Looks like LEA have started a stat ass on dd and not informed me.

[jenk1]

I wrote asking for a stat asses last month.

Today we attended what i thought was a normal hearing test and the audiologist said to me, we have been asked by your LEA to carry out this test as part of dd,s stat asses.

EH?????????

News to me, they havent said yes or no to it and have until next week to let me know.

Now the cynic in me is doing overtime and wondering if this is the reason the paed retracted his dx so suddenly after he had spoken to the Ed Psych last week.

hmmmmmmm makes me wonder.

i shall of course be onto my special friend at the LEA (SEN Manager) who made us go to 3 tribunals over mike first thing in the morning to ask her what is going on.

Blimey i thought i would have to fight them again for dd but it appears not, we will give you an asessment but do everything in our power to stop the paed from dx,ing ASD?

dirty underhanded tricks, well we are waiting to hear back from the paed,s boss to find out what is happening.

Jenk1, it sounds like they have made a right old cxxx-up! Telling everyone else before telling you, and giving then withdrawing a dx. They are all over the place and if you start making legal noises I bet they will see how silly they have been. I always liked the phrase "I have taken informal legal advice, and I believe that your procedural errors are fairly fundamental in this instance". Good luck!

they did this last time with mike.

Camhs were set to dx mike with AS and then all of a sudden the boss of camhs steps in and says no he doesnt have it.

I was told by someone connected to the LEA that a letter had gone to the boss of camhs saying you cannot give a dx and then just expect us to provide a statement.

we got onto the boss of camhs and asked for copies of ALL asessments, video,s of the ADOS and she wrote back saying she hadnt done one (a video)

But she backtracked and dx,d him with PDD.

now the paed that dd is under is under the neighbouring nhs hospital, we went there cos we wanted an impartial asessment/dx of dd so it seems the lea through the ed psych has been able to stop that one, of course i have no proof other than the paed telling me that following a phone conversation with the ed psych he was withdrawing his dx.
but we have written a strong letter to his boss asking her to explain what is going on and we shall be taking this further if she doesnt dx dd.

they play such dirty games.

do you or your DH have BUPA? you can get a private diagnosis (though no further treatment) if you do. We did that, and although they did not like it, it was difficult to argue against an eminent doctor of autism? I am sure you have been through it all, but have you thought of SOS SEN. Or just getting a lawyer on board, though I know cost is prohibitive. IPSEA? My LEA also tried everything in their power to put me off the statement scent - including "oh don't worry dear, you don't need one of those, we have this lovely scheme called Early Years plus which means you don't have to go thru all that horrible statement palaver". Yeah right! I bombarded them with documents, told them I had taken informal legal advice, got that private diagnosis, chewed off the Ed Pscych's ear and basically made them acknowledge that my DS needs a statement. I also used to work in PR, so that is always a card you could play. No LEA wants to see it's shenanigans all over the local paper, or better still the Daily Mail. If you want to tell them that you have a pal in PR, who would be very happy to tell the whole story to the Daily Mail, it would be true! Best of luck!

no we dont have bupa but we have the private specialist who dx,d ds with AS and we took the LEA to tribunal cos they wouldnt put it on the statement, they dropped the day before and its on ds,s statement.

so we are going to get him to do an assesment of dd but in the meantime im not prepared to let the nhs get away with what they have done, i didnt let them do itover mike and they backed down and dx,d him in the end.

they are so underhanded.

sounds like they are mad to take you on, when you know exactly how to play it from last time Jenk1. It's all about saving money in the end, and although I know that rationally, it still hurts when people I think care about my son (eg portage workers) deliberately put me off getting a statement as my LEA clearly has a policy of reducing statements to save money. I too fought them, and eventually got a statement, but am now very cynical about it all. You go for it!

RIGHT.
im back on the LEA,s trail, so i have emailed both the boss of SEN and her boss the chief exec to ask why if they have started assement of dd as we were told yesterday by audiology no one has seen fit to let us know as the code of practice says.

i await their reply.

the chief exec usually replies within an hour.

they are not pissing me and another one of my children around anymore.

quite right! and they have been very silly to give and then withdraw a dx, makes it look very much like there is no independence going on with the dx. would make a great press case study, and the Tory press in particular are very keen to have stories like this at the moment, as they believe the SEN system is in crisis. Anyway, you have me right behind you and I am also gearing up for a meeting with my DS's school tomorrow. No more Mrs Nice mum!

By the way, did you know that if the LEA arrange for anyone to assess your child at any time without your permission, it is classed as assult? And, if someone assesses your child, not all the same tests can then be carried out by another person until after a certain time period has elapsed? Only found this out because I am going down the statement route and the people advising me let me know this, so I am booking private assessments now. If the LEA get their tests in first, it could weaken some tests you may want to have done privately. I too would recommend SOSSEN!