Hypotonia

[JennieIre]

Hello, My child has just been diagnosed with Hypotonia at 20 months. We are now in the realms of physiotherapy etc. I am thinking ahead- do I state on his school admission forms that he has this diagnosis?
Many thanks

Assuming you mean state school rather than independent school, for the normal admission procedures, you don’t need to include it on the admission application unless the school you are applying for has an exceptional medical and social needs category and you are requesting to be considered under that criteria (not all with hypotonia would meet the criteria for that and not all schools have such a criteria). But, you should speak to the schools’ SENCO before application and also once you know where DS has been allocated.

Depending on DS’s level of need, you might want to think about an EHCP. Having an EHCP would mean you wouldn’t apply for a place via the normal process. You can request an EHCNA yourself if you want. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use. You don’t have to wait until DS is nearly school age to do this.

If you mean independent schools, some request you declare all diagnoses/additional needs.

Depending on where you are, it is worth looking at what local schools offer to those below compulsory school age. For example, if you are near Ingfield Manor School in West Sussex and Paces in Sheffield they offer free sessions. There are other places who offer sessions as well, some free, some charge, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head.