you can contact the Legal Aid provider directly (If you look at the bottom of that link I posted earlier) which may cut out a bit of time. You just put in your postcode and all the Legal Aid providers in your area come up.

Until we got to the stage where DS was completely stressed out by mainstream FE, and was nearly having a breakdown, we had never in a million years thought he would ever need specialist education. But that autism specific residential college, 160 miles away from home, where he went to for 3 years was the best thing that ever happened to him.

He was so happy there, and he achieved so much more than I ever thought possible, that I've sometimes wondered if he would have done even better if we had looked at specialist autism provision earlier. I certainly wish he had been spared all the unhappiness he had in primary school, and the appalling toll that mainstream FE put on his mental health.

Getting him there was hugely stressful - it involved a Judicial Review, 3 appeals, enlisting the support from the local councillor to kick the LA into action when they were stalling at one point, and several formal complaints, one of which was upheld by the LGSCO- but it was so, so worth it.

Please don't settle for something that might fit. Find the right one and go for it.

Please don't settle for something that might fit. Find the right one and go for it.

User if you take anything from this thread it should this.

One of my biggest regrets is leaving DS1 in mainstream for so long. Over 5 years on we are still picking up the pieces. DS1 now has a comprehensive EOTAS package but to get here we had to fight - multiple threats of JR, one pre-action letter and a LGO complaint upheld.

It sounds like DC2 is going to need an EHCP. You don't need to pay for additional training. It should be included in the EHCP. If the LA's autism service can't provide it if must be provided by independent providers.

You should absolutely not be paying for any educational provision. It would be unlawful for the school to accept that.

It sounds like the nursery are on your side if they are going to apply for an EHCNA for DC2. If it gets turned down appeal it. The majority of parents win refusal to assess appeals.

And a lot of LAs refuse automatically and then back down once they see parents are appealing and are not going to go away.